| The Monterey
Bay Educational Consortium’s Teacher Workforce Initiative
Across the tri-county region of Monterey, San Benito and
Santa Cruz, schools are facing a projected long-term shortage
of fully qualified teachers, and too many underprepared teachers
are concentrated in low-performing schools serving poor, minority,
and English language learning students. On average, more than
13 percent of all teachers in the tri-county area were underprepared
during the 2002-03 school year. In that same school year,
while teachers 50 years of age and older made up 37.4 percent
of California’s workforce, the tri-county region was
significantly higher at 44 percent. Approximately one in four
teachers was 55 years or older and retiring within the next
few years. Exacerbating the problem of teacher recruitment
is the high cost of housing in the region. In terms of retention,
many of the region’s new teachers leave after only a
few years when home ownership becomes clearly out of their
reach on a teacher’s salary.
In spring 2003, the Center joined in partnership with the
Monterey Bay Educational Consortium (MBEC) to develop a regional
effort to analyze and address teacher workforce issues. Working
across the three counties, the initiative is developing an
automated system for collecting and analyzing current-year
teacher workforce data to serve as a foundation for strategies
and programs that will strengthen the region’s teacher
development system, including preparation, recruitment, placement,
retention and professional development.
The Teacher Workforce Initiative (TWI) has directly involved
approximately 65 local education agencies in the region including
schools and districts, numerous colleges and universities,
and professional and education associations. A steering committee
made up of representatives from the tri-county educational
community is providing guidance and oversight to the TWI.
Project objectives include:
- Development of an automated data collection system that
enables the region to work with current, accurate data to
drive informed discussion and regional strategies to improve
the quality of the teacher workforce and address issues
of inequities;
- Development of data-driven action plans to increase the
capacity of the local teacher workforce;
- Development of better informed personnel practices for
recruiting and retaining qualified teachers;
- Establishment of impartial, data-driven processes for
tracking progress, making mid-course corrections and informing
the public;
- Increased ability to address proactively emerging issues
such as the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the Williams
case settlement, and more efficiently respond to state and
federal requests for data; and
- Creation of an educational environment that supports
qualitative and quantitative research.
The regional leaders of the Teacher Workforce Initiative
have identified critical issues impacting the local supply
and demand of teachers. Ongoing analysis of the factors that
shape these issues will help to shape the development of ongoing
Action Plans. Additional information about the initiative and its progress
is available through the MBEC/TWI Website.
TWI
Joint Statement on Teaching Excellence (PDF)
TWI
Press Release
TWI PowerPoint Presentation (May, 2006)
TWI PowerPoint Presentation (May, 2004)
TWI Progress Reports:
June 2006 (PDF)
May 2006 (PDF)
March 2006 (PDF)
January 2006 (PDF)
December 2005 (PDF)
September 2005 (PDF)
June
2005 (PDF)
May 2005 (PDF)
February
2005 (PDF)
December
2004 (PDF)
November
2004 (PDF)
|
