San Diego—A program launched at California State University, San Marcos, to train student teachers to work more effectively with foster care youth is a finalist for the prestigious Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaborations. The winner will be announced by former President Carter and his wife at the National Conference for Volunteering and Services tomorrow in Atlanta.
Created six years ago with help from the Casey Family Programs foundation, Tutor Connection is a multi-agency collaboration dedicated to closing the educational achievement gap for foster children in San Diego County.
The effort has allowed 1,250 student teachers to work directly with children in foster care to improve academic performance. More than1,500 foster care youth have participated in the Tutor Connection program, with promising results for these uniquely vulnerable students:
- Reading scores have increased significantly for 69 percent of the youth
- Standard scores increased in at least one subject area for over 80 percent
As a result of Tutor Connection’s efforts, more teachers will enter the profession with the experience and skills needed to help children in foster care achieve the same academic standards as their general population peers.
Tutor Connection began in 2002 in partnership with California State University, San Marcos. Today, program partners include California State San Marcos College of Education and Office of Community Service Learning, San Diego County Office of Education, Foster Youth Services, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, Child Welfare Services, and Casey Family Programs.
The Tutor Connection is part of Casey Family Programs “2020 Strategy,” which calls for comprehensive change in the child welfare system. By the year 2020, Casey Family Programs is committed to:
- Safely reduce the number of children in foster care by half.
- Reinvest the savings to improve the child welfare system.
- Improve education, job opportunities and mental health services for children in foster care.