Teacher Education

Teacher Education Program Recommended for Accreditation from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing

brittnem — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 19:51:25 +0000

Teacher Education Program Recommended for Accreditation from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing brittnem Thu, 12/07/2023 - 11:51 More News December 08, 2023

The UCR School of Education completed their seven-year cycle of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) accreditation process in November 2023. The accreditation team has recommended the UCR School of Education - Teacher Education Program for renewal of Accreditation. This is the highest recommendation possible and affirms the quality and effectiveness of the program and commitment by the Teacher Education Program (TEP) leadership, faculty and staff.

“It is with excitement that I share the CTC accreditation site visit for UCR’s Teacher Education Program has been recommended for FULL ACCREDITATION,” said Assistant Dean and Director of TEP Frances Valdovinos. “This is a wonderful recognition, and the positive results reflect the excellent contributions staff, STE’s, and faculty provide students and our community.”

Accreditation of schools of education indicates that the school underwent a rigorous external review by professionals, that performance of a teacher candidate in the program has been thoroughly assessed before they are recommended for licensure, and that programs meet standards set by the teaching profession at large.

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) accredits institutions and approves programs that meet its adopted standards of quality and effectiveness. These programs span across all credential areas and include subject matter programs, educator preparation programs and educator induction programs. Prospective candidates may enroll in Commission-approved institutions that offer approved programs to earn a credential or authorization to serve in California's public schools.

To learn more about the teacher education program at UCR School of Education visit the TEP page on the SOE website.

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Cultivating spaces of community, healing, and resilience through K-12 Ethnic Studies

juliep — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 16:21:58 +0000

Cultivating spaces of community, healing, and resilience through K-12 Ethnic Studies juliep Fri, 01/29/2021 - 08:21 More News January 25, 2021

The implementation of Ethnic Studies at the K-12 level brings possibilities and challenges in a context of schooling that so often centers and normalizes whiteness. In recentering our curriculum and praxis on narratives, experiences, and perspectives of often marginalized identities and communities, we can build spaces of solidarity with and among our BIPOC students and colleagues.

UCR Teacher Education Program's Ethnic Studies Speaker Series and the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice invites you to register for “K-12 Ethnic Studies: Cultivating Spaces of Community, Healing, and Resilience for BIPOC Teachers and Students.”

This virtual workshop, held Thursday, February 18 at 4pm, will highlight examples of curriculum from Ethnic Studies teachers and reflections on how ethnic studies allows us to center our sustainability and development as we engage in the deeply personal labor of love of teaching.

Registration Closed

SPEAKERS

Seattle, Washington native Princess Reese is a social justice educator currently serving the curious minds of Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. A graduate of the UCLA TEP program (2018), Princess spends time organizing with #StudentsDeserve, building curriculum with peers, and working towards making every social science class feel like Ethnic Studies.

Nivia Alvarado was born and raised in the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica, California. Nivia currently works in East Los Angeles, a community that has a long history of youth activism. As an Ethnic Studies educator, Nivia hopes that when her students leave the classroom they are able to develop a critical consciousness that allows them to read the world, feel humanized and become agents of social change. She enjoys collaborating with other educators who are interested in creating curriculum through an Ethnic Studies framework and believes that these are often the best lessons because they are cultivated in community and with confianza.

Darlene Lee is a partner, mother, daughter, friend, teacher, and teacher educator. She currently serves as the faculty advisor for the UCLA Teacher Education Program Ethnic Studies Pathway and appreciates the opportunity to work with so many creative, powerful, loving ethnic studies teachers like Princess and Nivia.

EVENT FACILITATORS

Rita Kohli is an Associate Professor and Equity Advisor in the Graduate School of Education at UC Riverside. She also serves as the coordinator of the Teacher Education Program Ethnic Studies Pathway, and is co-director of the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice.

Marcos Pizarro is the Associate Dean of the College of Education, Professor of Chicanx Studies at San José State University, and Co-director of the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice.

About GSOE's Ethnic Studies Speaker Series

Ethnic Studies is the critical, interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the history, experiences, and perspectives of Black, Indigenous, Latina/o/x, Asian American, Pacific Islander and other communities of Color within and beyond the United States. The Ethnic Studies Pathway at UC Riverside's Teacher Education Program (TEP) exposes students enrolled in the English and Social Studies credential/Master's to the principles of Ethnic Studies, exploring applications to K-12 school pedagogy and curriculum. One goal, among many, is to create a pipeline of educators who are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to serve as Ethnic Studies teachers across the region, state, and country. To enhance the scholarly and activist nature of the work, UCR's TEP “Ethnic Studies Speaker Series” engages the Graduate School of Education and the broader community with the voices and work of critical scholars, practitioners, and community activists that enhance understanding of Ethnic Studies.

Questions about the Speaker Series and/or Pathway program can be directed to Dr. Rita Kohli, associate professor and coordinator of the Ethnic Studies Pathway.

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Meet GSOE's new assistant dean and director of teacher education

juliep — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 14:56:56 +0000

Meet GSOE's new assistant dean and director of teacher education juliep Wed, 10/07/2020 - 07:56 More News Julie Porter October 07, 2020

The Graduate School of Education (GSOE) welcomes Dr. Sumer Seiki as its new assistant dean and director of GSOE’s teacher education program. In this role, Dr. Seiki will direct UCR’s venerable teacher education program,and will be partnering with schools, communities, and school districts to work towards change.

Dr. Seiki brings a wealth of academic, classroom, and scholarly experience to UCR. Most recently, she was an associate professor of teacher education at University of San Francisco (USF), where she served as a faculty member since 2014. During her time at USF, she coordinated and managed a number of teacher education initiatives: She was the faculty liaison for the Undergraduate Teacher Education Center, where she helped create pipelines from community colleges and undergraduate programs to USF’s teacher credential and master’s program. As co-director of Family Science Collaboratives, she collaborated with local partners to provide access to STEM content alongside family and community members, while training preservice teacher in community cultural wealth science lessons through course work and professional development workshops. She also served as the subcommittee lead on Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) and Seminar Course Impact in the Teacher Education Department, where she was instrumental in creating support for teacher candidates to pass the new Pearson California Teacher Performance Assessment Cycle 1 & 2 exams, and establishing new support programs and improving current systems to strengthen support for teacher candidates.

Prior to joining USF, Dr. Seiki held academic positions at San José State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, American River College, Woodland Community College, and University of California, Davis (UC Davis). As a researcher, she works extensively with narratives exploring race, ethic studies, community cultural wealth, science, and teacher education. Dr. Seiki recently won the American Education Research Association Early Career Award (AERA) for her research contributions to teacher education and interdisciplinary research.

“Each year, GSOE prepares teachers to return to their communities, and serve as agents of change and inspiration for countless students,” said Interim Dean Louie Rodriguez. “Dr. Sumer Seiki’s scholarly contributions to education, coupled with her years of experience in teaching, breadth of knowledge of California credentialing, and experience building relationships with districts will ensure that we purposefully prepare our future educators. Dr. Seiki has the vision to take our program to another level, and we are thrilled to welcome her to UCR and the GSOE community.”

"I'm excited to be at UCR and GSOE’s teacher education program. This is a moment in history when we can seize an opportunity like never before. We can partner with historically marginalized communities in new and creative ways, while remaining steadfast in our commitment to preparing our teachers to work alongside schools, districts, and communities," said Dr. Seiki.

Dr. Seiki earned her Ph.D. in Science Education, and both her B.S. and M.S. in Plant Biology from UC Davis. She earned her multiple subject teacher credential from the bilingual multicultural teacher education program (BMED) at Sacramento State University.

Established in 1958, UC Riverside Graduate School of Education’s teacher education program prepares critical-thinkers and well-rounded educators who address the needs of all students in culturally responsive ways. GSOE offers dual master’s with credentials, and credential-only degrees. Learn more here.

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Teacher education scholarship round-up

juliep — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 22:04:09 +0000

Teacher education scholarship round-up juliep Thu, 03/26/2020 - 15:04 More News March 10, 2020

Congratulations to all our teacher education scholarship recipients!

Special Education Scholars
In an effort to boost the number of fully credentialed special education teachers in Southern California’s Inland Empire, UCR GSOE recently launched the Special Education Scholars program. Scholars accepted into the program receive “service awards” that cover the cost of their M.Ed. plus special education credential, and must commit to working for at least four years as a special education teacher in either a Riverside or San Bernardino county school district upon graduating.

Congratulations to the 2019-20 Special Education Scholars:
Lisette Arias, Hailey De La Torre, Kaylee Daughterty, Tamika Franco, Krystal Haynes, Karla Machuca, Heather Morgan, Laurel Nelson, Bianca Ortiz, Tierra Roman, Michelle Suetsugu

UCR 2019-20 Special Education Scholars

Other Scholarship Recipients:
RUSD Pipeline Scholarship– Awarded to students pursuing a credential in secondary science or mathematics. Student must be committed to teaching STEM for at least three years in RUSD and have a bachelor’s degree in science, engineering, or mathematics.

Victoria Fitter
Jessica Gonzalez
John Nguyen

James L. Reardon Scholarship
Hector Servin

James E. and James C. Calkins
Bich Nguyen

President’s Educator Fellowship– Awarded to students who are committed to working at a California public school serving low-income families and have financial need.

Jose Aguilar
Ivan Casas Diaz
Mary Doggett
Jessica Gonzales
Sarah Hantuli
Sara Newstein
John Nguyen
Kristie Niemeier
Bianca Ortiz
Monica Rivas
Ji Su Ryu
Hector Servin

Dean Irving H. Balow Fellowship Fund
Ashley Rodriguez

GSOE Graduate Student Annual Scholarship
Hector Servin

Sherianne Wright Huard Scholarship
Bianca Ortiz

Starting Line Scholarship
Tierra Roman

Multiple Subject Teacher Education Award -- Support to multiple-subject credential students with a minimum 3.0 GPA and from Riverside County (either grew up in Riverside County or are current residents)
Yessica Rodriguez

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UCR and NASA on shared mission to bring STEM education to local schools

juliep — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 22:32:54 +0000

UCR and NASA on shared mission to bring STEM education to local schools juliep Fri, 02/08/2019 - 14:32 More News Julie Porter February 11, 2019 Riverside, Ca

Three years ago, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, joined forces with UC Riverside’s Graduate School of Education to bring science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, programming to schools throughout the region.

The partnership began when NASA selected UCR Assistant Professor of Teaching Cathy Lussier as a faculty team leader for NASA’s Minority University and Research Education Project, a program aimed at providing minority-serving institutions with awards and resources. Along with a team of student teachers, Lussier officially kicked off the partnership by attending a weeklong summer institute at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, the results of which left lasting impressions.

“The NASA JPL experts and I worked together that week to help ensure my student team had fun making active connections between learning theories and some pretty great hands-on STEM activities that they could then take into their own classrooms,” Lussier said. “By the end of that week, you could palpably feel thestudents gain confidence in themselves as future science educators as a product of the work we were doing in refining their science teaching skills using those NASA resources.”

Shaped by Lussier and NASA JPL education specialists Brandon Rodriguez and Paula Partida, the collaboration with UCR now includes daylong, on-campus immersive development workshops for future teachers. Student teachers are also given access to NASA resources and educational materials that implement Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), as well as opportunities to participate in summer institutes at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center, located at Edwards Air Force Base.

Although federal funding for these educational programs was abruptly cut in 2018, the Graduate School of Education stepped in to safeguard the continuation of those already planned throughout inland Southern California. The result is an expanded partnership that provides support for 34 K-12 student and teacher workshops at local schools, and even honors standing workshops the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had set up with schools that weren’t part of UCR’s original partnership or where UCR alumni are currently teaching.

“NASA provides great resources and programs implementing Next Generation Science Standards, and I am excited that UCR can help provide students and educators throughout the region with the opportunity to learn these tools,” said Thomas M. Smith, dean of UCR’s Graduate School of Education.

The workshops range from professional development sessions to school visits designed to get K-12 students and educators alike more excited about science education. One recent session geared toward student teachers enrolled in UCR’s teacher education program focused on lunar and meteorite training and certification, for example.

First-graders at Del Sol Academy testing their lunar lander's made out of sandwich bags, cups, straws and marshmallows.

This past month, meanwhile, recent alumna and first-year teacher Leah Dawdy organized a STEM development workshop at Del Sol Academy, part of the Jurupa Unified School District. During the event, 110 first-graders got a crash course in engineering principles as they built marshmallow lunar landers and spaghetti towers. The idea was to get students not only interested in exploring science and engineering, but also involved in practicing important skills such as making predictions, collecting data in the form of observations, evaluating outcomes, and suggesting revisions.

“What I've always valued about working with UCR is the implicit understanding that we are part of a team,” said Rodriguez, NASA education specialist. “Participants at UCR events walk through the door with the understanding that a workshop is just the first step of a collaboration that will span their teaching careers. For the past three years, it has been clear to me that we're not simply creating events; we're shaping a strategy for impactful science instruction.”

Lussier added, “When you consider that UCR has a long history of educational research and pedagogical knowledge, and NASA JPL has the diverse STEM content experts and Next Generation Science Standard educational specialists, it just feels, three years in, like an obvious and natural collaboration to come together to help students using our shared expertise.”

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Teacher Education Program hosts successful mock-interview day

robertw — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 21:03:59 +0000

Teacher Education Program hosts successful mock-interview day robertw Wed, 08/08/2018 - 14:03 More News Julie Porter June 11, 2018

Job hunting can be stressful for even the most seasoned professional, and adequately preparing for an interview can often be the key to landing the job of your dreams.

The Teacher Education Program’s annual “Mock Interview Day” provides student teachers with the opportunity to refine their interviewing skills and receive advice and tips from a distinguished panel of potential employers.

“This event is an invaluable opportunity for our students to prepare for interviews and receive feedback from educators and administrators who often times are the very ones who would be hiring teachers for positions,” said Dr. JerMara Davis-Welch, Assistant Dean & Director of Teacher Education.

This year, a panel of 14 students (comprised of Multiple-Subject, Single-Subject, and Education Specialist candidates) were asked questions about classroom skills, such as successful integration of technology in the classroom, as well as teaching strategies and how those link to the Common Core State Standards. The “mock” interviews were conducted in front of an audience of peer student teachers, university supervisors, and program administrators.

This year’s guest “interviewer” panelists included:

Daniel Brooks, Director of Personnel, Jurupa USD
Wilson Cuellar, Assistant Director, Certified Personnel, Riverside USD
Dr. Marcus Funchess, Director, Certified Human Resources, San Bernardino City USD
Dr. Kip Meyer, Assistant Superintendent, Student & Instructional Support Services, Lake Elsinore USD
Martha Duenas, Director, English Learner Services, Fontana USD
Juan Cabral, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources, Val Verde USD

One of the tips that the panelists provided: Be specific. They encouraged the student teachers to use an example, or to highlight specific skills they gained as a student teacher in the classroom. The panelists also told the students that at least one person on the hiring committee will be a specialist in their specific area of study, so they should also be specific about their specialization.

Students connect with and receive feedback from guest panelists.

The panelists emphasized the importance of working on your personal brand, and making the interviewers also feel comfortable. “Make eye contact and connect with the person. When we are interviewing you, many times, we are also seeing if we can work with you as our future colleague,” said Dr. Meyer.

Providing feedback to the interviewees, Daniel Brooks said, “When we are hiring a teacher, we are looking for people who have a love for kids, and that really came through. It is important to make that part of your personal brand.”

The event was well received by the students in the program. “I learned that storytelling is the most important part of the interview process. You need to be able to tell specific examples of how you helped children. In these stories you should share your passion for teaching and for students. The mock interview process is unique and prepared me for job fairs the following week,” said Jacob Winter, an M.Ed. Candidate and one of the participating panelists.

Jade Arbabi, an audience participant and teacher credential candidate added, “The event gave me insight into what to expect from future interviews. I took a lot of notes so that when I go through the process, I will be that much more prepared.”

The Mock-Interview Day is just one of the events that GSOE’s Teacher Education Program hosts to help student teachers prepare for their careers in education.

For more information on the TE Program, visit their website.

Events

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