Awards

To meet the demand for bilingual teachers that represent their diverse communities and special education (SPED) teachers in California public schools, Petaluma City Schools, Old Adobe Unified School District, and South County Consortium in partnership with Sonoma State University’s (SSU) School of Education (SOE), will develop a collaborative partnership, the Petaluma Regional Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Residency (PRDEIR).

The Anthropological Studies Center (ASC) will conduct professional and technical cultural resources work for Caltrans which will support the development and construction of the State transportation system. The ASC's services will be in support of and may be part of the required documentation for project approval under State and Federal environmental laws and regulations.

Sonoma State University's Teacher Residency Programs are committed to cultivating outstanding educators deeply rooted in our community, with a focus on promoting educational equity. This commitment is realized through a comprehensive, high-quality teacher residency program that incorporates expert, long-term mentoring, relevant coursework integrated into clinical practice, and mandatory professional development events for both resident and mentor teachers. 

To meet the increasing demand for bilingual teachers in California public schools, Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) and Santa Rosa City Schools (SRCS), in partnership with Sonoma State University’s (SSU) School of Education (SOE), will expand the existing North Bay Bilingual Teacher Residency Program (NBBTRP) to include future bilingual teachers of grades tk-12.

Focusing on two partner districts’ needs for TK/K, SPED, and BIPOC educators, NBECSR will design a Teacher Residency Program that increases and diversifies the pool of well-qualified teachers by (1) building the capacity of the districts and SSU to plan a successful Teacher Residency that incorporates pre-service teachers in grades TK-5 and (2) recruiting and retaining high-quality local teacher candidates who reflect the demographics of local students.

For over a decade, the MESA statewide grant has been supporting Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) as one of thirteen university academic support programs in public and private California Universities. The goal of MESA at SSU is to increase the number of historically underrepresented students who pursue and persist in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) related degrees and ultimately, careers.

We will conduct an initial scoping of tools and resources that can be used to inform SGC grant and contract guidelines for the UC and CSU systems. Objectives and associated tasks include:

·  Summarizing Best Practices for Measurable Change in California Communities

·  Identifying Case Studies with Examples of Best Practices

·  Developing a Toolset

·  Refining SGC and Member Agency Practices

SSU will train 6 students as "Reading Rescue Tutors". These students will be tutoring elementary-aged children in local elementary schools. Tutors will enroll in EDUC 295 and receive 1 unit credit for 45 hours of in-person tutoring. They will also be paid for the 10 hours of tutor training. This project is being support by the Benedict Silverman Foundation (BSF) who will provide funding for faculty time, tutor training, travel/mileage, supplies, etc.

Sonoma State University will continue leading the CSU Maker Initiative through the support of a model Makerspace in the library, expand the scope of the Maker Certificate Program to include higher education faculty and librarians, and convene a summit with a focus on advancing Maker in K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities. This Initiative supports the Chancellor’s Office project, “Teacher Excellence Project 2023-2024: Increasing Effective Practices on STEM Recruitment and Retention, Maker, and Sustainable and Environmental Literacy Education".

This project will enable the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies to establish new criteria for transformative texts; revise and revitalize curriculum pathways and advising to conform to state and institutional demands; and most importantly, develop an implementation proposal to expand the Hutchins GE lower division curriculum to a large percentage of the incoming student body through SSU's First Year Experience (FYE) program.