Two cohorts from the Kern Master’s Upskilling Program (MA English) are eligible to participate and walk in the 2024 National University Commencement May 18 at Petco Park in San Diego. The program’s high school teacher participants are now qualified to teach English dual enrollment community college courses on their respective campuses. A third English cohort and the first Kern math cohort graduate in June.
Kern Master’s Upskilling Program
reaches another milestone
Second English cohort graduation – recruitment underway for a fall math cohort
The Kern Master’s Upskilling Program for high school teachers seeking a master’s degree in English or Math that qualifies them to teach dual enrollment courses at their respective campuses reached its second milestone last month when 11 participants completed post-baccalaureate requirements in English through National University.
Formally known as the Dual Enrollment Teacher Upskilling Pathway for English and Mathematics, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium initiative is in partnership with the Kern Regional K-16 Education Collaborative that was funded as part of an $18 million statewide competitive grant in June 2022 to improve student progress from high school to postsecondary education and ultimately into the workforce.
The program also announced recruitment is underway for a third math cohort of 21 students to begin this fall for completion in spring 2026 though Fresno Pacific University in concert with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS), which serves as the administrative agent for the Kern K-16 Collaborative.
Informational meetings are set for March 21 and April 11 at 4:30 p.m.
A potential fourth English cohort pilot through CSU, Bakersfield with seven students is also in the works said Tom Burke, CVHEC’s Kern Masters Upskilling Program lead who reports that the program progress “has been very good” since it was funded two years ago.
“With the first two cohorts of English graduates to be joined by our first cohort of math graduates this summer, we are well on the way to significantly increasing the number of faculty in Kern County eligible to teach dual enrollment or community college courses in math and English,” Burke said.
The January graduation follows the first cohort of 11 English students who graduated in September for the innovative state-funded CVHEC initiative that helps reduce the cost of tuition for high school teachers to pursue a master’s degree, a state requirement to teach community college dual enrollment courses.
Each NU cohort group of students is eligible to participate and walk in the 2024 Commencement services set for Saturday, May 18, at Petco Park in San Diego, said Jessica Gladney, senior director for Partnership Development/ Workforce Education Solutions for National University,
The first Kern Master’s Upskilling Program cohort — MA, English with a specialization in Rhetoric — began in January 2023 with 13 out of 15 students completing their program in November 2023 (nine of the 13 will graduate with honors with a grade point average of 3.85 and above).
The two remaining students are currently in the process of completing their capstone, which is the culminating course of the master’s program, Gladney said.
The second Kern Master’s Upskilling Program cohort of MA, English with a specialization in Rhetoric, began in March 2023, and 10 out of 15 students completed their program in January 2024. The remaining students are currently in the process of completing their capstone course, Gladney reports.
She said each NU cohort group of students is eligible to participate and walk in the 2024 Commencement services set for Saturday, May 18, at Petco Park in San Diego.
“We are proud of these candidates and we are excited to assist with building a qualified candidate pool of eligible dual-enrollment English teachers to meet the workforce demands in the Central Valley,” Gladney said.
CVHEC, made up of 28 institutions of higher education in the valley’s nine-county region from San Joaquin to Kern counties, is one of several partners in the Kern Collaborative.
South Valley CVHEC members include California State University, Bakersfield; Kern Community College District; Bakersfield College; Cerro Coso College; Taft College; Porterville College; Fresno Pacific University; and National University.
The project also includes the CVHEC Mentor Program that pairs the master’s candidates with a community college mentor to support them along the way and help them navigate the process to becoming an adjunct community college faculty member.
Under coordinators Dr. Liz Rozell (math) and Dr. Vikash Lakhani (English), the program is still accepting community college professors to serve as mentors, Burke said.
For more details about the fall 2024 math cohort through Fresno Pacific, potential students can contact:
- Manjula Joseph, program director – manjula.joseph@fresno.edu or 559.453.2096
- Nathan Lyness, senior Outreach & Admissions representative – nathan.lyness@fresno.edu or 559.453.7183
See:
- CVHEC Teacher Upskilling Program for Master’s Degrees Supports Dual Enrollment in South Valley via Kern K-16 Collaborative Grant (June 23, 2022)
- Rozell, Lakhani Named CVHEC’s Kern Faculty Mentor Coordinators (February 22, 2023)
- CVHEC IN THE NEWS: KBAK features Kern Master’s Upskill Program (November 17, 2022)
- Tom Burke Named Kern Master’s Upskill Lead (November 16, 2022)
- Herrera to Head Kern Regional K-16 Education Collaborative (July 13, 2022)
- KCSOS Mary Barlow Announces $18.1M Workforce Grant (KCSOS press release – June 9, 2022)
- “Blurring the Lines Between High School and College: Dual Enrollment in the Central Valley”(CVHEC video – March 2022)
Math Task Force Convening Jan. 26:
‘Central Valley Way To AB1705 Success’
With the agenda released this week, over 60 Central Valley math education experts will convene in Fresno Jan. 26 to plan math pathways for student success as they brainstorm within five strands of implementation around Assembly Bill 1705 that goes into effect this summer.
The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium’s “Central Valley Way To AB1705 Success” Convening from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Fresno Convention Center, will bring together community college math educators, administrators and institutional researchers.
Presented by the CVHEC Math Task Force and facilitated by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the convening is free with advance registration and includes lunch.
Discussion for the historic convening — with administrators and IR experts joining in the conversation — will center around five strands that the region’s community college math academicians can undertake for student success when the new law goes into effect July 1: Validating Prerequisites; Designing Precalculus for 2025; Math Support Outside and Inside the Classroom; Building an AB 1705 Campus Team; and Guided Self-Placement.
Five Math Task Force members serving as strand leads are: Jeremy Brandl, Fresno City College math professor; Nathan Cahoon and Shelley Getty, both Taft College math professors; Marie Bruley, Merced College dean of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM); and Jay Thomas, West Hills College Lemoore math professor.
After the event opens with a welcome and brief introductions, the strand subcommittees open the discussion by presenting reports regarding preliminary strand deliberations over the past few months that started at three meetings the Math Task Force held in the fall.
Participants will then break into tabletop talks for feedback and to brainstorm new ideas, a timeline and next steps followed by report outs of those subcommittee sessions.
Following lunch, the participants will break into their respective college teams to discuss “Preliminary College Plans” in two parts: “Validating Prerequisites Between Now and July 1, 2024;” and “Developing New/Revised Curriculum to Take Effect July 1, 2025.”
“College Team Report Outs” will follow before the final session “Where Do We Go From Here?” looks towards the future and the role of Math Task Force sub-committees, college teams and CVHEC.
Dr. Benjamín Durán of CVHEC with Dana Center reps Joan Zoellner and Tammi Perez-Rice at the Oct. 13 Math Task Force convening in Fresno.
Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director, said, “We are proud that our Central Valley community colleges are leaning in on the expertise of their own math experts to figure out the best way to support our students within the guidelines of the legislation.”
AB 1705 — passed in 2022 for implementation July 1, 2024 — expands the provisions established in AB 705 (2017) by explicitly requiring community colleges not only to place students directly into transfer-level English and math courses but also to ensure that students actually enroll in those courses.
The legislation also establishes that for students who need or desire extra academic support, community colleges shall provide access to such support. The new law clarifies that a community college can require students to enroll in additional concurrent support if it is determined that the support will increase the student’s likelihood of passing transfer-level English or math.
Community colleges have been tasked with ensuring they comply with both AB705 and AB1705 designed to strengthen support for student success and increase degree completion.
CVHEC helped start the conversation by bringing together its Math Task Force — made up of representatives from CVHEC community colleges — and other math educators to discuss ideas and options regarding implementation within the Central Valley community college mathematics community last fall.
Dr. John Spevak, CVHEC regional coordinator
In three virtual sessions and one in-person convening in 2023, the Math Task Force created a collaborative “Central Valley Approach” to each, said Dr. John Spevak, CVHEC regional coordinator who oversees the consortium’s Math and English Task Forces.
“Now, for the January session, administrators and researchers are joining the Math Task Force to develop data-driven and college-endorsed solutions that help meet the challenge head on and in unity for the best interests of students.”
The fall inaugural sessions were facilitated by two Dana Center representatives who will return to Fresno for the Jan. 26 convening: Joan Zoellner, M.A., who is the lead for the Dana Center’s Launch Years Initiative; and Dr. Tammi Perez-Rice, Postsecondary Course Program specialist.
Dr. Erik Cooper, assistant vice chancellor of the California Community College Chancellor’s Office Cooper, also participated in the first virtual session to discuss the recent history of math education reform in California and answer questions as well as present the CCCCO’s AB 1705 Implementation Guide and FAQ webpage.
“With the passage of AB 705 then later 1705 – all designed to strengthen support for student success – CVHEC has been moving full steam ahead in assuring that our member colleges and their feeder high schools have a good understanding of the seemingly turbulent waters of the legislation,” Durán said.
Strand breakdown:
- Validating prerequisites — quantitative and qualitative: creating a Central Valley collaborative approach which would help make a strong case with the state. Point person: NATHAN CAHOON, Taft College math professor.
- Designing Precalculus for 2025: An effective single-course prerequisite for Calculus 1 (especially valuable if the state allows in 2025-26 only one prerequisite course for Calculus 1). Point person: JEREMY BRANDL, Fresno City College math professor.
- Math support outside and inside the classroom: What’s working best in the Central Valley, including math lab centers, tutoring, embedded tutoring, supplemental instruction, etc. Point person: SHELLEY GETTY, Taft College math professor.
- Building an AB 1705 campus team: Who needs to be on the team? Math and English professors, IR/IT staff, counselors, administrators, etc. How does it best function? Point person: MARIE BRULEY, Merced College dean of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
- Guided self-placement: Helping ensure with the best possible questionnaire that students are taking the right math class when they start college. Point person: JAY THOMAS, West Hills College Lemoore math professor.
(Links to recordings of the two previous sessions are available below).
REGISTER – “The CVHEC Way to Math Success — Implementing AB1705” (Jan. 26, 2024)
EVENT AGENDA For questions: centralvalleyhec@gmail.com.
For media inquiries: Tom Uribes 559.348.3278 (text msg) or cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu
SEE:
- Previous sessions recordings:
CVHEC “AB1705 in the Central Valley” Webinar with Dr. Erik Cooper Oct. 6, 2023
MTF meeting Nov. 17 (10 a.m. session)
MTF meeting Nov. 17 (1 p.m. session)
- Coverage of the fall sessions:
Math Task Force begins discussion of AB1705 implementation – Nov. 17 next (with Oct. 13 photo gallery).
CVHEC Math Task Force meets in-person Oct. 13 for AB 1705 follow-up
NEWS RELEASE – CVHEC Math Task Force: Impactful legislation (AB 1705) Convenings Oct. 6 & 13
- The CCCCO’s AB 1705 Implementation Guideand FAQ webpage.
- The CVHEC Math Task Force
Dr. Erik Cooper of the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office zoomed into the Oct. 6 CVHEC Math Task Force session to address AB1705 implementation.
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