From Tutors to School Leaders, UC San Diego Education Studies Shapes the Region’s Classrooms

At schools across San Diego County, students from the University of California San Diego are doing more than observing classrooms. They are tutoring, mentoring, learning from local educators and beginning to see themselves as part of the region’s education system.

For many, that entry point is Partners at Learning, known as PAL, UC San Diego’s largest service-learning program. Through PAL, undergraduates work with local P-12 students and schools while earning course credit and gaining hands-on experience in education.

PAL is one piece of a much larger effort from the Department of Education Studies at UC San Diego to help shape education across the region at nearly every stage of the educator pathway.

Students may begin by tutoring in local classrooms. Some go on to major or minor in Education Studies. Others enter the Teacher Education Program, become classroom teachers, return for professional learning through CREATE, the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence, pursue an EdD or PhD, or move into leadership roles as principals, district administrators and superintendents.