Watson College of Education | 2021 Reflections

Holiday Message From The Dean

As the year 2021 draws to a close, we have many reasons to be thankful. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be coming under control. While there continues to be spikes here and there, life seems to be coming back to a modicum of predictability. It looks like people will be able to go out and do Christmas shopping this holiday season, and families are able to get together, especially if individuals have been vaccinated. It is

The CSUSB College of Education continues to produce highly qualified educators for the Inland Empire region. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, our college has continued to be focused and innovative in the business of preparing educators for the 21st century. In the 2020-2021 academic year our college was able to award 219 master’s degrees, 15 doctoral degrees, and 327 credentials, despite the pandemic.

In the fall of 2019, we launched Project Impact, a program that targets the recruitment, training, and deployment of African American and Hispanic males into the teaching profession. Through Project Impact, our college is increasing the number of African American and Hispanic male teachers in the Inland Empire at the K-12 levels. We believe their presence in the K-12 classrooms will help to narrow the academic achievement gap between African American and Hispanic students and their white or Asian counterparts, as well as increase the number of African American and Hispanic students who go into the STEM disciplines.

Our college is establishing a COE STEM Exploratorium, the first of its kind interactive STEM Laboratory on any CSU campus that will assist the College of Education to engage in a more rigorous program of preparing beginning level teachers to teach in the STEM fields. The Exploratorium will also serve our Inland Empire K-12 students as a place of interactive engagement with the STEM disciplines, with the goal of exciting and propelling students into the STEM disciplines and careers.

These two projects (Project Impact & STEM Exploratorium) represent just a few of the many new initiatives we are undertaking as we work to continue to serve our region and continue to be the premier educator preparation institution in this region.

On November 16, 2021, we held our COE Inaugural Educational Leadership Summit. The summit featured renowned educational leaders such as Dr. Judy White, former Superintendent of the Riverside County Office of Education, and Dr. Tony Thurmond, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Two state senators, Senator Connie Leyva and Senator Rosilicia Ochoa-Bogh, participated in a panel discussion on the future of education in California and the Inland Empire, moderated by Ted Alejandre, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. The conference addressed multiple topics around the challenges of teaching and learning in times of uncertainty, with different speakers addressing the challenges and prospects of education in the Inland Empire, as well as some of the contemporary issues facing schools and educators such as Critical Race Theory. Next year’s conference has been scheduled for Wednesday, November 2, 2022. We invite you to register early to reserve your space.

Looking ahead, our college is about to be named the James & Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education. The Watsons are long-term supporters of the College of Education and CSUSB at large. Once the naming is approved by the CSU Board of Trustees, their $8.4 million gift will help our college to fund many projects among which is our STEM Exploratorium. It will also provide an endowment for sustaining Project Impact, our minority male teacher pipeline program.

We are optimistic about the days ahead as CSUSB College of Education continues to engage the task of producing exceptional educators for the 21st century California schools.

Sincerely,

Chinaka S. DomNwachukwu, Ph.D. Professor & Dean, College of Education, CSUSB

College Endowment

Leaving A Lasting Legacy

Jim & Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education

Jim & Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education

The Cal State San Bernardino College of Education is honored and excited to be named the James and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education! James “Jim” and Judy have been advocates and contributors to CSUSB for over 15 years, demonstrating a key interest in the role the College of Education plays in preparing teachers and educational leaders in the Inland Empire for the benefit of our youth. In 2004, they established a the Watson and Associates Literacy Center in the College of Edu which provides one-to-one tutoring for local students in kindergarten through 12th grade to improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. We are grateful and deeply appreciative to be able to share that Jim and Judy Rodriguez Watson have made a transformative gift of $8 to name our College of Education the James and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education.

This generous gift will support:

• Student scholarships

• A new Center for STEM Education that will be the hub for outreach to underserved populations in the region through our teacher preparation programs.

• Project Impact, a new program aiming to increase diversity in the teacher population through intentional outreach and recruitment toward the K-12 teaching profession in the Inland Empire.

• The Watson and Associates Literacy Centers by adding to

• A Dean’s Endowed Fund to support special projects. This dean’s endowed fund will be the first for our campus.

“Judy and I are honored to make this gift to support the College of Education at California State University, San Bernardino,” said James Watson. “We are passionate about education, and we are especially proud of the significant impact that the university is making in the Inland Empire by providing access to higher education and training for our future teachers, leaders, and workforce. Education opens doors for students to a new world of wonder and learning, and we are delighted to support this mission.” -

Jim & Judy Rodriguez Watson

Jim and Judy Rodriguez Watson

A Catalyst In Education

Dr. Margaret Hill

Dr. Margaret Hill, the recent winner of the Catalyst in Education Award at the 2021 Educational Leadership Summit, was recognized for many years of service to the community and dedication to excellence in education. Dr. Hill earned her early education in the state of Virginia. She received her bachelor’s degree from Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. After moving to California in 1969, she earned her master’s degree and her Administrative Credential at California State University, San Bernardino. She received her doctorate degree in social justice from the University of Redlands in 2011.

Dr. Hill was a teacher, vice-principal, and principal for the San Bernardino City Unified School District for thirty-two years, assistant superintendent for the San Bernardino County Schools Office of Education for six years, and has been an adjunct professor at the University of Redlands and California State University, San Bernardino, and is currently a trustee of the San Bernardino City Schools Board of Trustees.

Life Achievement Award

Dr. Ernest Garcia

Dr. Ernest “Ernie” Garcia, the recent winner of the Life Achievement Award at the 2021 Educational Leadership Summit, was recognized for his many years of service to CSUSB, the San Bernardino community, and dedication to excellence in education while serving as dean of the College of Education at CSUSB. Dr. Garcia is a lifelong educator and advocate for education. His celebrated educational career originated with an associate degree from San Bernardino Valley College, where he majored in Spanish.

After serving in the Korean War, Dr. Garcia went back to school eventually completing his education with a doctorate in instructional technology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1966. Dr. Garcia was an influential teacher at elementary schools in Barstow, Redlands, and Rialto. He later transitioned into an administrative role within the Rialto Unified School District. To make a greater impact in the educational system, he joined the faculty at the University of Redlands as an associate professor of Education in 1967. A year later Dr. Garcia joined the faculty as a professor in the Education Department at California State University, San Bernardino. In 1979, he was selected as dean of the School of Education where he served as administrator until his retirement in 1990.

Dr. Garcia was a Rialto Unified School District trustee from 1970-79, and a Rialto elementary school bears his name. Garcia was selected by UCR as one of 40 graduates who “Made a difference.”

College of Education

STEM Exploratorium

The CSUSB College of Education STEM Center is an intentional and strategic engagement in addressing the opportunities gap in STEM education in the Inland Empire using three Pathways:

• CSUSB Model STEM Exploratorium

• STEM Professional Development Programs

• STEM Teacher Residency Program

It is a multi-pronged approach to closing the opportunities gap in STEM education for K-12 students in the greater Inland Empire region of Southern California.

The Exploratorium will be a university resource center that serves to provide the K-12 population in the region an interactive hands-on engagement with the STEM disciplines beyond the scope and level of Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). The components of the Exploratorium would include: Virtual Reality (VR) Room; Robotics; Color and Lights, Electrical circuits; Building with shapes; Chemical Reactions; Computation; Force and Motion; Green Technology; Human and Animal Body; Plants and the Ecosystem; Design and Modeling; Making; Micro-Organisms; Weather and Climate.

This is an interactive STEM Exploratorium that features programs and activities that would draw the K-12 population in the Inland Empire area to the college campus in the way a typical science or technology center would do.

The STEM Teacher Residency program aims to prepare elementary and middle school teachers for a more intense engagement with STEM disciplines using a residency model. In a residency model, teacher candidates are immersed into the practice of teaching for the entire duration of their training program.

The goal of the residency program is:

• To produce K-12 STEM teachers with a more robust and more in-depth preparation in both pedagogy and the STEM disciplines.

• To produce K-8 teachers who have a deeper knowledge of integrated STEM disciplines.

• To produce K-8 teachers who will have a comfort level in teaching STEM disciplines without fear or hesitation.

• To produce K-8 STEM teachers who will be excited about the STEM fields and transfer the excitement to their students.

The launch of the STEM Exploratorium is set to begin in the spring of 2022.

Project Impact Program

Project Impact is an initiative to increase the diversity of teachers in the region by intentionally recruiting ethnic minority males, with a specific focus on African American and Hispanic males. Just recently, we have decided to expand our reach to include Native American males as well. Project Impact is working to develop highly skilled, collaborative, and inclusive teachers, committed to operating from a restorative justice perspective seeking to promote equitable educational outcomes for ALL students. Project Impact has become a regional undertaking as our college has brought together various educational agencies in the Inland Empire region and we have formed the Inland Empire Minority Male Teacher Pipeline Program. This collaborative is currently made up of Riverside County Office of Education, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, The BLU Educational Foundation, The Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) organization, and several K-12 school districts that are recently joining the collaborative. These organizations are working with our college to recruit, train, deploy, and mentor African American and Hispanic males for the teaching profession.

Programmatic Support Structure

This collaborative is actively working to expand teacher pipeline programs to high schools and community colleges. We are undertaking joint efforts to remove obstacles and make it easier for students to enter the teaching profession from high school and community colleges.

Marcus Reynolds | Project Impact Director

College of Education By the Numbers

Credentials Issued

Enrollment by ethnicity

since 1995

College of Education 2021 enrollment broken down by identified ethnicity.

Hispanic or Latino

58% White

23%

Unspecified African American Asian Nonresident

3%

The Cost of a Teaching Credential

California State University, San Bernardino continues to lead in providing the lowest average cost for a Single Subject, Multiple Subject, or Special Education teaching credential in the Inland Empire.

Average Time to Complete a Teaching Credential

Get done faster and start teaching. CSUSB students averaged 1 year from program start to credential completion of either a Single Subject or Multiple Subject teaching credential. The Special Education credential completion average is 22 months.

Holmes Scholars Program Outstanding Awards

The Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D.) in educational leadership program launched its first year as an American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Holmes Scholars Program affiliate organization. The Holmes Scholars Program supports racially and ethnically diverse students pursuing graduate degrees in education to be future faculty in institutions of higher education. The AACTE Holmes Program was founded in 1991 for doctoral students, providing mentorship, peer support, and professional development opportunities. CSUSB is one of nearly 40 institutions in the program and is the first public university in California to be accepted. The CSUSB Ed.D. Program is the first Ed.D. program in the CSU system to join.

For its inaugural year, the CSUSB Holmes Program selected two Ed.D. students, Angelica Agudo (cohort 15) and Rangel Zarate (cohort 14). Agudo’s research focuses on access to comprehensive colleges for first-generation students of color raised in singleparent homes. Zarate’s research is focused on developing a community of care in higher education, incorporating both academic and mental health support, for Filipino American college students who have experienced or have been affected by raciallytargeted violence in a COVID-era.

Inquiries about the Holmes Program at CSUSB can be directed to the Holmes Program Institution coordinator and doctoral program specialist, Audrey Baca Lopez, Ed.D., at audrey.baca@csusb.edu or Karen Escalante, Ed.D., Holmes Program faculty coordinator at karen.escalante@csusb.edu.

Faculty, Staff and Students

FACULTY & STAFF

Dr. Priyanka Yalamanchili | Outstanding InstructionallyRelated Activities

Dr. Jemma Kim | Outstanding Research, Scholarly or Creative Contribution

Dr. Shannon Sparks | Outstanding Service to the College

Dr. Kathie Phillips | Outstanding Lecturer

Michael Dean Ignacio | Outstanding Staff

STUDENTS

Susan Ortega | Outstanding Doctoral Student

Sandra Pearson | Outstanding COE Graduate Student, School Psychology

Nora Nickoel Ortega | Outstanding Credential Student, School Counseling

Cassandra Taylor | Outstanding Credential Student, School Psychology

Ian Roberts | Outstanding Credential Student, Special Education

Hortencia Garcia | Outstanding Credential Student, Career & Technical Education

Manuel Reyes | Outstanding Credential Student, Educational Administration

Erin Green | Outstanding Credential Student, Multiple Subject

Natassja Romo Martin | Outstanding Credential Student, Single Subjects

Carnegie Project

on the Educational Doctorate (CPED)

In the early 2000s, Dr. Lee Schulman conceptualized the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) as a means to answer the criticism that Ed.D. programs were Ph.D. Lites. The criticism of Ed.D. programs targeted the fact that these programs should be preparing professional practitioners but was instead turning out administrators who were semi-researchers, which was not the intent of Ed.D. programs. Dr. Schulman proposed Ed.D. programs should provide Laboratories of Practice, use inquiry methods to study problems of practice, and have a capstone experience called “Dissertations in Practice.” These dissertations, he stated, should be aimed at solving problems for local school districts and higher education institutions.

Currently, CPED has over 100 members from colleges and universities across the nation. They bring together Ed.D. program directors and deans twice a year for convenings where participants are ‘critical friends’ for each other. The goal of the convenings is threefold: 1) to discuss innovative designs to better align Ed.D. programs with CPED principles; 2) to create, overall, effective programs that prepare professional practitioners; and 3) to demonstrate ways to embed social justice, inclusion, and equity into the curriculum. CPED also hosts numerous workshops and seminars throughout the year for its members.

The CSUSB Ed.D. program has been a member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) since 2010.

During the past year, our Ed.D. program faculty attended the 2021 CPED convening. In addition, the current CPED director, Dr. Jill Perry, provided a 4-hour workshop for our Ed.D. faculty to help them understand how our program might better align with CPED principles. The CSUSB Ed.D. faculty have a committee of faculty who are currently working on looking at ways to use CPED tools, so we are better at preparing educational leaders.

The CSUSB Ed.D. program is in the implementation phase of alignment with the CPED Framework to prepare educational leaders to become wellequipped scholarly practitioners who provide stewardship of the profession and meet the educational challenges of the 21st century.

The CPED Framework consists of three components—a new definition of the Ed.D., a set of guiding principles for program development, and a set of design concepts that serve as program building blocks. Learn more about the CPED Framework here.

Educational Leadership Summit

Presented by CSUSB, College of Education

Tony Thurmond, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, was on this year’s list of high-powered speakers who presented at the 2021 Educational Leadership Summit. The summit theme titled “Navigating K-12 Education in the Midst of Uncertainties,” inspired the long list of presenters including Dr. Judy White, former Riverside County schools superintendent, and Dr. Brian McDaniel, 2018 California Teacher of the Year. State Senators Connie M. Leyva and Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh led by Ted Alejandre, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, conducted an extensive panel discussion on the state of education leaving guests invigorated and engaged to impact their educational environment.

The daylong event provided a learning-rich environment incorporating a who’s-who list of prominent speakers from our surrounding area. Joining Tony Thurmond was Carlos Ayala, CEO of Growing Inland Achievement; Enrique Murillo Jr., CSUSB professor of education and founder and executive director of the Latino Education and Advocacy Days (LEAD) Project; Jackie Maner, principal of Del Vallejo Leadership and STEAM Academy; and Jessica Nerren, CSUSB communication studies faculty member and owner of Felten Media Services.

Longtime area educators Dr. Ernest Garcia, Dean Emeritus of the CSUSB College of Education, and Dr. Margaret Hill, CSUSB alumna ’80, and San Bernardino City Unified School District board members were honored during a lunchtime program. Dr. Garcia was awarded the Life Achievement Award for his life-long service to education and making a difference in his community. Dr. Hill was recognized with the Catalyst In Education Award for her many years of service to the community and dedication to educational excellence.

Tomás D. Morales, President, California State University, San Bernardino, Chinaka DomNwachukwu, Dean, College of Education, California State University, San Bernardino, and Shari McMahan, Provost & Vice President, Academic Affairs, California State University, San Bernardino.

COE Events in 2021

Doctoral Homecoming Reception and Mixer |

Saturday, October 16, 2021

The Cal State San Bernardino Educational Leadership Doctoral Program and the College of Education welcomed back alumni for Homecoming 2021! The doctoral program event celebrated those who have recently graduated, from spring 2020 to spring 2021, and provided a way for doctoral alumni and our doctoral community to reconnect, network, and celebrate the transformational change they are making in the Inland Empire and beyond.

LEAD Media Platform |

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

The Latino Education and Advocacy Days (LEAD) project at CSUSB launched a new digital platform this summer with original programming of its LEAD summits and affiliate programming. Officially launched on Thursday, June 17, it includes a newly created LEAD Media Platform website and a collection of new programming, said Enrique Murillo Jr., CSUSB professor of teacher education and foundations and LEAD executive director.

Celebration of Teaching | Thursday, March 18, 2021

The virtual Celebration of Teaching event invited educators from local districts to talk about job openings and the increasingly attractive compensation packages many local districts now offer to newly hired teachers. Additionally, campus representatives were on hand to talk about the financial aid options available to credential students. This was a great opportunity for prospective and new students to network with faculty and staff as well as current teachers, counselors, and administrators from local school districts.

Ed.D. Alumni Spotlight

Frances Valdovinos, Ed.D.

CSUSB, College of Education Graduate, Spring 2020 Assistant Dean & Director at University of California, Riverside

Felix Zuniga, Ed.D., MBA, PMP

CSUSB, College of Education Graduate, Spring 2021 ITS Campus Engagement Partner California State University, Office of the Chancellor

Jessica Nerren, Ed.D.

CSUSB, College of Education Graduate, Fall 2021 Full-time Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies at CSUSB and Owner of Felten Media Services

Cynthia Elizabeth Britt, Ed.D.

CSUSB, College of Education Graduate, Fall 2021 District Bilingual School Psychologist Bear Valley Unified School District

Audrey Baca Lopez, Ed.D.

CSUSB, College of Education Graduate, Spring 2019 Program Specialist for the Doctoral Program at the CSUSB College of Education