Improving California’s Literacy One Classroom At A Time: Recent CSUEB Graduate Aims To Strengthen Her Elementary School Students’ Reading Abilities
BY ELIAS BARBOZA
According to the latest study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, 40% of California’s fourth graders read below their grade level, the highest percentage in 20 years. This outcome is likely due to the state’s challenging teacher shortage, according to the Learning Policy Institute. One of those elementary school teachers is dedicating her career to combat the rising reading challenges of 4th graders and improve literacy in the classroom.
Her name is Jocelyn Garcia, a recent Master of Science in Reading and Literacy Program graduate and current fourth grade teacher at Grant Elementary School in San Lorenzo.
“We’re in a reading crisis,” said Garcia. “It’s all students, K through12. But that feeling of being able to have the skills to help kids become stronger readers and get them where they need to be makes me feel better and hopeful for our future.”
During the school year, Garcia begins each day preparing her classroom at 8 a.m. When her fourth-graders walk in 30 minutes later, she checks in with her students, asking how they’re doing and playing a short game to build community. In the afternoon, Garcia teaches her class math, science or history. But every morning she jumps into one of her most important roles: teaching her students how to read. She divides the young pupils into small groups and provides lessons in writing and phonics. Her students also learn how to write informative opinions and short stories.
“I just finished my third year of teaching, and I love it,” said Garcia, who instructs an average of 27 students per school year. “I love sharing knowledge and watching my kids make progress, especially in reading. It’s fun seeing them get excited about things and when they “get it” it boosts their confidence.”
Because of the MSRL Program, Garcia said she is now able to better teach her students how to read.
“I felt accomplished, and I felt a lot of growth in myself as a reading teacher because of the program,” said Garcia. “I now know more assessments and ways to identify and target areas of need that my students have, so in the future all my kids can have a better reading teacher and make progress in their reading skills, fluency and comprehension.”
Cal State East Bay's MSRL is a one-year, fully-online program designed for the working professional who wants to become a mentor, trainer and leader in literacy instruction.
“A lot of teaching credential programs don’t prepare you well enough so I feel like [the MSRL] definitely gives you the skills,” said Garcia, who also recommends the program to parents with young children. “With this program I was exposed to a lot of different curriculum and training on different assessments and that was really helpful for me because I’m still a fairly new teacher.”
One of Garcia’s favorite aspects about the program is how it’s structured, she said. She never worried about it interfering with her job or having to take time off for a class or homework. But what Garcia praised most were the instructors.
"I really loved the instructors because they’re very supportive,” said Garcia. She experienced several personal and family struggles during her time in the program but was able to complete her tasks due to the caring nature and flexibility of the instructors, she said. “They were always there. They go above and beyond to get to know you as a person, not just a student."
During her time in the MSRL Program, Garcia participated and won second place in CSUEB’s Grad Slam Research Presentation Competition, a campus-wide contest open to all graduate students for the best short style research presentation. Her research focused on techniques that are used to teach bilingual students how to better read English, such as explaining the meaning of specific suffixes and prefixes. The six participants were fourth grade students who spoke English as a second language, originally speaking Spanish, Mandarin, Farsi or Tagalog. Garcia spent one month trying out the techniques she learned in the MSRL Program to help the students become better readers. The outcome proved to be successful, showing each student improved their reading comprehension significantly.
“Grad Slam is important and winning it means to me that I felt accomplished,” said Garcia. “I like knowing that my research interests others and it could potentially spark future research and expand the study.”
In a few decades Garcia plans to become a university professor. For the time being, she will continue teaching fourth grade and using what she learned in the MSRL Program to bolster her students’ reading abilities, she said.
“[Prior to the program] I didn’t feel confident that I had the skills to teach kids to read,” said Garcia. “But once I finished this program I was like, “Oh yeah, I can teach any grade, and I can give them the skills they need.”
Return to Cal State East Bay Blog »
Online MS in Reading and Literacy
Take your career and your students' learning to the next level with our cutting-edge program. Strengthen your teaching, assessment, and intervention skills and develop the confidence and expertise that will distinguish you as a literacy leader. Learn more here.
