Kern Master’s Upskill Program nears half-way mark
The drive is on to place the program’s master’s grads
in Kern community college adjunct spots
The Kern Master’s Upskill Program continues to forge ahead as four cohorts of high school teachers are halfway to its goal of 100 new master’s degrees which qualifies the teachers for instruction of dual enrollment courses at Kern County high schools.
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 under the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS), which serves as the administrative agent for the Kern K-16 Collaborative.
CVHEC first started the Teacher Upskilling component in Fresno County in 2021 with similar state funding through the Fresno/Madera K-16 Collaborative before teaming up with its Kern partners for $1.7 million to produce, over three years, up to 100 qualified dual enrollment teachers to teach English and Math.
This year, the CVHEC program is also expanding into the North Valley with two $400,000 state grants in partnership with the WE Will! K-16 Collaborative with 24 slots – 12 in English and 12 in math (see the We Will story in this issue).
CVHEC’s Teacher Upskilling program is in partnership with two consortium members: Fresno Pacific University offers a Master’s degree in Mathematics education and National University offers a Master’s degree program in English.
In the past academic year, 48 students earned their English and math master’s degrees and now the program is in full gear for the next step, said Tom Burke, CVHEC’s Kern Masters Upskilling Program lead.
“Our faculty mentors and mentor coordinators are currently working with the graduates to get them into the adjunct hiring pools for Bakersfield College, Cerro Coso Community College, Porterville College and Taft College. “This is the initial step toward teaching dual enrollment at Kern County high schools.”
He provided this breakdown of the current Kern progress since the program began in 2022:
English MA Summary:
- In three cohorts to date, 32 students have graduated.
- Also from those first 3 cohorts, nine master’s candidates have received in progress grades and are working to complete their capstone course towards meeting their full degree requirements.
- A fourth cohort in English is in development.
Math MA Summary:
- Sixteen (16) students from cohort 1 have graduated.
- Cohort 2 currently has 11 students on course to graduate in spring 2025.
- Cohort 3 commences this semester (fall 2024) with 22 master’s candidates and will complete in spring 2026.
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. In Kern, the mentor coordinators are Dr. Liz Rozell (math) and Dr. Vikash Lakhani (English).
Burke said the program is currently recruiting for math mentors while mentor recruitment for the new north valley We Will initiative will begin lagter in the fall semester.
See:
- Fresno Pacific University Math MA Program
- National University English MA program
- Kern Master’s Upskilling Program: 2nd cohort graduates – next cohort recruitment underway
- 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)
