CSUB a leader in getting teachers of color into classrooms

New program at the forefront of CSU-wide effort

By California State University, Bakersfield

August 30^th, 2021

For children of color in Kern County, seeing a teacher who looks like them is all too rare. Differences in culture — even the way teachers and students communicate with one another — can create barriers in the classroom that are difficult to overcome.

“African-American vernacular is considered ‘ghetto’ or ‘uneducated,’ when in reality, it is a dialect, and people don’t see that,” said Dr. Bre Evans-Santiago, chair of the Teacher Education Department at CSUB. “Sometimes our children are treated like they’re uneducated. We need to learn about each other and respect the differences.”

That’s precisely what California State University, Bakersfield and the CSU are doing in launching an ambitious, comprehensive program designed to put more teachers of color in the classroom and deepen understanding and appreciation for the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity of our region’s schoolchildren.

Under the leadership of Dr. Evans-Santiago, the university is part of the CSU Center for Transformational Educator Preparation Programs (CSU CTEPP), which recently received a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will supplement the $300,000 planning grant funds received in 2020.

Bakersfield’s campus will receive $386,000 of the $3 million, which will fund a diversity learning lab developed last year at CSUB, headed by Dr. David Sandles, a leader in the university’s longstanding program to prepare and recruit teachers of color, particularly Black students. A CTEPP team at CSUB will work together to transform our educator prep programs in the next five to seven years.

“We in Bakersfield are housing one of the biggest parts of the center’s initiatives by implementing an equity and excellence certificate program through Extended Education,” said Dr. Evans-Santiago, who said the need in our region for teachers of color is acute.

“When we have meetings, we often ask our peers, ‘How many Black teachers have you had in your lifetime?’” said Dr. Evans-Santiago. “And the answer is one or two. I had a Black teacher twice — the same teacher, in first and fourth grade. Students feel more comfortable when they see someone who mirrors them — when they understand their heritage or cultural background.”

CSUB will offer three asynchronous courses in the fall and spring semesters.

The first course, which will offer a historical framework and explore racism in education, is free and open to anyone, from educators to those seeking professional development to CSUB staff and faculty, as well as students enrolled in the Teacher Education program.

Two other courses are offered for continued education credits through Extended Education, but as of now, there is already a waiting list since the instruction is offered to all CSU campuses.

“In the second course, you dig deeper into who you are and how you contribute to the world,” Dr. Evans-Santiago said. “Where do you fit in. Addressing race is such a taboo topic, and this course should help with building confidence to have the conversations.”

In the spring, the third course will focus on implementing the strategies developed in the first two courses.

At the completion of the three courses, participants will receive a certificate and are considered “CSU equity and excellence certified.”

The courses are funded through the grant for three years, though Dr. Evans-Santiago says the goal is to have the program become self-sustaining to broaden the reach of the transformational courses.

“One secondary teacher can teach up to 100 students per semester, so you think of how exponential that is over a 20-year career span. We’re talking thousands of children influenced by the education we provide," she said. "It’s very important. If we’re not providing what they need, we’re just continuing old cycles.”

Dr. Evans-Santiago hopes educator prep programs will benefit from the deep exploration into inclusion and equity.

“Within our districts, we need to ask what is being done to develop more inclusive practices within our teachers," she said. "Some students in our education program have told us they felt uncomfortable with the teacher they were with, that they didn’t feel understood. There was a disconnect. And that makes it harder for them to thrive.”

The goal to make teachers feel respected and heard is one that the entire region can support, she said:

“We want them to stay. To get them to stay, we need to provide the best education we can.”

In announcing the creation of CSU CTEPP, Dr. Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, CSU assistant vice chancellor of Educator Preparation and Public School Programs, said:

“The ability to recruit, retain and prepare culturally responsive educators is critical to the success of students and the state. CSU CTEPP will allow us to continue and broaden our critical work with even greater impact."

In addition to Bakersfield, other campuses participating in the first phase are Humboldt, Northridge and San Luis Obispo. In spring 2022, there will be an application period to expand the center and add six additional campuses to begin working with CTEPP in fall 2022.

Dr. Evans-Santiago noted that CSUB is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and has an obligation to offer instruction and preparation that meets the needs of its students.

“Does our curriculum reflect our Latinx or Black students? We’re providing knowledge, but are we connecting with them? We as a department do a good job of that and we’re always looking for better ways. But, we have to transform programs so we can ensure new teachers reach children the way we have prepared them to.”