The current shortage of K-12 teachers is having a profound impact on the education of California’s children. As the state agency whose mission is to “provide leadership, assistance, oversight, and resources so that every Californian has access to an education that meets world-class standards,” the California Department of Education has dedicated resources to encourage individuals to become teachers and provided support to school districts taking steps to recruit and retain qualified teachers.
Three recent documents provide additional insight into this issue:
Developing Highly Qualified Teachers and Administrators for California Schools (DOC; 578KB; 17pp.)
California’s teacher workforce is the largest in the country with more than 300,000 teachers serving a student population of over 6,000,000. While progress has been made in reducing California’s teacher shortages, projections are that the demand for teachers will continue to grow as 32 percent, or 97,000, of California’s 300,000 teachers are expected to retire within the next 10 years and enrollment in university and college teacher preparation programs declines. The initiative, “Developing Highly Qualified Teachers and Administrators for California Schools” puts forward recommendations to state lawmakers, the Governor, the California State Board of Education, and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to address concerns regarding the need for highly qualified teachers and administrators.
Teaching and California’s Future: California’s Teaching Force 2006 (Outside source; PDF; 698KB; 78pp.)
The 2006 budget showed an increase in funding for efforts to strengthen the teacher workforce and improve student achievement. Additional attention is being paid to the lowest achieving schools, including the building of their teaching staffs through recruitment and streamlining the credentialing process. Despite these actions, and gains made in the past, classrooms continue to be staffed by teachers who are not meeting state and federal teacher quality guidelines. In this seventh annual report, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (Outside Source) provides policymakers with objective and timely information on the state’s teacher workforce, and recommendations for future actions.
Critical Path Analysis of California’s Science and Mathematics Teacher Preparation System (Outside source; PDF; 2.5MB; 118pp.)
Science and technology are important features of California’s economy, and providing positive experiences with mathematics and science for K-12 students can provide the impetus for future careers in science, technology and mathematics. Despite the key role that teachers play in educating California’s young people, California continues to face a shortage of qualified mathematics and science teachers. In order to better understand this phenomena and provide recommendations to legislators and policymakers, the California Council on Science and Technology (Outside Source) collaborated with the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (Outside Source) to produce a study that describes the supply and demand for mathematics and science teachers, the teacher preparation process, teacher recruitment and retention, teacher induction, and professional development.
