丹尼尔·威尔逊

2024年1月10日

12月一个凉爽的日子里，在琳达b里约热内卢的Vineland幼儿园，特殊教育老师谢尔·邵（Sher Thao）让她的六个学生围在一张桌子旁点名。

“Look who came to school today,” Thao sang, adding each child’s name into the song, followed by the words “came to school today.”

当她唱歌时，萨克拉门托州立教学证书学生贾斯敏·霍华德坐在旁边观察。

Thao and Howard are one of 13 student-mentor pairs in the first cohort of 囊状态 College of Education’s (COE) new 萨克拉门托地铁特殊教育教师实习 (SMSTR) scholarship program.

该项目保证居民毕业后能找到工作，为Sac州立特殊教育证书学生提供了更有意义和支持性的培训体验，同时帮助参与的地区减少人员流失，聘请高素质、积极进取的教师。

Vineland是双子河联合学区的一部分，是萨克拉门托地区10个参与k -12学前教育的学区之一。

对许多学生而言,派驻比支付实习,因为它们提供额外的支持经济上和教室里,辛迪Collado说囊州教育副教授和SMSTR项目协调员。

她补充说，近年来，各学区在完成实习的新教师中，倦怠和离职的情况有所增加。

“Interns are left alone typically, and are often overwhelmed by all of their responsibilities,” Collado said. “I believe the stress they experience is also from doing a job they’re not yet prepared to do with all the expectations of a veteran teacher, and less support.”

“We want (students) to have those skills, but also have a community that helps them find joy in teaching and stay in the field for a long time. This is an investment in them and the future of our career.” ——辛迪·科拉多，萨克州立大学教育学副教授

The SMSTR program is primarily funded by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which recently increased the program’s scholarship from $23,000 to $38,000 per resident.

“Hopefully this will also help us to recruit more residents in the future as well because they’ll receive more compensation for doing the work,” said COE Interim Associate Dean Aaminah Norris, who oversees 囊状态’s residency programs.

在秋季和春季学期被安排到教室接受全职老师的指导之前，住院医生要完成两个高强度的夏季课程。 在完成课程后，他们被聘为下一学年的教师，最好是在同一个学区。

“The students are connected with their colleagues and the other mentor teachers as well, so even if (the job is) not in the district that they're in, at least they know someone in the district,” said Collado.

The residents aren’t the only ones who benefit from the program. SMSTR的导师可以加强他们的指导和培训技能。

“It’s going pretty well,” said Thao, who has taught at Vineland for six years. “I’m kind of stepping into this mentorship thing, it’s kind of really new for me.”

导师参加培训学习如何使用他们的居民,和项目领导工作,确保居民与志趣相投的导师。

“The mentor seminar gives insight on how to work with our mentees and how to coach through certain things and just taking a step back to be more reflective about myself as a mentor and how I can guide Jasmine,” Thao said. SMSTR’s structure sets it apart from other programs, she added.

“You get a taste of (what you’re going to do) before you really get put out there in the real world,” she said.

Howard said working with Thao has been a fairly seamless process and praised 囊状态’s teaching program.

“I feel like they're doing an awesome job, especially with the SMSTR program and partnering up with the residents, of just making sure that we're supported,” Howard said. “It's a great opportunity, especially for people of color.

“That was another reason I wanted to go into this field,” added Howard, who is Black. “So I could be a representative for children who look like me.” That’s a goal she shares with Thao, who is Hmong and said she became a teacher to help underserved communities.

霍华德已经接受了一份毕业后在Vineland的全职教学工作，校长兼特殊教育协调员Johana Scott说，这是她在SMSTR项目中取得成功的直接结果。

“I can see her passion in the classroom,” she said. “I know that she's highly qualified and she really is taking what she's learning in the classroom at 囊状态 into our actual classroom.”

这种输送劳动力的渠道使得SMSTR计划对参与地区来说是无价的。

“It reinforces our district's mission and what we want to do for our children by really putting our words into action,” said Scott. “It means a lot for me as a school leader because I'm getting in on ground zero with one of my future teachers and leaders.”

Amid 持续的教师短缺, Joy Davis, special education director for the Twin Rivers district, said she hopes to see Howard and Thao’s success replicated throughout the program.

“Twin Rivers’ goal is always to build the best possible teams and achieve the best outcomes for students,” she said.

科拉多说，霍华德和邵是一个很好的例子，说明为什么SMSTR项目将继续取得成功。

“We want them to have those skills, but also have a community that helps them find joy in teaching and stay in the field for a long time,” Collado said. “This is an investment in them and the future of our career.”

回到Vineland幼儿园的教室，点名已经结束，孩子们兴奋地参加了一个以节日为主题的数数活动，这是在下午近三个小时的课堂上许多学习经历之一。

坐在纸艺术品和无数的教育玩具中，霍华德对自己的未来感到兴奋。

“This site is wonderful. 我喜欢这里。 I love the environment,” she said. “Everybody is so helpful, so (Vineland) is going to be my home.”

To learn more about the SMSTR program, which is currently accepting applications for its second cohort, 访问其官方网页.