Funding will support the development of an instrument to measure student “creative confidence,” as well as an outreach campaign based on “college is for all” messaging. It will also help 8th-grade students attend creative learning activities to improve awareness about workplace skills and knowledge.

Funding will be used to recruit and train 22 academic fellows per academic year from the CSUSB Undocumented Student Success Center, Office of Pre-College Programs, and 2020 alumni. Fellows will receive professional development, while working on completion campaigns, mentoring, and advising students toward achieving college degrees.

Funding will be used to implement the “College is 4 You” project that focuses on reaching African American males and other underserved groups to close the equity gap in education. Campaign messaging of “College is 4 You” will be promoted through a regional marketing campaign. High school students will serve as brand ambassadors who will help with social media marketing while Promise Scholars College Advisors will support and guide brand ambassadors. Activities include workshops, values affirmations exercises, video messages, social media posts, and texting campaigns.

Funding will help to increase middle school awareness of college eligibility and providing a systematic prep system leading to 9th-grade A-G on-track schedule. Activities will include a monthly meeting to share ideas at sites, middle school transcript analysis (HS readiness indicator), site-based parent engagement programs, and a “College Making it Happen” themed event for middle school students.

Chaffey College’s InTech Center is currently the largest and most responsive training center in the region where students can obtain the skills they need in today’s workforce environment.

The $150,000 award from Growing Inland Achievement will support the development of a model Conventional Machinist Training (CMT) program that is scalable, sustainable, and replicable. This program will provide students with the fundamentals of machining and machine repair. Upon program completion, students will have the needed skills set to find entry-mid level employment as an operator of a lathe, mill, grinder, drill press, etc. in the machining and tooling industry.

Need for remediation in math and English at the college-level is a costly and widespread problem in the United States. It has been estimated that nationally the cost of remedial education is over 1 billion dollars per year
(Saxton & Boylan, 2001). This is a particular problem within California public colleges and universities. Students who require remediation at matriculation are far less likely to earn their degree. If they do remain enrolled, those students on average take longer to complete their degree than those without the need for remediation.

The Department of Mathematics and the Office of Undergraduate Studies at CSUSB was awarded $150,000 to develop and test a lab course, Quant Lab, that will provide co-requisite support to students needing remediation to
succeed in General Education math courses. The new course will be piloted during the 2017-2018 academic year (AY) and within the summer 2018 Coyote First STEP (CFS) summer program for underprepared first year students.

This aligns with two GIA’s goals: (1) Increase college preparedness, particularly in math, resulting in 20% reduction in number of students requiring remediation at matriculation from high school to college within 5 years; and (2) to increase baccalaureate, associate, certificate, and credential attainment by 15% across San Bernardino and Riverside counties within five years.

The Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE) has a long history of working collaboratively and supporting 23 districts through network activities. Through continuing this work, and with the development of the Riverside County Education Collaborative (RCEC), RCOE is uniquely positioned to build districts’ capacity to lead change at a local level, build awareness of pressing challenges, identify solutions, and to scale up innovative and effective practices to dramatically impact student
achievement across our region and state.

As the lead entity, RCOE has made a strong commitment to this work by creating a College and Career Readiness (CCR) unit which consists of an Executive Director, a Director, and a Coordinator of counseling services. Additional support comes from eight Temporary Management Specialists who are experts at their site in addressing and improving state and national college and career indicators. This level of staffing confirms the commitment RCOE has to ensure all students are college and career ready as well as improve post- secondary enrollment and persistency in Riverside County.

The $150,000 award from GIA will be used over the course of two years to help build capacity of the districts and expand the college and career readiness activities in the Riverside region. This also aligns with GIA’s goals to increase college preparedness, particularly in math, as well as increase baccalaureate, associate, certificate, and credential attainment by 15% across San Bernardino and Riverside counties within five years.