History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Themes in the News for the week of Dec. 14-18, 2009
- 09-23-2009
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A weekly summary of themes in education news provided by UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access.
'Race to the Top' is Underway
So is the Race for Federal Dollars.
By UCLA IDEA staff
A new study looking at the status of the teaching profession in California found some much-needed positive news – teachers are significantly better prepared. The study, released by The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL) reports that there were 11,000 under-prepared teachers in California last year, down from 42,000 in 2000. Also, the study pointed out that California had “responded admirably to criticism that its teachers needed to have a greater command of their subject matter; the great majority now do” (Los Angeles Times). However, very serious cause for worry remains for the future of California schools. The news is grim for equity, resources, and the supply of future teachers.
“[H]igh schools with the highest portion of minority students have five times as many underprepared teachers as those in the schools with the lowest portion of minority students,” (CFTL). Further, the report shows that fewer teachers are in the future-teacher “pipeline.” This raises concerns for the future supply of teachers, and it would constrain efforts to reduce class sizes in a state whose classes are among the most crowded in the nation.
John Fensterwald from The Educated Guess blog points out that there have been many changes in teaching methods as a result of school reform over the years. Teachers are “to inject real-world relevance into their courses, to individualize instruction in classes with a wide range of students, to require complex portfolios of their students’ work, include project-based learning and to do the jobs that counselors once did.” The CFTL study points out that many teachers are not adequately prepared for these school innovations. "The job of the high school teacher has changed. They're having to deliver instruction in a new way," said Margaret Gaston, president and executive director of CFTL (San Francisco Chronicle).
Unequal conditions persist in spite of news about a general improvement in the number of adequately-prepared teachers. According to the CFTL study, “fewer than half the principals in high-poverty schools said their teachers had the skills to encourage critical thinking and problem-solving among their students, while more than two-thirds of their counterparts in wealthier communities said their teachers possessed those abilities (Los Angeles Times). Additionally, the study found that teachers in the lowest-performing schools are more than twice as likely as those in the highest-achieving schools to be working without at least a preliminary credential.
“California’s poorest communities are where reforms are most urgently needed, but they are also where teachers are likely to be the least prepared or supported to deliver what their students need,” says Gaston (CFTL). The CFTL study suggests ways that policy makers and educators ““can help close the gap between the preparation and support teachers’ need to succeed in reforming high schools and what they currently receive” (CFTL).
Representatives of both the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the California Department of Education (CDE) found some common ground in the study’s findings. CTA president David Sanchez said, "If you're willing to provide professional development and align it to the reform movement that's out there, that's wonderful. Let's find the money to do that."(Los Angeles Times) Similarly, Gavin Payne, chief deputy superintendent of the CDE, said 'the study demonstrated that the state has the ability to retool teacher training but needs the will and the money.”
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