My EdTech Life

How CTE Really Works for Students ft. Dr. Joey Mendoza | My EdTech Life 344

• Dr. Alfonso Mendoza • Season 1 • Episode 344

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How CTE Really Works for Students ft. Dr. Joey Mendoza | My EdTech Life 344

CTE is changing fast. Certifications, digital skills, pathways, tutoring, attendance, career pipelines—there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Joey Mendoza, a South Texas educator and freshly-minted doctoral researcher who has worked across classrooms, regional service centers, EdTech companies, and now the CTE space with YaizY. 

We unpack what CTE really looks like today: what works, what doesn’t, where students get stuck, and why attendance—yes, attendance—may matter more than tutoring when it comes to math achievement. We also break down how digital-first CTE programs can help students earn real certifications that actually translate into job-ready skills. 

Timestamps:
0:00 Welcome And Sponsor Shoutouts
1:16 Introducing Dr. Joey Mendoza
2:50 From Classroom To Edtech And STEM
5:20 Hands‑On STEM And Student Impact
8:05 Entering CTE: Digital Skills And Pathways
11:07 Digital Nomads And Remote Work Futures
13:18 Certifications And Early Pathway Access
16:20 Myths And Mindsets About CTE
19:10 Funding, Access, And Stacking Credentials
22:00 How YaizY Works From Grade 4 Up
24:20 Barriers To Strong CTE Programs
28:10 Culture, Data, And ROI In CTE
31:10 Why Districts Must Lead With Industry
32:32 Dissertation Setup: Tutoring And STAR Math
34:30 Key Finding: Attendance Outweighs Tutoring
37:10 Rethinking Tutoring, Fidelity, And Alignment
39:40 Attendance Realities And Family Factors
42:00 Next Steps For After‑School Effectiveness
44:00 Closing Thoughts And Rapid‑Fire Questions
47:10 Thank Yous, Links, And Sign‑Off

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Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Hello, everybody, and welcome to another great episode of My EdTech Life. Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful day. And wherever it is that you're joining us from around the world, as always, we appreciate all the likes, the shares, the follows. Thank you so much for engaging with our content. And all of this would not be possible if it wasn't for our amazing sponsors. Thank you so much, Book Creator, Eduaid, Yellow Dig, and Peelback Education for believing in our mission to bring these amazing conversations to continue to help our educators continue to grow per professionally and personally as well. So thank you so much. And if you're interested in becoming a sponsor for this coming new year, please shoot me a message at myedtech.live forward slash contacts. And we can definitely talk about that as the new year is filling up. But I am excited about today's conversation. Uh, I have been following our guests for a while now and going back and forth on LinkedIn. And it's just been a pleasure to see his uh progress, his growth, working from companies and now a freshly minted doctor. And I am excited to welcome to the show Dr. Mendoza, and that's Dr. Joey Mendoza. So, how are you today, Joey?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Good morning, Doc. Thank you for having me, Dr. Mendoza. I'm doing well uh here in Corpus Christi, Texas, so not too far from where you're at. But yeah, thanks for having me on the show. I like you, been following me on LinkedIn, some of the episodes, and I was like, you know what? I like the topics that they're relevant. You do the English and the Spanish, and I'm like, yeah, let's do it. So yeah, thank you for having me.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Yeah, no, excited to have you here. And also, it was a pleasure to have met you in person at ISTE this past year. You know, I'm just walking by there, the booths, and then all of a sudden it's like, hey, it's Joey, and and it's fantastic, you know, getting to meet in real life and making that connection. And like you said, just uh the proximity to one another and just you know, knowing this region very well. And it's always great to highlight educators here from our Valley region, Rio Grande Valley, this area, South Texas, and everything. And that's just fantastic. So thank you for being on the show today. So I'm really excited about today, uh, Joey, because again, like I mentioned, freshly minted doctors. So I'm really excited to learn and having our guests learn a little bit more about your dissertation topic because I thought and I found it very interesting. We'll talk about that, and of course, we'll talk about a little bit about your education background and the work that you're doing now with this great company, and we'll get into that in just a second. But before we dive in, just so our audience members know you a little bit more, can you give us a little brief introduction and what your context is within the education space?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Sure. Yeah, I'm currently working for a company called YeAZ in the ed tech sector, CTE, STEM space, right? And prior to that, I was with another company. Prior to that, I worked for an education regional center here in Corpus. And then prior to that, I was an administrator, teacher, coach, substitute, all that good stuff, right? So I I've been through uh the K through 12 system on the ed tech side um now. And so having a blend of both worlds, I think it's unique, and and we can dive into that. Uh you're in the same right kind of row where you have a foot in both, right? And so it definitely shaped my thinking, my experiences, and then definitely shape my uh doctoral program or my dissertation um that's gonna get published here soon.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

So yeah. Excellent. Well, I'm excited about that. So let's talk first about just uh your experience because well, before we dive into the dissertation, I know that I knew you from a previous company, and let's talk a little bit about that that STEM world too as well. So uh that's something that has always been of interest to me. And so I wanted to ask you about yourself and in your experience in the STEM field and STEM-related uh, you know, companies that you worked for and that you did, you know, what what drove that passion into the STEM field and to dive in and kind of you know get yourself started in that before, you know, going into your dissertation?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

You know, I I fell into it accidentally, and I say that with like excitement, right? Because I look back at when I was teaching and my mindset that I had as an administrator, it was very STEM focused. I just didn't know it at the time. And so I taught social studies in inner city here, Corpus, for about seven years, and the way I approached it was a little intraditional, right? I always tied it into careers, and it that's very difficult to do from a social studies, government history side of things, and so I've always had that lens. Um, and then when getting into the administration, I was exposed to more CTE side, right? And so I dove into there and then I went to the service center, and then um I got to work on a tremendous project called High Impact Cuterie, right? That's from my dissertation basically on, and so I was exposed to these ed tech companies that were delivering online instruction in 2020, right? And so their programs they were they were kind of self-paced, but they would remediate in real time and they would accelerate their learning in real time as students would go through that. And those terms I never heard of at the time. That's interesting. Like, how does that happen? Because coming from the non-techie world at the time, I was like, what do you mean? Like they're just gathering data points on students and then like telling them to go back on a problem or forward on a problem, okay, right? And it started getting into automation and things like that, and so I worked on that project and that exposed me to STEM and ed tech companies. It's like I can do something like that. And so 2021, the high-impact tutoring grant that I was on was grant funded, and so it was coming to an end, and so I had to find another job, right? And so I wasn't ready to go back into the school districts and start started looking into these ed tech companies and found the STEM one that you're referring to. Um, Pittsco education of mine saying that doing great work in the STEM field. Um, and so found them, landed there and worked with them for three years across the state of Texas, um hosting STEM events, uh CTE events, competitions, you name it, they they probably do it. Uh very hands-on hardware. Um, and so that was my introduction to the STEM space. But again, looking back on it, I was always doing STEM, we just didn't call it that for whatever reason.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Yeah. No, you know what? It's so interesting, uh, Joey, because though I'm hearing you and listening to your path and your trajectory in this area and this first part of uh you know our conversation today and talking about STEM-related fields. But you know, it's a very similar start to the way that I did. Now, number one, like you said, you you you fell into it, you know, on accident, but gratefully you did because you've been doing some great things and you continue to do some great things. Uh, also, like myself, I I tell, you know, and many people have heard this on the show, like, you know, I I fell into teaching, but then I absolutely fell in love with it. And then when I moved to elementary, like you said, I had no idea I was doing STEM. I just went to, you know, TCEA one year in 2000, I believe it was like 2016, 17, one year. And then I came back and I was like, all right, everybody, we're gonna start using this. And I started doing donors choose grants, and I was like, all right, we're gonna do robots, we're gonna do this, and but really integrating it into the current curriculum and finding creative, innovative ways to make those ties with the standards and still be able to cover our standards, but make the learning, like you said, very like hands-on, very engaging. You know, students are the ones that are in control, they're the ones that are creating the learning and so on. And then so that led to uh just starting a little robotics club in in my on my campus, you know, and saying, okay, we're gonna do a little robotics club. And then that turned into like a summer STEM camp for like the district for three years, you know, continuously and uh helping the robotics programs and you know, the the young ladies also to learn how to do the coding, get into robotics and so on. But then of course, COVID hit, and then of course things changed. But uh it was just something that is fantastic, you know, just being in there and being hands-on with the robots and working with students and in a very hands-on manner. And a lot of those students have gone on to, you know, graduate and uh follow pursuing, you know, computer science or engineering. And uh it's just been fantastic to hear the work that they're doing now when we first started many years ago. So it's it's amazing. And I love the way that that kind of transitions into the following conversation, which is really the world of CTE, which now you're finding yourself immersed in. So tell us a little bit about that, you know, new, new um, I guess, new leap into this world with this ed tech company and uh working with CTE and uh pathways too as well.

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Sure. So YayZ is a C K through 12 CTE company that wants to get students into digital skills, right? And so when we think about digital skills, we think about digital marketing, right? Digital media, arts, visuals, uh, computer science, as you mentioned, cybersecurity, um, I mentioned computer science, Python, scratch code, all that good stuff. Uh in the the way I see it, right? So we we have a standard curriculum that we created, and um we have our own LMS that students kind of go through the courses there. But the meat and potatoes of it, as you know, is is the the teacher, right? And so we can either put a teacher fully in place to teach those CT courses because those industry folks are hard to find, um, especially in some rural spaces in Texas, but also we can um zoom in a CT instructor to kind of take students through those pathways in order to get um certifications to get into those higher paying wage jobs, right? That everybody's talking about. But the the missing piece that that I don't think it's talked enough about with Yates is we're creating kind of these digital nomads, right? Where you're creating these digital skills, but for students, or right now they're gonna be adults going into the workforce where those young adults can work from anywhere in the world, right? Not that everybody wants to do that, but as a South Texas kid, I was like, I want to see everything, I want to get out there. How can I craft my profession to be able to do that, right? And so that was a leap into the tech sector because it it right. I work remotely here in corpus, I get to travel a little bit. I get my wife in her job, she gets to travel, and so I get to go with her sometimes, and vice versa. And that works for us, right? But that's a part of YeAZ that it's we're creating these digital nomads where that work is already here and it's just going to get bigger and bigger, right? Where people can work from anywhere in the world with internet access and and things like that. So yeah, we're we're big in the CTE space, about all about credentials, but going back to the most important piece, as you know, is the instructor, right? We we have a great way of vetting our teachers, of getting our teachers certified through our own proprietary system um and making sure that's aligned with the district's goes and the campus goes that they're looking for. So whether in person or online, you can have the best curriculum or the best LMS in the world, but you need to have somebody to deliver that and get students to buy into you and the content.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Yeah. And I think, you know, you mentioned a couple of things that I do want to unpack that really got me excited. Like you said, number one, you know, also with CTE, like you mentioned, digital nomads, the the ability for our students to now be able to be equipped with the knowledge of just computer literacy altogether. Now, of course, right now, you know, artificial intelligence, generative AI is huge. And, you know, talking about AI literacy and all of that, but uh, you know, just being able to use hardware, software to be able to, you know, learn a little bit of coding and all of those things. But not only that, Joey, I think like you mentioned too a little bit about those certifications. One of the things that I have seen oftentimes is that there is a list, for example, here in Texas. We know that in Texas that the there is a list for CTE certifications. And many times a lot, a lot of districts may not be able to cover a lot of those certifications based on obviously the programming that we have within our campuses and so on. So I think having a platform that might be able to offer something, like you mentioned, being able to get a student on a pathway, and like you mentioned, this is this is K-12, correct?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Um, or is it I would say fourth grade and up.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Okay, fourth grade and up. Perfect. I mean, and that's a great age, fourth grade and up to be able to kind of put them on this path, and then they start kind of discovering like, hey, what are some of my interests? What are the things that I really enjoy doing? And then that way, from such a young age, the the young child can kind of start having an idea and start, you know, getting equipped with those tools to be able to continue to move forward into what it is that they desire. And I think that that's something that is huge. That oftentimes, you know, kind of like with CTE, like I mentioned, sometimes I feel like those conversations might fall a little bit on the wayside and are not upfront and, you know, in front of all our stakeholders to have them see the potential that is there for our learners and for them to come out equipped with an industry certification that they might be already be able to obtain a job as soon as they graduate and maybe during that time be able to hop into a university program or something, but at least they are already working and maybe they don't have to get into some major debt, as we know with college education being so high. So I think that that is something that is fantastic to be able to start at such an early age. So now getting back a little bit to the CTE conversation, now with your experience and and what are some things that are maybe some persistent myths or misunderstandings that educators or even uh parents might have about CTE that you can think of? Because for me, I'll tell you, for me, it's just really like, well, CTE is just gonna be like uh cosmetology, uh, ag and welding. And that's it, like those three programs, and maybe like uh like uh EMS. And so that's the misconception that I see that I'm like, well, it's only three programs, like what else can we do? What has been your experience, or maybe some of the misunderstandings that you see are still out there, or maybe that you yourself had prior.

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

I think some of the misunderstandings is that folks, the parents, even educators, think that it's designed, CTE is designed for a subset subset of students, right? Like, hey, if you're only doing if you want to go this pathway, you have to go, you're a CTE student, right? They define them and they put them in a box. And and parents do too, right? They say, oh, well, we're a blue-collar family, we do XYZ, you're gonna go down this way, but if you're not, then you're gonna go to college or whatnot. But there's this other path, right? When we talk about digital skills, that it's exposure to to be frank with my answer. I think it's a little misconception on what is CTE and what all it can provide. Now the shifts coming, whether parents or educators are ready for it, that CTE is the future, or right? These certifications are gonna become a premium if they're not already. And I say that because there's universities that are offering these certifications, Google data analytics certification, Google cybersecurity certifications. If you come to their university, you can take these for free, right? And so they're stacking them on a college degree. And so, what does that tell you, right? That they're that important in the workforce. And so I say that because when I'm when I make a move into the CTE world heavily, it that was part of it. I'm seeing the shift kind of move towards that way. You're starting to see people talk about more CTE, right? And open discussions like this, and that is needed. Um, but yeah, it's just parents don't know what they don't know about CTE. It's uh I tie you back to the tutoring, right? About my dissertation because tutoring has this um kind of negative connotation to it when it says, hey, if you're going to tutoring, then it's bad. No, not necessarily. Tutoring is to catch up, it's to get ahead, it's to stay on path, right? And CTE is kind of the same way. Oh, if you're you're a CTE student, then you must be going into the trades. Not necessarily. I can go into the digital skills part of it, learn how to code, right? Learn how to digital market and learn uh entrepreneurship, um, business and marketing, all those good things. So I think it's us that are we that are in the CTE field can do a better job of just having that microphone and and speaking to a broad audience and say, hey, if you haven't thought about CT, check this out and here's why, right? And sharing a little data and research to back it up, right? Instead of just standing on your your podium and saying here's why you should do it, but bringing the data and saying, hey, here's what the jobs are saying that are needed in the next 10 years.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Yeah. And you know, one thing that I do like about that that you did mention is, you know, the certification talk, I think we're missing out. And I don't know if it's just me, but I'm pretty sure, like, I mean, at least hearing you uh talking about that certification uh aspect, I think that we may be missing out on some great opportunities for our students. And like you said, it's all about parents not knowing what they don't know yet, and like being able to offer student or parents that information of the advantages of being able to obtain a certification while you're in high school to again be able to readily jump into a job, or maybe that employer might say, you know what, with this certification, you are already showing that you can handle this task and this task and this task. And you know what? Because you're already working for me and the work that you're doing, I can pay for maybe your next level certification or the following certification. Where now I to me that in the long run, I'm seeing things in the long run as far as expenses, you're minimizing expenses for number one parents. You know, you I know that we talk about yes, four-year university, four-year university, but I think in the last for for me, at least in the last four years, I've seen a lot more talk about you know, the trades, being able to get those certifications, hearing and seeing how um young men and women are obtaining these certifications at an early age and not going into debt, but they are already, you know, making profit and not having to worry about paying back loads and loads of debt debt, excuse me, after uh four, yeah, loads and loads of debt after a four-year, you know, university um certificate or a diploma. And I'm not saying that going to university, you don't go to university. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that there are different career paths. And I think oftentimes what has happened is there's just been this kind of negative connotation. I was like, oh, you're CT, you're going into trades. Like you're seeing that uh in kind of like, oh, you know, what what is that? But now I think that this is coming around where it's like, you know what, man, if I would have known, and and I've had this conversation with many professionals such as yourself and many others thinking, man, you know what? If I would have known this, I would have just gone into these trades or would have gone into this and spent, you know, lead and and things might have been different, but you know, that this is the path that we chose. Now, the other thing is too that I like that you said is I, for example, in my master's program, they stacked, you know, certifications on there. So not only did you get your master's in educational technology, but while doing those courses, you also got a certification in technology leadership and you know, all these other things, which is kind of great and see, and it's a value add, you know, but it is that value add to that, you know, first four years now, it's another 18 months in a master's program to get those additional certifications, where maybe something like that now, you know, through a program like um Yezy, like, you know, being able to come out, imagine coming out of high school already with two or three certifications because you've tested and you were successful with those tests, and now you're immediately workforce ready because you're honing in on those skills that you need for that specific job. But I think that even then you are already picking up other skills, you know, going through a platform. So I want to talk to you a little bit about that. Can you tell me a little bit about how YeAZ works? So let's say I'm a fourth grader and you know, uh it's my first day. This is my first year with YeAZ. And if I continue that trajectory, what what might I see and what would the end uh result be for that, for that student?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Yeah, so let's go with the fourth grade example. We'd probably put them in the STEM pathway, maybe computer science. So they'll get introduced introduced to coding at a very foundational level, right? Maybe some bot coding. And then as they transition in the middle school, um, those would be self-paced courses at the elementary level, right? Um, or a hybrid approach, however the school district wants to approach that. But then as they get into middle school, then we would like to have our CTE instructor either zoom in with that um student or students, group of students, um, for six weeks, nine week course, semester course. They go through the platform, very project-based learning platform. Um, they spend about 60% of their time just building, right? When for this specific uh example, they'd be building um something with computer science, right? And so they would spend 60% of that, and then they'll have about 10% of peer-to-peer kind of feedback on their project, right? And then they would go through that progression. Um, and then once they get into high school, they have an idea, okay, under the computer science, what am I what am I most attracted to? Where do I see myself getting a career into? Is that software development? Is it um cybersecurity? Um, and so we would put them on that trajectory in high school to prepare them to take the test um junior senior year. That is great.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

You know, and that's something that is wonderful that you already have something that is already aligned for those students and as they go through. And I think oftentimes, you know, as as in my experience, I've heard of other programs, or maybe there are programs that are just really siloed and say, well, this is just for computer science. So let me show you what computer science can do, or let me show you what this can do. But also having a program that can offer, you know, variety, I think is something that would be very beneficial. But I want to ask you, Joe, and these might be some of those tough questions that maybe in your experience. I know I've seen in my experience what might occur, but in your experience, and just overall, you know, what might be some of the barriers that school districts may have with implementing not just a program like Yazy, but just implementing CTE programs because I have seen uh from other districts and other colleagues of mine that are working in other districts where you know sometimes things don't come through the way that we think they would, and their programs kind of just start kind of fizzling out. What do you think some of the barriers would be?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

You know, I think it takes uh a CTE-driven leader, right? Whether that's a superintendent, whether that's a campus principal, to really build the culture around CTE. Right now that your campus has to neglect star math and reading, that's never gonna go away. Um, but somebody who has an idea, and that's what I'm finding when I'm having conversations with um director, superintendents, CT director, campus principals, is that their CT is their own little world, right? Like, hey, their CT director handles all that. And so I think that's one of the barriers is not having that synergy as a campus to say, hey, CTE is all of us, right? And we all have a hand on how these programs move forward. One, because we need to know where the funding's coming from, right? We need to uh vet some of these programs to say, okay, which one's the best fit for um your campus, your district. And then once you decide on that, how do you measure academic return on investment from that program? Right. And so you're in the data world now, and so you're you're I'm sure you're tasked with doing that, but though those three that I just mentioned, right? Having a CT-minded driven leader, um, obviously finding the funding and having that synergy between departments, um, and then vetting and finding if the program is bringing that academic return are all three things that are hard to do at scale. And so that's why to answer your question, I think that there's there's some barriers there to establishing a well-oiled CTE program. Um, and the ones that are doing well are the traditional ones that we had in the 80s, right? That are just kind of embedded in the culture of the school, and we're known for having a nice welding program and a good uh welding program. And so we're gonna continue doing that, and we're welding school. Well, you have other students that are saying otherwise, according to the surveys the last flight, right? According to the data. Um, and so shifting to that it takes a lot of upfront work to vet some of these programs that can assist with CT programs, but and then measuring the academic return on investment, also to say, okay, our welding programs are working great. Is our computer science program working great? Is our drone program working great, or whatever pathway you decide on? Is measuring that and coming back to the conversation and saying, okay, we need to add more of this, or we need to eliminate this. And those are hard conversations to have that um some folks don't want to have, right? Because it either they're a B-rated school or they're an A-rated school, and things are going great. So why disrupt what is going good?

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Um, yeah, I think I you know that's one of the one of the answers that you gave. Well, all three I do could agree with, but one of the ones that you mentioned is like this is the way we've always done it, and that's that's it. Like these are our programs, and this is what we're gonna stick to, and so on. But then I feel that you know, in not growing or expanding or trying, or at least being able to speak to your students, maybe having a the you know, student advisory board or something, just being able to hear their voices, it's like, hey, what other programs might you be interested in and seeing if those programs are feasible? Because oftentimes, like I mentioned, it's you'll see cosmetology, you'll see welding, you'll see ag you know, as more prominent. And then sometimes I'll hear, you know, other districts will they'll have, you know, like media, but those aren't too packed, or maybe even just some of the business uh information or business courses that they have, you know, also as well, and you know, are very low numbers. But one of the things that you hit on too was the importance. Of being able to not silo that program because I I love what you said. It's like, hey, these are all our students, not just say, oh, those are CTE students. Like, you know, don't, you know, it's okay. They're CTE. That's fine. Like, let's worry about this. No, I mean, they are all our students. And I think sometimes uh having that mentality, it really does hurt those programs because obviously we need to focus here in Texas, it's always all about STAR. We want to worry about our ratings, we want to worry about our distinctions, we want to worry about what is important to the school as far as the school looking great. And yes, of course, our students are doing phenomenal, but you know, being able to not only be an A-rated school, but to also imagine having like this wonderful um, you know, robotics or coding program or computer, uh, yeah, computer science program or engineering program, things of that sort of preparing the students for those the skills that they need to for you know making that jump, whether it might be a two-year degree, an associate's degree, it may be a four-year plan that can later on move on to something else, or just that immediacy of hey, I just graduated at 18, and guess what? I already have a job. And it's like, wow, you know, that's amazing.

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

But that's a nice pay job, too. And and I would I would add that right, we're saying, hey, what can the districts do to kind of bridge the gap to improve the CGE program? And I won't put it all on the school districts, right? Like the business partners and industry partners have a have a say in that too, right? Because they're the ones that are going to need the workforce, whether it's locally, regionally, or statewide, but the district has to go first. And they have to reach out and say, hey, we're looking to build XYZ program. And I know you're an engineering firm that is here locally. What kind of engineers do you need? How can we support that? And can we work together to build a program that we get them the certifications and then we create that little pipeline, whether it's a local engineering firm, and I just use that as an example, but the district has to go first. We can't rely on industry coming up to us and saying, hey, we have X amount of money. Can you build a program? It's we gotta take that first step.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

I love it. I love it, Joey. That's fantastic. Well, I want to kind of just change now a little bit because I think this is a great conversation on CTE and and what YeZ has to offer, but I want to talk a little bit more about your dissertation. I mean, this is one of the reasons, too, that I definitely wanted to talk to you about or bring you on the show too, because I think that this is fantastic. And again, getting to know you, you know, through LinkedIn and then getting to meet you in person. And then obviously myself too, just um, you know, in July defended my dissertation, and then you just also recently, you know, defended your dissertation. But just to, you know, hear about that and so tell me a little bit about you know your dissertation. Where did that I know you kind of mentioned it briefly, but again, where did that research stem from? And tell me a little bit or tell us a little bit more about your findings through that research.

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Yeah, and so the the title of my dissertation is Does After School Program Influence Star Math Performance? Right. So it's something I wanted it to be relevant. I wanted it to be relevant to the work that I'm currently doing. Right. And the companies that I've worked for over the last uh three and a half years have all been in the after-school space. And so when I started my doctoral program, I was working at the service center. I was a high impact tutoring manager, and so I would go into school districts and help them or support them in accelerated learning, right? And reading and math, right? COVID had just we're coming out of COVID, so star scores weren't great. And so, how can we improve that? Well, one of the silver bullets at the time was high impact tutoring, right? And so there was a uh a breadth of research that was coming down from a lot smarter people that than me that were saying, hey, here's the direction that we have to go in order to improve math and science scores. And so I went down a rabbit hole and was like, tutoring is the way, right? And you have that thought when you don't really know how to put your thoughts together and research and use data to kind of predict some stuff. And so that nugget kind of stuff stuck in my head when I started my doctoral program. And so I spent a year at the service center doing that work, and I was like, man, it's research-based, it's good. Not a lot of people know about it. I'm gonna do some more research in my doctoral program. And so started my doctoral program, and we couldn't get tutoring out of my head, like, right, the extra hours outside of school, it's more flexible, like you can be creative with groups and programs, and we need to train the staff a certain way and three times a week and 30 minutes and focus, intentional. And so I was sold on tutoring, and so spoke to my chair and he's like, Look, your gunhood tutoring will do that, but we have to make it relevant to either South Texas or Texas statewide. I said, Okay, well, let's connect it to star math scores because we can see that the math scores haven't improved right over the last five years or whatever, since COVID. And so went down that rabbit hole, and what we found was that yes, after-school tutoring programs influenced star math performance, but not as much as attendance rate during the school day affects star math results. And so that was interesting for a couple of reasons. One is shot down my theory of like, hey, tutoring is a silver bullet. And we didn't get into program implementation and program fidelity, we didn't get that much into it. What we just looked at was like, hey, these elementary students or these elementary campuses have an after-school program, these middle school programs have an after-school program. Let's look at their star source, right? And kind of made that uh connection there. And we there was some connection. Um, but yeah, the biggest variable was, and we took other variables into consideration. We looked at whether those campuses were a Title I school, uh, the teacher to student ratio, we looked at um attendance rates, we looked at funding, and the one that stuck out out of all those was attendant rate. If there was a higher attendance rate in those campuses, they had a higher star score at the unit.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Man, that is interesting, you know, because that is what we often hear is you've got HB 1416. It's like, let's get all the kids into tutoring, let's make sure that they're doing their 30 minutes after school, like you said, Monday, Wednesday, or Tuesday, Thursday. And then so teachers are now also getting overworked. Then, of course, that funding, it's like, oh, where do we find the money to pay for that additional tutoring? And so you kind of start getting creative, and then you feel like, okay, this is gonna do it. But then, of course, like you mentioned, it's just uh the your due to your findings, it was more on you know attendance and the importance of that. And I know that we see high absenteeism, you know, and it in a lot of districts. And I I think that there was definitely a shift. I think prior, you know, well, in my experience, I'll just say this in my experience working at at some schools. Um, many times it was well, it for example, that we're on Thanksgiving break. Well, it was like, hey, uh, Mr. Mendoza, you know, I know next week is Thanksgiving break, but we're leaving this week. Can you give me all the work that my son or daughter need? Because then they were gone for two weeks, you know. So then there's that aspect too, where now it's the the parents feel like, well, you know, it's okay, no big deal. We're just gonna take our kids out and we're all gonna go on vacation, you know, a week prior, or we'll extend the vacation a week after. Yes, going on, and so you miss that too, as well. You know, the uh obviously too, you know, depending on on work schedules for parents too. I and it never really hit until a couple years ago where I was like, when it was star testing, or maybe even not just a regular day, you know, students coming in like let's say at 9 a.m. And then I started thinking, I was like, why would this happen? I don't understand. Well, it was usually like, well, it's like maybe the parent just said, hey, you know what? I this when I go into work, I go in at nine or 10. I'll just drop them off, you know, as I'm on my way to work so that way I don't have to get up, go drop them off, and then come back. Or, you know, we don't know those variables, we don't know those extenuating circumstances. But again, like you mentioned, you know, being present it definitely will make a big difference as far as those star scores. And I think that that's a very interesting find because again, I I think we try and find solutions, and sometimes we may not be asking the right questions or looking at the the situation through the correct lens. And obviously, we look at it through a corrective lens where immediately it's like, okay, throw more tutoring at them just to kind of make it up. But in reality, we're we're like based on your research and of course the variables that you went over, it the attendance is definitely the most important thing.

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Was there's research on that, right? To say that if you're in school X amount of days, you'll learn more. Um, and then there's leading research that says that hey, we need students in the seats in the school day, right? And so I look at it as tutoring was impactful. It's just I think there's some further research that we can do to say, okay, well, why was it impactful at those campuses, right? Were they consistent with our tutoring schedule? What kind of tutoring did they provide? Was it math science, STEM, robotics, right? And kind of look at the the programming in a little more in detail. We we just very did at a very surface level. Um, but yeah, I I think it's interesting with uh with uh the attendance.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Yeah, and you know what, I think and what came to mind too now is when you are tutoring that student, it's for them, it might be the very first time they're seeing that instruction. Where you you said I know sometimes tutoring has a negative uh connotation, but you know, tutoring is something that I I went to even while I was at university. But what happened is I got that initial teach, but I just wasn't sure or didn't quite follow. And then I would go get that additional support. But here, sometimes that tutoring is going to be that initial teach. So the importance of getting that initial teach by being present in class and then adding that tutoring component would definitely be very beneficial.

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

So maybe I'm thinking maybe that that there's something that's part of the yes, so part of the research was looking at content alignment from the in-school day instruction to the after-school program and what that looks like, and if there's any of that, right? And so we didn't get into details about that, but it it for further research, it'll be nice to see the after school program curriculum. Does it tie into what they're learning in the in the school day?

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Excellent. Well, Joey, thank you so much for being with us today and telling us just a little bit about uh your story, telling us about the work that you're doing through YeAZ and letting us know about YeAZ too as well. So definitely we will be putting all of that in the show notes too, as well, so people can go and visit the website, learn more about YeZ and the career uh technology education pathways that it offers for grades fourth and up. And so I think that this is something that is fantastic, and especially like I mentioned, uh, you know, a CTE, oftentimes it just feels like it's it's just a subset. And but I love the fact that today we got to talk about and say, no, no, no, CTE, those are all our students, and schools should see it that way. It's not just, oh, they're CTE. No, no, no. It's they're they're district students, they're all our students, and we definitely need to make sure that we look at those programs to see how we might better equip our students that when they come out, they are ready to be, they're workforce ready, and they can definitely dive in. So definitely excited about the work there. And obviously, you know, as you continue to grow within YeZ, definitely would love to have you back in a couple of months and so on, and just to see uh, you know, talking more about career technology and uh, you know, it'd be fantastic to have you back. So thank you so much. But before we wrap up, Joey, uh, or I should say Dr. Mendoza, and let me just do a full disclaimer here. We are definitely not related. We yes, we have the last same last name, but we are not related. I just wanted to throw that in there because some people might say, Hey, I wonder if they're related. You've had Dr. Mendoza and Dr. Mendoza on the show today. Yes, not related. Um not related, but but still just a great friendship that has grown. But thank you so much. But let's go ahead and go with question number one here. So, as we know, every superhero has a pain point or a weakness. So for Superman, Kryptonite was his weakness. So I want to ask you, Joey, in your experience through all the multiple facets of education that you've been in, what would you say currently would be your edu kryptonite? That's a tough one.

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

But I I tell you one thing that I I don't know if it's a kryptonite, but one thing that I'm consistently trying to get better at because I don't think I'm that is is data. Like just because there's so much, right? And like knowing what data to focus on and like draw from and things like that, and then turning that data into something actionable. I'm not where I'm I don't know if it's a cryptonet, but I'm not where I want to be at when it comes to that.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

Well, no, no, that's perfectly great answer because like for me now, you know, transitioning into this role where I'm working with data, it's almost like, all right, like I have all of this, but what what story am I gonna tell or do I need to tell to make sure that we're making the right decisions? And for me, like just being an overthinker, it's like I just want to put everything in there. Yes, but yes, no, no, I totally get you. All right. Question number two, Joe, is if you could have a billboard right smack in the middle of Corpus Christi, and it's your old billboard, what would your billboard say and why?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

Yeah, I was thinking about that one when you asked me. Uh, so there's I don't I'm sure you've been to Corpus a couple of times, and so there's a highway that we call Crosstown Expressway, and so there's an old building like on the northwest side of Corpus Christi, and oh, I'm sure somebody lives there, but it's a two-story house, I should say, building, and at the very top, and like fading, you can tell, is like a 1950s building that says education is free. And so I would redesign that billboard to say that, right? Just because education has given me an unlimited opportunity, it's taking me to places that I thought I never would go, right, as a South Texas boy, and I mean the people I meet, right, like this, it's all because of education, right? Through the people that I've met, through my educational experiences in the classroom, outside of the classroom, university, all that stuff. So education is freedom. I love it. I love it.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

No, and it's so true. I mean, I yeah, like, you know, that's one thing that I have been grateful for in these last 19 years in education. And mind you, I always say, like, I fell into education and and I grew up never wanting to be an educator, but once I fell into it, like I absolutely fell in love with everything. I mean, it it's just and like you said, the opportunities that it has afforded me and to be able to see things I never thought I'd be able to see or connect with people who I never thought I'd be connecting with and having conversations with. I think it's fantastic. And I think that that billboard, definitely a great one. So great answer, thank you. And the last question, Joey, is if you can trade places with a single person for a day, who would that be and why?

Dr. Joey Mendoza:

My wife. Because her brain works like the way we describe with date, like a computer, and I was like, God dang, I don't know how you do that. And obviously, you're you're in a day computer. I hope our daughter gets your brain, because God, yeah, just the way she breaks up data and like tells a story with it, it it's it's impressive. Um, but that's to her hard work and all that good stuff. But yeah, my wife and True see the world through her eyes and the way she breaks it down, and very analytical.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza:

So love it. That is fantastic. Well, that is a great answer, and Joey. Again, Dr. Mendoza, it was an honor. It was an honor to have you here on the show. Thank you so much for uh just again connecting on LinkedIn. Thank you so much for like engaging with the content too and getting to meet you in person was an absolute pleasure. And you know, knowing that we're just a couple of hours away is also great. So maybe someday we can definitely make a plan just to meet up, you know, for breakfast in a chat or something, lunch in a chat or whatever. But definitely, but thank you so much for being on the show and again just being part of this journey. And I always love to highlight just wonderful educators like yourself that are here today and just amplify the work that you're doing, what you have done, and then just to see where it is that you're going. It's something that is what one of the main things here of our show. So, again, thank you for today and being part and being here today, episode 344 of My Ed Tech Live. So, 344 today. So, for all our audience members checking out this episode, please make sure you visit our website at myedtech.life where you can check out this amazing episode and other wonderful episodes where I promise you you will find some knowledge nuggets that you can sprinkle on to what you are already doing. Great. And again, as always, thank you so much to our amazing sponsors, Book Creator, EduAid, Yellow Dig, and Peelback Education. We really appreciate all the love and support that you bring us each and every week so we can continue to bring you amazing conversations week after week where we can continue to grow professionally and personally as well. So, again, my friends, you will find all of Dr. Mendoza's uh links in the show notes. So make sure you connect with uh Dr. Mendoza on LinkedIn. Make sure that you follow him, make sure that you check out Yeizy. We're gonna put that in the show notes as well. And my friends, until next time, don't forget, stay techie!