The Latest Report on California’s Teaching Profession
The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning has just issued its latest report on the status of the teaching profession in California, titled Teaching and California’s Future: The Status of the Teaching Profession 2007. This work was done in collaboration with the California State University system office, the University of California system office, and WestEd, a nonprofit nationwide agency dedicated to improving education and human development.
This year’s report is based upon research conducted by SRI International during the 2006-07 school year, which included analyzing statewide teacher data, collecting original data from several schools within districts in various different locales in California, visiting some teacher preparation programs and interviewing various staff members, and administering a survey to principals throughout the state on teacher hiring, evaluation, and support practices.
Some of the key findings of the report are:
· The number of underprepared teachers in California dropped from about 14% of the workforce in 2000-01 to approximately 5% in 2006-07
· Approximately 4% of all schools have faculties with 20% or more underprepared teachers—mostly in urban areas—and nearly half are charter schools
· Low-performing schools had a higher percentage of underprepared teachers than high-performing schools
· The greatest drop in underprepared teachers from 2000-01 to 2006-07 occurred in the elementary grade levels
· At the secondary level and in special education programs, although the number of underprepared teachers did decline somewhat, these numbers still remain high
· At the secondary level, the highest percentage of out-of-field teachers exists in social science (21%), followed by physical science (19%), English (14%), life science (11%), and math (11%)
In addition, the report found that nearly one-third of teachers are over the age of 50. With this many teachers edging closer to retirement, and with the enrollment in teacher preparation programs having decreased by 17% from 2001-02 to 2004-05, the study concludes that California needs to continue to focus on getting more prepared teachers into the workforce.
There were many other findings included in the report having to do with teacher preparation programs, teacher hiring practices, and teacher evaluations. Overall, the report recommends that California’s policymakers:
1. Review and align the current components of teacher development to form a system that is focused on strengthening teacher quality.
2. Continue to develop the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education Systems (CALTIDES) and use the data derived from the system to inform decisions about the ways in which the components of teacher development can be revised, aligned, and made into a system that learns, adapts, and evolves.
3. Regularly assess classroom practice and use the information gathered to strengthen teaching quality.
4. Encourage policies that will build and support a larger pool of prospective teachers.
The full text of this report can be found at: http://www.cftl.org/featuredproduct.php.
—Sheila Vickers