Santa Ana Unified School District and UCI School of Education Awarded CTCC Capacity Grant

The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) and UCI's School of Education have been awarded a Capacity Grant by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC). The grant will enable the SAUSD-UCI collaboration to plan a Teacher Residency program for Master of Arts (MAT) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) candidates. The purpose of the grant is to strengthen teacher preparation pathways in teacher shortage areas by encouraging collaboration between local education agencies and institutions of higher education.   

SAUSD and UCI will develop a program that addresses all preparation requirements for the target teaching credential(s) as well as preparation for teaching within the Santa Ana Unified School District. Among other activities, SAUSD and UCI will begin planning how to select qualified residents and mentors, train mentor teachers, provide on-site workshops, select school-site placements, organize residency cohorts, create a seamless transition to induction, and build and maintain support systems for new resident teachers. As required by the Commission’s adopted Teacher Preparation Program Standards, the program will prepare the resident to teach the State Board-adopted academic content standards, using the content pedagogy addressed within the California frameworks. In addition, the teacher residency program will be aligned with the state’s efforts regarding serving all students in the Least Restrictive Environment, Multi-Tiered System of Support, and the Global California 2030 initiative, as appropriate for the residency program.

Leading the collaboration are Alicia Skibby, Human Resources Coordinator for SAUSD, Marjorie Cochran, SAUSD Grant Writer, and School of Education Director of Teacher Education Virginia Panish for UCI. 

Panish sees multiple benefits emerging from this university-community collaboration: "The UCI School of Education and Santa Ana Unified School District have a long-standing relationship built on the desire to improve the lives of all students in our local community. This capacity grant is an opportunity to strengthen our collaboration around teacher preparation, and I am excited about the potential of this partnership to improve instruction in science and math, build professional learning communities at local school sites, and improve teacher retention."  

The Capacity Grant will run for three years, with SAUSD applying for an implementation grant within the first year.   ​

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