18th anniversary of our collaborative pro-
gram known as the “Compact for Success”
with our higher education partner – San
Diego State University. The Compact for
Success is the Sweetwater District’s guaran-
teed admissions program to San Diego State
University. Compact for Success students
must meet specific performance expecta-
tions starting in grade nine and continuing
through high school. Upon completion of
these requirements, our students are guar-
anteed admission to SDSU.
Sweetwater has removed the national and
international competitive barrier and helped
students to focus on their own efforts in
meeting the requirements of a guaranteed
admission program. SDSU reports that
nearly 5,000 undergraduate students have
matriculated to the university as Compact
Scholars since 2006. (03) Janet Abbott, di-
rector of Compact Scholars and Academic
Student Success Programs at SDSU noted
that “Today, Sweetwater’s college-going
population has increased by 120 percent,
and Compact Scholars boast a 6-year gradu-
ation rate of 68 percent which is well above
the national average 6-year graduation rate
at 59 percent.” (03) This guarantee has bro-
ken the cycle of competition and rejection
for our students. We now have a Compact
Scholar pipeline to our local university that
is the envy of many other districts.
“It Starts With One”
Now, we are “closing the loop” and look-
ing to our Compact Scholars to become the
next generation of educators for our district.
R.I.S.E. - Return, Inspire, become a Sweet-
water Educator, is our district initiative to
recapture our alumni who are interested in
becoming teachers. Through the R.I.S.E.
Program, current SDSU Compact Scholars
who want to become educators are guar-
anteed employment opportunities in the
Sweetwater district. These education stu-
dents that successfully complete all R.I.S.E.
program requirements are guaranteed em-
ployment with the Sweetwater district in the
critical teaching shortage areas of math, sci-
ence, or special education. Other credential
areas also receive preferential consideration.
This initiative was launched in April of
2016 under the leadership Dr. Karen Jan-
Now we are “closing
the loop” and looking to
our Compact Scholars
to become the next
generation of educators
for our district.
ney, SUHSD Superintendent and Dr. Joe
Johnson, SDSU Dean of the College of
Education. Drs. Janney and Johnson believe
returning the R.I.S.E. program is not only
beneficial to Compact Scholars who will
receive employment guarantees, but also to
the entire Sweetwater community that will
be inspired and educated by SDSU alumni
that return to teach in the district. Having
our teaching staff reflect the diversity of our
student population is a district goal. Desiree
Carver-Thomas points out in her research
that, “Teachers of color boost the academic
performance of students of color, includ-
ing improved reading and math test scores,
improved graduation rates, and increases in
aspirations to attend college.” (04)
On January 10, 2018 Ms. Stephanie Bal-
baneda, SUHSD Compact Scholar and
SDSU College of Education graduate, be-
came the first of what we hope will be many
employees hired from our RISE Program.
Ms. Balbaneda teaches mathematics at
Southwest High School. She can relate to
our students because she knows the path
they are travelling. We are proud of Stepha-
nie and her accomplishments. She reflects
the Sweetwater community and this is a
great opportunity to teach, lead and inspire
the next generation.
References
Freedberg, Louis. Teacher shortages per-
sist in California and getting worse in many
communities. EdSource February 20, 2018
Sutcher, L., Carver-Thomas, D., and
Darling-Hammond, L. (2018). Under-
staffed and Underprepared: California Dis-
tricts Report Ongoing Teacher Shortages
(research brief). Palo Alto, CA: Learning
Policy Institute.
Janet Abbott, M.A. (2018) Rising to meet
the teacher shortage by working together
with local partners to address the demand
for STEM and Special Education teachers
in secondary education: A panel discussion
on how a local partnership in California be-
tween San Diego State University and the
Sweetwater Union High School District in-
spires alumni to return to their home district
as classroom teachers. To be Presented at
Hawaii International Conference on Edu-
cation January 2019
Carver-Thomas, D. (2018). Diversify-
ing the teaching profession: How to recruit
and retain teachers of color. Palo Alto, CA:
Learning Policy Institute.
Dr. Thomas Glover is the Assistant
Superintendent of Human Resources with
the Sweetwater Union High School District
January | February 2019
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