Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College
Pathway to Teaching Programs Launch Careers and Generate Support
The Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Pathway to Teaching programs at Santa Ana and Santiago Canyon colleges continue to attract honors and generate grants. More significantly, they persist in launching the teaching careers of numerous K-12 teachers in Orange County and beyond.
These future teachers also come from diverse backgrounds and are better-prepared, thanks to the pathway and numerous preparation programs offered by the district and its partners.
“We have a commitment to serve a rich, diverse population and to offer robust programs to prepare them for employment and the pursuit of bachelor’s degrees," notes Janis Perry, facilitator for Santiago Canyon College’s (SCC) Pathway to Teaching program.
As a result, Perry says, SCC students studying to become teachers are well-prepared once they transfer to universities and are more likely to remain in the field.
The Center for Teacher Education has operated at Santa Ana College (SAC) since 1999 to assist California in meeting the statewide teacher shortage. The center identifies students who want to become teachers and supports them through their community college experience and their transfer to universities, says counselor Steve Bautista, center coordinator.
Both colleges offer teacher pathway programs at local high schools, including Orange and Century, say Perry and Bautista, in which participating dual-enrollment students can earn college credit while taking courses at their high school campuses. If students complete all the courses, they earn certification to become after-school assistants, allowing them to earn money as they continue their education.
In recognition of its more than 20 years’ collaboration with Cal State Fullerton, RSCCD received the Distinguished Education Excellence Award from the university’s College of Education in March. The district and its colleges have collaborated on various projects to increase the preparedness and diversity of K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers. This long-term partnership has included five different multi-year programs aimed at preparing students with the knowledge they need to become successful teachers.
In 2014, the California Career Pathways Trust awarded $6 million to fund the Orange County Teacher Pathway Partnership that targets the Careers in Education program of study for the education, child development, and family services industry sector. The consortium includes SCC, SAC, Fullerton College (FC), five K-12 districts (Orange, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Anaheim and Fullerton), CSUF, JPL/NASA, Project Tomorrow, business partners, community partners, and the Santa Ana and Anaheim Workforce Investment Boards.
The vision of the partnership is to provide multiple opportunities to students for employment and education as they persist along the Careers in Education Pathway.
It has supported a STEM Institute for Future Teachers that builds science knowledge for future elementary teachers as well as develops pedagogical skills. Future teachers from SCC, SAC, and FC cross-enroll at CSUF in a Science for Educators course, receive pedagogical training from CSUF College of Education faculty, obtain science lesson training from JPL/NASA educators and then teach those lessons to school-age children in after-school programs or summer camps via Anaheim Achieves YMCA programs. Evaluations reflect that students gain confidence in science knowledge and pedagogy and are motivated to earn a teaching credential.
Lucy, a SAC student, worked at the after-school program at THINK Together, transferred to Cal State Fullerton as a child development major, and now is in UCLA’s graduate program in education, Bautista notes.
“She continues to find her passion for teaching and believes in teaching in the social justice context of making positive change for her students,” Bautista says. “Lucy wants to return to Santa Ana to work in a community that needs that kind of support. Every step of the way she has made the most of her opportunities.”
