This special report provides context and examples of new legislation impacting preparation, certification, induction, professional development, evaluation and compensation for leaders of schools and districts.

The underperformance of English Language Learners (ELs) in test scores and high school graduation rates raises important questions about teacher preparation in California. A small, but growing body of evidence suggests that teachers of ELs need specialized knowledge, dispositions and practices to effectively teach this population. ELs in the state…

In an effort to better understand how participating in teacher research as a student teacher compares to conducting it as a practicing teacher, a teacher educator and her former teacher education student engaged in a collaborative dialogue. They focus their reflections in this article on the impact of external forces on the process of teacher…

This article is a recollection of events as the author began her teaching career. Her first experience was an "alternative route" she claims, since it involved her joining the Peace Corps and accepting a teaching position in Uganda. In the article, she discusses that although the breadth and depth of induction programs vary widely both…

Learning to teach is a developmental process. This process begins in some fashion when a person enters formal schooling and ideally continues throughout life, with good teachers always becoming better teachers. Teaching is perhaps the only career in which people have such an extended term of development. Unfortunately, nearly all of this growth in…

In the last decade, the education and policy communities in California have undertaken a major effort to reform the preparation of public school teachers. At the heart of this work is quality education for all children and high-quality teacher education. With the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 2042 in 1998, the state has set in motion the building of…

This paper examines whether institutions of higher education (IHEs) should be involved in collaborative induction efforts and whether such involvement would increase the accountability of IHEs' teacher preparation programs. It describes one California teacher preparation program's efforts. The program has maintained its active involvement within a…

This book lays out the fundamentals for helping new teachers succeed in the schools of the next century. Each part features a collection of chapters from educational leaders. An introductory part presents, "A New Teacher's World: Not Your Grandmother's Classroom" (Marge Scherer). Part 1, "What Do New Teachers Need?" includes:…

This report describes the Educational Testing Service professional development/assessment system for student and beginning teachers, "Pathwise," a classroom observation instrument, as used in the California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program (BTSA) for teacher education. Three themes were noted by "Pathwise" users…

This report charts a vision for preparing California teachers for the 21st century. The report is an adaptation of the national framework found in the Association of Teacher Educators' report, "Restructuring the Education of Teachers." Recognizing that learning to be an effective teacher is a developmental process, the report is…

This digest provides a summary at-a-glance of critical legislative activity and related reports that have addressed many facets of California's teacher recruitment and development challenges over the decade. The nine chapters focus on: "Teacher Recruitment,""University-Based Teacher Preparation,""Teacher…

Sets the context for examining a series of articles that highlight California's work on beginning teacher induction, discussing restructuring to connect teaching and learning, knowledge of student learning, teacher performance expectations, standards of practice, the role of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, implications for…

This framework defines a vision of the knowledge, skills, and abilities that should characterize California's beginning teachers in their initial years of service. Discussion and development of the framework are part of the California New Teacher Project, a pilot study of policy alternatives to enhance the success of novice teachers. Following a…

This paper describes teacher professional development through field-based education within the expected standards of the teaching profession, drawing from research and experience with current trends and practices in teacher education and student learning. Today's teachers must be prepared to play a more vital role in diverse 21st-century schools.…

This report discusses trends in California's teaching force for 2002: shortage of qualified teachers (e.g., the shortage varies across different subjects and is expected to worsen due to teacher retirements and growth in numbers of students); getting good teachers (e.g., California's underprepared teachers continue to be inequitably distributed…