Factors Influencing California Teacher Credentialing

As explained in Diane Ravitch's article, “American Schools in CRISIS,” educators are provided with little job security under Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Obama's Race to the Top educational reform initiatives; where teachers can be fired based on poor standardized test scores from their students (50). The majority of new teachers already quit within five years of entering the field; “demoralized” (Ravitch 50) by the effects of such high stakes and low resources (Ravitch 52). To combat this figure, many states have decreased the requirements for becoming a teacher, even allowing online licensure in Texas (Ravitch 51). To lower the standards of the “conservators of our common future” (Barber 122) is an irresponsible practice that must be reversed if students are to succeed. Barber proposes paying early childhood educators as much as lawyers to attract better teachers. Higher wages would encourage more ambitious individuals to enter the fields of primary and secondary education. Without highly-trained and intelligent educators, who are dedicated to progress and change, students will continue to stumble through a broken system, woefully unprepared for the task of becoming productive citizens.

The differences were connected with a teacher’s original preparation for the teaching profession, licensing in the particular subject area to be taught, strength of the educational experience, and the degree of experience in teaching along with the demonstration of abilities through the National Board Certification, in which all of these facets can be addressed through policy (Darling-Hammond, 2010).America has not produced a national method containing supports and reasons to guarantee that teachers’ are adequately prepared and equipped to teach all children effectively when they first enter into the career of teaching. America also does not have a vast collection of methods available that will maintain the evaluation and continuing development of a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, or support decisions about entry into the field of teaching and the continuance in the profession of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2010). n order to reach the belief that all students will be taught and learn to high standards calls for a makeover in the methods our system of education in order to be a magnet for, train, support or uphold, and cultivate effective teachers in more efficient ways. A makeover that is contingent in a certain degree of how the abilities or skills are comprehended (Darling-Hammond, 2010).In the last few years there has been increasing

Finally, this journal has enlightened me and my thought process of generalizations pertaining to urban schools: “When we think of low poverty schools the first thing that comes to mind are inner urban schools. Again, this process is considered a stereotype because many urban schools perform well and meet required standards. Unfortunately, there are urban schools across the nation who has a high demand for teachers and resources. Teacher.com is a comprehensive resource for information. It is in partnership with California State University-Rossier online. It provides state specific information on how to become a teacher, areas that are in demand of teachers, teacher pay in those areas, teaching credentials, teacher certification tests, alternative teacher certification and more. Its objective is to provide all information to become a teacher anywhere in which you reside. Sadly the schools that have the highest demand for teachers are the

By 1958, the California Legislature proposed a joint committee-legislative and citizen- commission on education “instructed to analyze all facets of education-finances, goals, curricula, the teacher problem, equipment, etc.—and to conduct public hearings on education in various geographical areas.” (Sacramento Bee, March 24, 1958). The Citizens Commission was charged by the Legislature to collect public opinion, report the summary of findings, and make recommendations. Among the five recommendations, four credentials were to be established: the Standard

“California has cut $18 billion, one-third of state school funding, from money for kindergarten through high school over the past three years.” USA Today (Welch, 2011). Budget cuts to the California Public School System, which is the underlying factor in the deterioration of the quality of education, has had a negative impact on every facet of society. From students to teachers to employers, all have felt the effects of decreased funding of schools. The state of California is headed in the wrong direction by reducing school funding and unless a solution is found to minimize or put a halt to these reductions, our children will bear the

America has encountered a change within the teaching profession: concerning, experience, age, credentials, and ethnic background (Feistritzer, 2011). It is almost as if the year of 2005, overturned the trend of older employed teachers (Feistritzer, 2011). A six-year survey shows that the amount of teachers under the age of thirty has increased drastically, and that most teachers have earned master degrees. Also, although teaching has been a predominately white profession, more Hispanic and African American teachers were hired between the years of 2005 and 2011 (Feistritzer, 2011).

It has been said many times that children are our future. That is a scary thought considering our lack of investment as a people in that future, for without a solid base of education now the bright future we hope for may never come to fruition. This Paper will look at the current state of the Public Education System of the Sate of California. It will focus on the breakdown of the current system looking specifically at the following issues: Lack of Funding for the System, Lack of Qualified Teaching Personnel,

The main arguments in this ERIC Digest article is that there is an increasing need of teachers of color, but the there are not enough minorities going into the teaching profession. The point of this article is to highlight the the unbalanced increase of minority students and the decrease of minority teachers in schools, and how the decrease of minority teachers affects both minority and non-minority students. The article goes on to highlight data about the number of minorities and whites who enter the education profession compared to the number that drop out of the profession after five years or so and their reasons for leaving.

* Teacher Qualifications: By the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher in core content areas working in a public school had to be "highly qualified" in each subject he or she taught. Under the law, "highly qualified" generally meant that a teacher was certified and demonstrably proficient in his or her subject matter. Beginning with the 2002-03 school year, all new teachers hired with federal Title I money had to be "highly qualified." By the end of the 2005-06 school year, all school paraprofessionals hired with Title I money must have completed

Traditionally, teacher development typically occurs through trial and error in the isolated confinements of each teacher’s classroom with some periodic whole-group professional development (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Within the past few decades, many schools and districts, including ours, have considered and experimented with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) as an alternative framework in guiding a more efficient development program for their teachers. PLCs are focused on enhancing student learning through developing teacher practices. The concept of PLC relies on using structured collaborative sessions amongst teachers within the school to build internal capacity. Through PLCs, teachers critically reflect on current

From a very young age we are being educated; as children we absorb and retain as much information as possible. Until recently there wasn’t much diversity concerning the education system. Most teachers were Caucasian. However as our population grows and becomes more diverse there will be need for teachers that are bilingual or speak multiple languages. We need more Latinos and African Americans to pursue a career as educators. The more children see people of their own ethnicity being a teacher the more that career choice will become attainable to them. It is imperative to allow future generations to be exposed to different cultures.

It cannot be denied that traditional teacher education and alternative certification are effective in supplying high-quality teachers in urban school districts. However, there are still some challenges for these programs. For instance, traditional program cannot target district needs in specific subjects including science, special education, and etc. Also, candidates in alternative certification programs do not have enough clinical experiences before becoming a teacher of record (Berry, et al., 2008). Combining the components from both traditional teacher program and alternative certificate program, BTR is an innovative teacher preparation program that aims to “recruit, prepare, and sustain excellent teachers” with different structures and systems (Solomon, 2009).

In any learning environment, a simplified approach towards teaching offers the learners the opportunity to discover more in their environment without the help of their instructor. By following their path, they achieve the most fulfilling way of learning sine they choose their interests (Gutstein 421). Aiming at the reconstructing of the cultural aspects of urban schools establishes an accommodative environment that allows for continuous and efficient learning. The training framework in California today is not able to address the needs of the state’s economy or the learners. From funding issue to guaranteeing the consistency of education, the state has experienced limitations due to the

This article published in The Clearing House: A Journal of Education Strategies, Issues and Ideas presents the results of a one-year qualitative investigation of three participants entering the teaching profession through an alternative certification program in a major city in the Pacific Northwest. The researcher collected the data through bimonthly interviews and classroom observations. The results of the study revealed participants struggled with the education culture including expectations. The article includes tables of the bi-monthly and final interview questions, but does not include the responses. However, participants disillusion to enact changes, as in other professions, is evident in brief quotes. Moreover, the authors did not provide the specifics of the participant’s desired changes. A recommendation for future research is to compare culture perceptions of those transitioning to teaching from other careers to immigrant teachers, and expanded the study to include more than three participants. All of the authors are professors at Boise State University.

Teacher education is a commonly studied predictor of quality in early childhood classrooms and it has been consistently associated with teacher effectiveness in early childhood classrooms (Bowman et al., 2001; de Kruif et al., 2000; Helburn et al., 1995). Teachers can be popular just because they are friendly and helpful, but to be truly professional and effective they need other qualities. Students may not be able to put their finger on just why one teacher is more effective than another but we need to be able to identify the skills and behavior we require in a true professional. Teachers