Why the Work that Early Assessment Program (EAP) Coordinators Do Is So Relevant to ERWC and its Stakeholders
By Faye Wong
Let us start with a little history of ERWC and EAP. It all began in the early 2000’s when the California State University (CSU) recognized that first-time students were “lacking” college readiness to be successful. In 2003 with the support of the CSU Chancellor’s Office, a contingent of CSU faculty, high school teachers, and high school administrators began developing and creating the first ERWC instructional modules. The CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing soon joined the project in order to provide administrative support for implementing and evaluating the pilot curriculum.
In October 2003, the CSU made the Early Assessment Program (EAP) a reality. EAP is a collaborative effort between the California State University (CSU), the California Department of Education (CDE), and the State Board of Education (SBE). The EAP educates and collaborates with districts and high school administrators, counselors, students, and parents on college readiness, academic preparation, and promoting the connection and importance of ERWC and 4th year quantitative reasoning math.
While the CSU has evolved over the years to become a student-ready university system that rejects deficit views of learning and learners, the goal of EAP has remained the same: to provide all entering CSU students with the opportunity and support needed to be successful in college-level coursework.
“Good academic preparation in high school is paramount for the success of a student in college, especially during their first year. It heavily influences college persistence, engagement, success, and ultimately timely graduation for students.”
Lesley Davidson-Boyd, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President
Academic Success & Undergraduate Advising
California State University, San Bernardino
A Small Glimpse into the Work that EAP Coordinators Do Behind-the-Scenes that Helps Make ERWC Happen
All 23 CSU EAP coordinators work tirelessly promoting the ERWC curriculum and workshops that are offered in each region. EAP coordinators are the backbone/cornerstone for ERWC information/resources and workshops for districts and high schools. We provide the direct link for districts and high schools as they move towards adopting ERWC and student success.
“EAP coordinators play a vital role both on campus and in the K-12 arena disseminating information on ERWC and other CSU initiatives that focus on student success. They are crucial in creating a pipeline of college bound students who will thrive at the CSU.”
Jyothi Bathina, Ph.D.
Co-Director
CSU Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing (CAR/W)
EAP coordinators can also work in partnership with the ERWC County Office of Education (COE) Regional Leads, except for LA County CSU campuses, to host ERWC workshops. Each region’s collaboration is unique, depending on the amount of involvement EAP coordinators and County Regional Leads have.
For instance, in my region, CSU San Bernardino (Inland Empire), an agreement was made with the COE as to who will set-up workshop dates with high school districts and trainers, find locations to host workshops, determine main contacts for questions and concerns, promote ERWC workshops, and recruit English teachers to attend the professional learning sessions. From there, planning with the workshop trainers for each day of the workshop begins.
Handouts and materials need to be confirmed and made ready for each workshop day. On the day of each workshop, arrival time is 1-2 hours earlier. This early arrival time will ensure that the facility is set-up and ready for trainers and teachers, that books and materials are ready, food has arrived, and we’re ready to trouble shoot during workshop. At the end of each workshop day, clean-up begins, and then we start this cycle again for the next workshop.
“Asking an ERWC workshop facilitator to describe the role her EAP coordinator plays is like asking Space Shuttle Astronauts what role the Launch Director plays.
While I am no NASA astronaut, I do believe Faye can run a small country. As an English teacher, I struggle with titles that don’t adequately encompass the purpose and scope of a job, so it took me a few years of well-oiled workshops to fully grasp the role of ‘EAP Coordinator’; Faye organizes and coordinates the launch, the pilots and the shuttle, ensuring a smooth mission from start to end so that we can, in her words, focus on a high-quality workshop, facilitated with fidelity.”
Cara Ramsay
M.A. Rhetoric and Composition
English Instructor
ERWC Facilitator
In addition to ERWC workshops, EAP coordinators also work endlessly to support districts and high schools in adopting the 11th and 12th grade ERWC curriculum, ensuring that all ERWC adopted high schools UC Doorways CMP course name and transcript abbreviations are correct and that CALPADS code is listed correctly.
EAP Coordinators Rosie Villafana-Hatcher-SDSU (L), Faye Wong-CSUSB (C), Xiomara Melendez-CCP (R) presenting at the 2022 ERWC Literacy and Leadership Conference
This is just the beginning of what EAP coordinators provides for ERWC and stakeholders. Again, each region might operate slightly different, but every region has the same goal–college readiness and academic preparation for students to succeed in college and life. To say that EAP coordinators work has a huge impact on ERWC is just the tip of the iceberg…they should be acknowledged for the 20 plus years of diligent work they do daily for ERWC and stakeholders.
Faye Wong is the Early Assessment Program (EAP) Coordinator at California State University San Bernardino. EAP promotes college readiness, academic preparation, and success. For the past 17 years, Faye has provided information on academic preparation, college readiness, Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC), 4th year math, Early Start Program (ESP), CSU Placement, and Multiple Measures to administrators, counselors, teachers, students, and parents in over 40 high school districts throughout the Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Faye holds a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development from California State University Fullerton and was previously a Program Administrator in the Orange County Department of Education. She has presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Education on school-related issues.
NOTE: Please consider submitting a proposal to present at this year’s ERWC Literacy Conference, to be held June 20th in Sacramento and June 26th in Pomona. Cal State University pays travel costs for selected presenters. See the Call for Presenters here.
Conference registration is now open!
Teaching ERWC 