The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) teacher quality provisions recognize both the importance of teacher quality for improving student achievement and the unequal distribution of teachers across districts and schools. But the question of how to achieve the goal of a high quality teacher in every classroom is complicated because of the challenges of…

To its considerable credit, California has set rigorous standards for all of its students in the past decade and provided considerable focus on where schools are falling short. Now, there are plentiful data about which schools and students are not succeeding. But the standards come with high stakes for students and schools-- consequences that…

The Transition to Teaching (TTT) program is described in Part C, Innovations for Teacher Quality, Subpart 1, Chapter B of the "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act." Its purposes are "(a) to recruit and retain highly qualified mid-career professionals (including highly qualified paraprofessionals) and recent graduates of an institution…

This report analyzes emerging workforce issues as California develops a universal preschool system, focusing on service delivery mechanisms, workforce standards for staff qualifications and compensation, and professional development and higher education system capacity. The review covers current conditions, emerging questions, research findings,…

Data from 805 California high schools are used to examine teacher education and experience in relation to student dropout rates. Dropout rates tend to be higher where faculties include a greater percentage of minimally educated teachers or teachers with little experience. These relationships are independent of school size, student poverty, and…

This case study examined the role of parents as decision-makers in the founding of an elementary (K-1) charter school serving 44 children and their families in a California metropolitan area. The study focused on the working relationship between the parents and the founding director, and the effects of this relationship on the organization's…

In August 1985, the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy initiated a study of California's community college system to assess the adequacy of financial accountability in the system. Two hearings, interviews, and analyses of extensive data, yielded the following findings: (1) 25% of the community college districts had…

A survey of female administrators in California community colleges focused on biographical information, attitudes toward career development and issues related to being female administrators, advice to aspiring women administrators, and information about the differences between male and female administrators and about frustrations. Of California's…

This revised edition of the 1951 bulletin of the California State Department of Education updates materials from the original handbook, includes information from a handbook on inservice teacher training, and adds a brief history of adult education. It should be of practical value to teachers of adults, their supervisors and school administrators.…

This study describes how elementary and secondary California teachers nominated as successful in their microcomputer-based instruction teach science and mathematics, and how their computer usage varies in relation to (1) teacher characteristics (computer and subject matter knowledge, and attitudes toward computers); and (2) district, school, and…

Although second- and third-year evaluations of California's K-3 class-size reduction program show modest achievement gains, these improvements have had large costs. Interdistrict inequities have been exacerbated as the teacher work force increased 38 percent, qualifications dropped, and implementation costs soared. Recommendations are discussed.…

Analyzes current teacher education practices in relation to the need for more highly prepared, credentialed teachers for California's schools, discussing: the importance of teaching and teacher education; what matters and works in teacher education; high quality teacher education programs in California; teacher supply and demand; issues facing…

Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. The "Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education" provides higher…

"Bachelor's-for-tenure" is a requirement in the California Education Code specifying that community college vocational faculty hired on or after January 1, 1995 must have a bachelor's degree to receive tenure. The requirement is unusual among community colleges nationwide; of 10 states surveyed, none required a bachelor's for initial…

This study examined the relationship between teachers' beliefs and intentions about the importance of teacher-child interactions. The participants were 71 early childhood teachers who had worked with children ages 35 for an average of 9 years (range 0-29). Roughly 35% of the teachers had majored in early childhood education, and 63% held at least…