EDCA Correctional and Alternative Education Masters Program
Program Opportunities
The purpose of the Correctional and Alternative Education Program is to help develop an army of change agents to improve and consolidate the delivery of educational services for marginalized students—drop outs, “push outs,” and confined learners. The traditional outcomes of education have been knowledge, skills and attitudes in that priority order, but our goal is to reverse those priorities: attitudes, skills, and knowledge.
Our work has a profound rationale or meaning—to leave the world better off than it was when we first encountered it, to give back to community so interested individuals and groups can transform their lives by aligning their daily experiences with their aspirations.
We do these things in the most difficult settings for education: among students who are often embittered toward education, frequently with educational disabilities and poorly developed self concepts, and among fellow professionals who are not sure whether or how these students can learn. We improve the world one person and one program at a time.
Today correctional education professionals work with (a) students who have dropped out, been pushed out, or experienced repeated failure in the regular schools, (b) embittered and apathetic or alienated learners, (c) a high incidence of educationally disabling, emotional, and/or drug-related problems, and (d) students who lack study skills, often with a history of violence and poor self-concept. In addition, the environments in our training schools, court schools, reformatories, jails, and prisons are often bleak and antithetical to the educational mission. Outside observers expect these conditions to minimize student learning. Yet most correctional education programs demonstrate outstanding success according to all traditional measures of learning gain.
For more information contact Dr. Thom Gehring, the program coordinator. He can be reached at tgehring@csusb.edu or (909)537-5653.
Program Requirements
In addition to the general requirements of the University,
specific requirements for admission to classified status in the
Correctional and Alternative Education Program (EDCA) follow:
- A valid teaching credential or teaching experience;
- A cumulative grade point average of 3.0 (“B”) in
all courses taken in education;
- Completion of the Graduate Entrance Requirement (the Expository
Writing Requirement);
- Three letters of recommendation, one from the school where the candidate has most recently taught or is currently teaching, to be evaluated by faculty members in the program.
Application Process
Complete the online CSUSB Admissions Form that you will
find at CSU Mentor. Parts A and B of the University Graduate
Application Form must be submitted to the Admissions Office six
weeks before the quarter begins.
You must also request official transcripts from all postsecondary institutions you attended; they should be sent to the Admissions Office in University Hall. Applications will not be reviewed unless official transcripts are received and the application fee is paid. If you have any questions about the suitability of transcripts, contact the Admissions office.
Interested persons can follow the links below for more information
