The Pathways Fellows Program
Since 2016, the Educator Quality Center has partnered with the Sacramento State's Pathways Fellows Program to provide research experience to students and recent graduates admitted into the program. Sacramento State is one of just seven campuses in the United States that receive federal funding through the Pathways Fellows Program to the Education Sciences Research Training Program. The grant title, “Studying Supports and Barriers to and Through Higher Education," conveys its intent to increase diversity in the education sciences by supporting participants as they develop their research skills and prepare for future graduate studies. To meet this objective, fellows benefit from three primary supports: faculty mentorship in a collaborative research project, a paid summer research apprenticeship, and advising for graduate school applications. The Educator Quality Center, located on the Sacramento State campus, annually hosts one fellow as a summer research intern who assists with ongoing projects throughout a 10-week apprenticeship.
This summer, the EdQ team was joined by Giselle Vera, a current Pathways Fellow and master's student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Higher Education Program at Sacramento State. As a fellow, Giselle collaborated with her faculty mentor, from the Department of Sociology at Sacramento State in conducting a qualitative research project, The Chicanx and Latinx Student Perspectives on HSI Representation at California State University, Sacramento, focusing on the impact of the university's designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) on Chicanx and Latinx students' experiences by examining whether they feel adequately supported and represented.
Evaluating the CSU Residency Scholarship Program
Immediately following this project, Giselle began her 10-week summer apprenticeship with EdQ, where she had the opportunity to partake in a quantitative data analysis to evaluate this year's Residency Scholarship Program. Through the CSU Residency Scholarship Program, 114 CSU students in residency teacher preparation programs from 14 campuses were awarded scholarships during the 2022-2023 academic year and 152 CSU students in residency programs from 17 campuses were awarded scholarships during the 2023-2024 academic year, up to their amount of unmet need, not to exceed $5,000. All recipients have verified financial need and are committed to teach in high-needs schools for two years following completion of their credential programs. Campuses who received funding have approved residency programs in elementary and/or secondary teacher preparation. The overwhelming majority of credential candidates in residency programs have verified need, and thus to meet students' financial need, the CSU supported the Yellow Chair funds; a total of $531,081 was awarded for AY 2022-2023 ($516,081 Yellow Chair + $15,000 CSU) and a total of $728,775 was awarded for AY 2023-2024.
To conduct her analysis, Giselle helped design a survey using QuestionPro, an online platform used to conduct surveys for university-related academic purposes, for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 Residency Scholarship recipients. With 73 responses the data revealed the following:
- When combining the data from both academic years, 59% of respondents are teaching full-time and 74% of those teachers are currently teaching in mid-high poverty schools.
- In the 2022-2023 academic year, 92.9% of respondents (26 out of 28) recommended the teacher residency program, while the 2023-2024 cohort showed an even higher approval rate of 97.8% of respondents (44 out of 45). Overall, the data from both years indicate a strong level of satisfaction with the program, as nearly all participants expressed their willingness to recommend it to others.
- In the 2022-2023 year, 67.9% of respondents (19 out of 28) completed their program and secured a full-time teaching position the following fall. Of those 19, there were 12 teachers who taught STEM subjects, making up 62.2% of the total. 1 of those 12 teachers taught single-subject mathematics while the others taught multiple subjects. In the 2023-2024 year, 53.3% of respondents (24 out of 45) completed their program and secured a full-time teaching position in the fall. Of those 24, there were 20 teachers teaching STEM subjects, or 83.3% of the total teachers. EdQ will report whether those teachers taught single-subject STEM subjects or multiple subjects in Spring 2025.
This analysis has greatly enhanced the Pathways Fellow's expertise in research and has provided EdQ essential information for its ongoing projects. The students are incredibly appreciative of the support and have communicated that it will help facilitate completing their programs. These scholarships are making an impact in these prospective teachers' lives and are supporting their success and timely program completion, which will ultimately lead to more qualified teachers across California working in the schools that need them the most. An overwhelming majority of these prospective teachers need funding to successfully complete their residency programs and pursue their passion for teaching and to improve the lives of K-12 students and the greater community.
What's Next for Giselle?
After completing the Pathways Fellows Program, Giselle will continue to work on her thesis project that consists of researching the factors that lead to persistence in Latina and Black women in graduate school. By exploring this topic, she aims to understand and address the challenges and support systems that impact the success of these ethnic groups and hopes to provide valuable insights to help improve the academic experience and outcomes of Latina and Black women in higher education.
Contact: [email protected]