UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA MERCED


THE FUTURE OF...

The Valley

UC MERCED'S EXTENSION PROGRAMS ARE TRAINING FUTURE GENERATIONS

OF K-12 TEACHERS AND EARLY-CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONALS



This is really about the future of the Valley and about serving Valley students. This is community outreach tailored to the area.

UC Merced Extension Director
of Education Programs Lynn Reimer


Many of the San Joaquin Valley’s most pressing needs remain the same, year after year, including the education and care of Valley children.


The California Teachers Association (CTA) indicates the state faces a massive shortage of highly qualified teachers — especially those who can teach math, science and special education — and early childhood caregivers and educators.


Studies show these shortages disproportionately affect students in high-poverty, rural areas, students from low-income families and students of color, amplifying the persistent achievement gaps between those students and wealthier peers.


But UC Merced Extension’s new fully-accredited Teacher Preparation Program (TPP), launched this fall, is taking direct aim at those desperate needs, offering would-be teachers multiple pathways to train to pass certification exams while gaining hands-on experience.


“This is really about the future of the Valley and about serving Valley students,” UC Merced Extension Director of Education Programs Lynn Reimer said. “Half of the children in this state attend rural schools, and we have the perfect opportunity here to improve their access to high-quality education.


"This is community outreach tailored to the area."

AT 24:1, CALIFORNIA

HAS THE HIGHEST STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO IN THE NATION COMPARED TO THE NATIONAL AVERAGE OF 16:1

Source: Policy Analysis for California Education, produced by Stanford University

TAKING THE OPPORTUNITY


Edward Hinojosa, a 2017 UC Merced graduate, was the first to sign up for the TPP.


“I’m really excited to help the university establish this teaching program and to be part of something new,” he said. “This is a perfect opportunity for me.”


Hinojosa, 23, from South Los Angeles, graduated with a degree in psychology but also completed the natural sciences education minor, which prepares students for admission to the teacher credential program or to pursue graduate studies in education.


Though many of TPP’s first cohort are Bobcats, anyone with a bachelor’s degree can enroll. And the evening classes make the program suitable for people who work full time.


That includes Hinojosa, who works as a substitute teacher in Merced, and Leticia Rivero, 26, who graduated from California State University, Stanislaus, in May with a bachelor’s of science in biology.


Rivero comes from a family of teachers and knew she wanted to teach high school but worried she’d have to leave the area or make other sacrifices to get her credential.


She’s from Merced and graduated from Merced High, where she works now teaching Earth science on a one-year temporary permit and coaches track and field.


Rivero is amazed at how well the Extension program fits her needs.

Pictured Left: Teacher Prep students Leticia Rivero, left, and Iris Rodriguez work together in one of their classes.

“In some programs, there’s not a lot of support for students who are also working, but the Extension program is working with us, making the program work for us, rather than the other way around,” Rivero said. “The instructors are all very knowledgeable and we’ll have mentors and get to work with and learn from experienced teachers. I feel like this program was completely made for me.”


She is excited to be part of the UC Merced family, and to work with the program’s developers, especially Reimer, because of the passion Rivero said she sees in them.


“To them, we’re not just another student, we’re teachers,” Rivero said.


Like Hinojosa, she plans to stay here and enhance educational offerings for local students.

Sociology Professor Irenee Beattie, a member of the Extension advisory board, said that’s exactly what the TPP is meant to do.


“Giving UC Merced graduates and other Valley residents the opportunity to participate in a high-quality teacher credentialing program right here in Merced will make it easier to train and retain a diverse teacher workforce to serve the surrounding communities,” Beattie said. “This is a win for those who opt to make teaching their careers, as well as for the students across the Valley whose lives they will touch.”

Traditional higher education isn’t necessarily a match for everyone, not because they aren’t capable but because it isn’t designed for them. This is an answer for a lot of people.

UC Merced Extension Director of Education Programs Lynn Reimer


Difficulty in staffing classrooms is both widespread and more severe in certain subject areas, such as mathematics, science, special education, and bilingual education, and in schools with larger percentages of high-needs students.


Source: Policy Analysis for California Education, produced by Stanford University

Pictured Left: Chowchilla Elementary School District students got to participate in a chemistry lab with Lynn Reimer and they toured the UC Merced campus as part of Extension’s Education Programs Community Outreach.

RIGOROUS COLLEGE COURSES


Unlike at other UC campuses, UC Merced Extension’s programs and coursework are approved by the Academic Senate and guided by faculty members who also provide oversight through the Curriculum Advisory Board, which includes representatives from UC Merced’s three schools, CalTeach and the Merced County Office of Education.


“I am, of course, involved in the education of undergraduate and graduate students, but education neither starts nor stops there,” said engineering Professor Christopher Viney, an advisory board member. “Through its role in teacher preparation, Extension provides an opportunity for me to have an impact on K-12 education in the immediate community and the Valley.”


Like other campus’s Extension programs, UC Merced Extension offers a diverse suite of non-academic courses, such as test preparation and gardening, alongside credit-bearing college courses designed to prepare students for careers or changes in their careers.

“Traditional higher education isn’t necessarily a match for everyone, not because they aren’t capable but because it isn’t designed for them,” Reimer said. “This is an answer for a lot of people.”


UC Merced Extension received two big pieces of news this fall that will help students:


One is that the program is now approved to offer financial aid, including Pell Grant funds. Prospective students can apply now for the 2018-19 term, and current students can also fill out the FAFSA and possibly receive some support retroactively for this term.


The second piece of good news is that the University of California Office of the President is including Merced among the programs to receive funds through the President’s Educators Fellowships.

The fellowships are designed to help increase diversity in the teaching force by helping UC credential students who plan to work in high-need California public schools. This year’s allocation, about $5,000, will help with the first cohort’s tuition and supplies, Reimer said.


"These fellowships will help promising UC-prepared educators focus on becoming the exceptional teachers and principals that California youth deserve,” said UC President Janet Napolitano. “It’s a wise investment in educators who will spark young imaginations and get students on a path toward college.

CALIFORNIA WOULD NEED TO HIRE 350,000 TEACHERS

BEYOND ITS HIRING NEEDS RIGHT NOW TO MEET THE NATIONAL AVERAGE

Source: Policy Analysis for California Education, produced by Stanford University

FUTURE COLLEGE STUDENTS


Extension is also launching a second group of courses this fall — Child Development for Practitioners (CDP) — four classes designed to fill the need for qualified childcare workers while also furthering the university’s mission to increase the Valley’s college-going rate.


CDP also incorporates a unique pilot program designed to draw high school students from underserved areas into higher education.


Course Author Kevin Reimer, Chowchilla High School Principal Doreen Castillo and Chowchilla Elementary School District Assistant Superintendent Linda Russell Scheet and others designed the pilot program to allow high school students in Chowchilla to take the CDP courses and volunteer with younger children concurrently with their junior or senior year in high school.


By working in classrooms and after-school programs, the high schoolers will earn 12 university credits and get hands-on experience while also completing their school’s 60-hour community service requirement for graduation, Scheet said.


Up to 30 high school students a year can enroll, and Younes Benomar, the Chowchilla High AP teacher who will lead the course there this year said there are already 30 enrolled and 40 on the waiting list.


The program gives the Chowchilla students an entrée to college and a leg-up on credits, and they can get paying jobs to help them get through college. They will also have a group of like-minded companions to make the transition to college easier, Scheet said.


Those who have worked over the past year to launch the program are excited to see how it grows.

Students from Chowchilla Elementary School District, one of Extension’s partner school districts for student teaching placements, visited the UC Merced campus over the summer to see what it’s like to study science, technology, engineering and math in college.


…This will open doors to college that they might not otherwise have gone through. We tell them to go to college, but there’s nothing in place to help them transition — until now.

Chowchilla Elementary School District
Assistant Superintendent Linda Russell Scheet


“There are a lot of kids here who already work with younger children, and this will allow them to discover whether they want to make it a career,” Scheet said. “But even if they don’t, this will open doors to college that they might not otherwise have gone through. We tell them to go to college, but there’s nothing in place to help them transition — until now.”


Benomar is interested to see how the students blossom through the course.


“If they do well, they will see that college is something they can attain,” he said. “They are really going to be proud of themselves and their confidence will grow. This is going to help them beyond the invisible barriers that are often put around them.”

WE ARE BUILDING THE FUTURE...

Together

UC MERCED EXTENSION PROGRAM


PHOTOS BY

VERONICA ADROVER

WORDS BY

LORENA ANDERSON

DESIGN BY

LIZ LIPPINCOTT