Strengthening teacher quality through regional K-18 data-driven collaboration

AN INITIATIVE TO ADDRESS TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AND RETENTION IN KERN COUNTY, Spring 2001

A Kern County Initiative to Increase the Critically Short Supply of Quality Teachers

The numbers tell it all! Nearly one-third of California’s teachers are approaching retirement age. Another 25 percent of new teachers leave the profession in their first five years, even though the demand for quality teachers has never been greater. So short is the teacher supply that nearly every school district in California has had to hire teachers that haven’t yet completed the course work needed for a permanent credential.

It is our collective experience that the single most important ingredient for learning in schools is the quality of the teachers. It is also a consistent conclusion of researchers who have studied schools and student achievement.

If we want schools to get significantly better, and we do, we have to do a better job of recruiting, preparing and retaining high quality teachers and providing excellent on-going professional development to our dedicated teachers already working in Kern County.

Not only in Kern, but across California, there is a significant shortage of teachers who are qualified and willing to work where they are most needed. Of the state’s 291,000 teachers, about 40,000 still require additional training and education before they can receive a full credential. And far too few veteran teachers have had opportunity for professional development to allow them to ensure that their students will achieve California’s rigorous academic standards.

In a report issued late last year on the status of California’s teaching profession, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning called the situation a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. It said: "There is no issue more critical to California’s future than improving its public schools, to make sure all of the state’s nearly 6 million students have the knowledge and skills to be productive and successful. And there is no issue more critical to improving schools than making sure every student is taught by a teacher who is well prepared and who has the skills to help students learn and grow."

We agree.

In Kern County, we face the difficult challenge of finding and keeping the qualified and effective teachers we need. Across the county, we have nearly 1,200 teachers –more than 16 percent of our teacher workforce of 7,000 -- who currently do not meet the state’s minimum qualifications for a full teaching credential.

Exacerbating this problem is the fact that the distribution of these underprepared teachers is uneven. Some districts have few underprepared teachers, and some have many. And within districts, there is a similarly uneven distribution of underprepared teachers with some schools not having any underprepared teachers and others having more than half of their teachers who do not have credentials.

These numbers begin to outline the challenges ahead. We are committed to finding and implementing solutions. Our goal is to make sure that every student interacts with qualified and effective teachers in school every day. That means we need to identify more promising prospective teachers from this region and do a better job of giving them the skills they need to become effective teachers. It means we must do a better job at retaining the many quality teachers we have now. And it means we must provide all of our teachers with the professional development they need to ensure that all their students reach the new, higher academic standards.

The good news is that we are committed to such an effort. The further good news is that we have high quality assistance in our work.

Two California Foundations have provided funding for the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning and Stanford Research Institute (SRI) International to help us develop the data to better identify the issues and challenges we face in building and sustaining a top quality teacher workforce and to develop strategies for strengthening teacher development from pre-service education and induction through professional development for veteran teachers. Both organizations have been at the forefront of identifying these issues across the state and working with policy makers on solutions. The work in Kern County is the first significant attempt in California to apply regional solutions to the statewide challenge of ensuring that every child has a fully qualified, effective teacher.

Three chief executive officers from the largest school districts in Kern County along with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, the Chancellor of Kern Community College District and the President of California State University Bakersfield will provide leadership for the initiative. Dr. Tomas Arciniega will chair the countywide committee. It is the intent to include all school districts in this initiative for increasing both the quantity and quality of the teacher workforce in Kern County.The following individuals support the Kern County initiative on teacher development and retention.

Dr. Tomas Arciniega,
President California State University, Bakersfield

Dr. Larry Reider, Superintendent
Kern County Office of Education

Dr. Walt Packard, Chancellor
Kern Community College District
    

Dr. Jean Fuller, Superintendent
Bakersfield City Elementary School District

Mr. Bill Hatcher, Superintendent
Kern Union High School District

Mr. Doug Miller, Superintendent
Panama-Buena Vista Union Elementary School District
    

Mr. Michael McGuire, Superintendent
Arvin Union Elementary School District

Mr. Kenneth Chapman, Superintendent
Beardsley Elementary School District

Mr. Steven Wentland, Superintendent
Belridge Elementary School District

Ms. Kim Bell, Superintendent
Blake Elementary School District

Mr. Gary Glover, Superintendent
Buttonwillow Union Elementary School District

Ms. Robin Shive, Superintendent
Caliente Union Elementary School District

Ms. Sherrill Hufnagel, Superintendent
Delano Joint Union High School District

Dr. Milton Woolsey, Superintendent
Delano Union Elementary School District

Mr. Carl Delfino, Superintendent
Di Giorgio Elementary School District

Mrs. Barbara Clark, Superintendent
Edison Elementary School District

Dr. Wesley Thomas, Superintendent
Elk Hills Elementary School District

Mr. Dean C. Bently, Superintendent
El Tejon Unified School District

Mr. Adolph Wirth, Superintendent
Fairfax Elementary School District

Dr. Carl Olsen, Superintendent
Fruitvale Elementary School District

Mr. Larry Wilkins, Superintendent
General Shafter Elementary School District

Mr. James Goodgame, Superintendent
Greenfield Union Elementary School District

Dr. Steve Merta, Superintendent
Kernville Union Elementary School District

Mr. Nick Kouklis, Superintendent
Lakeside Union Elementary School District

Mr. James Bates, Superintendent
Lamont Elementary School District

Ms. Michelle Antonell, Principal
Linns Valley-Poso Flat Union School District

Dr. John R. Bogie, Superintendent
Lost Hills Union Elementary School District

Ms. Ann C. Paslay, Superintendent
Maple Elementary School District
    

Mr. Barry Lindaman, Superintendent
Maricopa Unified School District

Mr. Roberto Cardenas, Superintendent
McFarland Unified School District

Mr. John Barnes, Superintendent
McKittrick Elementary School District

Dr. Don Swearingen, Superintendent
Midway Elementary School District

Mr. Larry Phelps, Superintendent
Mojave Unified School District

Dr. Bertha Boullion, Superintendent
Muroc Joint Unified School District

Dr. Wallace McCormick, Superintendent
Norris Elementary School District

Mr. John Leonard, Superintendent
Pond Union Elementary School District

Mr. Lyle W. Mack, Superintendent
Richland-Lerdo Union Elementary School District

Mr. Gerald Higbee, Superintendent
Rio Bravo-Greeley Union Elementary School District

Mr. Jamie Henderson, Superintendent
Rosedale Union Elementary School District

Dr. Michael Rucks, Superintendent
Semitropic Elementary School District

Dr. April Jones, Superintendent
Sierra Sands Unified School District

Mr. Larry Holochwost, Superintendent
South Fork Union Elementary School District

Dr. Christine Hoffman, Superintendent
Southern Kern Unified School District

Dr. Erich Kwek, Superintendent
Standard Elementary School District

Dr. Michael Harris, Superintendent
Taft City Elementary School District

Mr. Gerald P. Dragoo, Superintendent
Taft Union High School District

Mr. D. Kent Ashworth, Superintendent
Tehachapi Unified School District

Mr. Stephen Greenfield, Superintendent
Vineland Elementary School District

Mr. Gary Bray, Superintendent
Wasco Union Elementary School District

Mr. Anthony Monreal, Superintendent
Wasco Union High School District
    

Mr. Michael E. Ford
Chapter Services Consultant
California Teachers Association
Mr. Richard N. Schuster
Chapter Services Consultant
California Teachers Association
    
Dr. David Cothrun
Superintendent/President
West Kern Community College District
    
 

Dr. James Doti, President
Chapman University

Dr. Jerry Lee, President
National University

Dr. Steve Morgan, President
University of LaVerne
    

Dr Harold Haak, President
Fresno Pacific University

Dr. Robert Brower, President
Point Loma Nazarene University

Dr. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, Chancellor
University of California, Merced

 

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