There’s no sign of a bell curve in the latest scores of state teacher preparation programs. California received an overall grade of D on the 2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook released by the National Council on Teacher Quality. No, that’s not great, but it may be easier to bear knowing that the national average was a whopping D+.
“With so much attention on the issue of teacher effectiveness, the relative lack of attention to how candidates for teaching are prepared for the job in the first place is puzzling,” said Kate Walsh, president of the Council.
Puzzling is also the operative word from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. “Some of their information is just wrong,” said CTC spokesperson Erin Sullivan.For example, the section of the report on California cites the state for not requiring middle school teachers to pass content area tests in
California earned a grade of D for the quality of its teacher preparation from the National Council on Teacher Quality. Source: NCTQ report, 2012 State Teacher Policy Yearbook.
each subject they’re licensed to teach and doesn’t require high school science teachers to pass a test for each discipline – such as biology, chemistry, etc. – that they’re licensed to teach.
Sullivan said the state does require those exams. “It’s a little bit perplexing where they got some of
Time for a statewide database to better serve foster youth - by David Gordon
California has been a national leader in passing state legislation to improve educational outcomes for foster youth and in recognizing the importance of sharing education data. Now, with the passage of the federal Uninterrupted Scholars Act and Governor Brown’s focus on the education needs of foster youth, the time is right for California to support the use of a statewide foster youth education...