A group of 11 middle-school and high-school aged foster youth living in group homes are benefiting from a collaborative project between Kern County Network for Children/Foster Youth Services and California State University, Bakersfield.

The foster youth are being tutored by seven CSUB students from the School of Education. Carrie Bloxom, supervising case manager for Foster Youth Services, selected foster youth for the project who she thought would benefit most from the extra academic support and mentoring. Kristina LaGue, assistant professor from the School of Education, is directing the project and collecting data to explore the effects of the collaboration on the academic achievement and motivation of the foster youth.

The CSUB tutors are at various stages of achieving their Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential. They have been trained to administer assessments to track areas of strength and need, and are providing instruction to the foster youth in literacy, math, and science.

The foster youth are transported to CSUB twice per week for the tutoring sessions, allowing the foster youth to become familiar with the culture of the university and to experience what it is like to be a student at CSUB.

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