Cal State LA MSTI

The Cal State LA MSTI team, comprised of math, science, CS, Technology and education faculty members, has worked to expand the current pathways through new and revised curricula. One area of focus has been on the integrated programs for secondary and middle school math teachers. The campus has successfully modified the existing blended math degree from the quarter system to accommodate all of its 135 units within 4 years in its fast-track math integrated degree program (fITEP).

These integrated degrees allow students to obtain their credential as well as the BS degree within four years, and are very popular. Graduation time can be considerably reduced by focusing on the appropriate coursework along with timely advisement. Alternate routes such as Full and Foundational subject matter program in math, Full subject matter program in science have been developed which act as CSET waivers for non-majors. In addition, online credential courses, online and hybrid early field experience and capstone courses, and two minors in teaching have been developed to provide students with various ways to fulfill their requirements.

An approach that has characterized the work of the campus is the development and articulation of courses with partner community colleges. Cal State LA has worked with Pasadena City College on math and science course patterns to simplify the path for teaching majors that transfer to cal State LA, particularly for the Integrated Math Teaching option. The campus scaled up this model to include seven other partner colleges and plans to scale it up further in the future. Cal State LA is promoting these streamlined programs to the HS partners who are actively participating in the current campus recruitment projects.

A primary campus’ goal is to create streamlined transfer processes for all existing and proposed math and science teaching option degree programs. The MSTI project at Cal State LA has organized annual Community College Conferences (C³) to strengthen existing Cal State LA teacher pipelines. The purpose is to inform the community colleges throughout the region of the transfer patterns that conform with the CSU lower division course patterns and of Cal State LA’s unique programs and opportunities for future STEM teachers. The conference participants now include the feeder HS faculty and administrators, and the event is rebranded as STEM Partnership Conference.

The campus is currently working on building a STEM teacher club to enhance the sense of community, a strategic advisement online hub for its ITEP students, a comprehensive database of alumni, and gathering information to build a teacher retention plan to further advance math and science teacher preparation on the campus and in the region and to establish a long-term program that results in sustained increases in teacher production in these fields.

MSTI Director & Math Liaison
Debasree Raychaudhuri, draycha@calstatela.edu

MSTI Science Liaison
Dr. Jennifer Garrison, jgarris@calstatela.edu ​

MSTI Computer Science Liaison
Dr. David Krum, dkrum@calstatela.edu

MSTI Education Liaison
Dr. Cristina Restrepo Nazar, crestre2@calstatela.edu

Teacher Recruitment Project Director
Dr. Socorro Orozco, sorozco7@calstatela.edu