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  • A district practice that breaks hearts and squashes teacher morale

    A district practice that breaks hearts and squashes teacher morale


    You’re being excessed.

    Those three little words uttered by my principal at the first staff meeting, my first day back at work, three days before the start of the school year. Excessed. Numbly, I stumble out of the meeting and make my way back to my classroom. I sit in the new green chair I had just purchased to match the decor for my universal transitional kindergarten class. I sit and stare at my classroom, trying to process what has just happened. Excessed. I have to pack my personal belongings and supplies. Excessed. I have to take everything off the walls. Excessed. Where am I going to put all these boxes? What school and grade will I be moving to, and when? Excessed.

    Excessing, also known as involuntary transfer, occurs when schools have a lower number of enrolled students than were projected, and now there are too many teachers at one site. Districts move teachers between schools to fill vacancies that can open, partially due to higher/lower than expected enrollment, funding shifts, teacher retirement, etc. Excessing a teacher from their site usually happens in the spring, at the end of the school year.

    Fall excessing, or being transferred to a new school/grade in the time after the new school year has begun, is rarely voluntary. It is a heartbreaker and destroys a teacher’s spirit due to the emotional investment that teachers put into their classrooms and their future students at the start of each new school year.

    I explained fall excessing to my husband, a retired school bus driver, like this: “Imagine someone tells you that they have too many bus drivers and they need you to now drive a dump truck in a brand-new city. You know how to drive, you’ve been doing it for ages, and you are well trained to drive vehicles. However, you’ve never driven a dump truck before, and you’ve never driven in this new city. There is no new training for driving a dump truck, and you are expected to master the new vehicle, new city and its rules within two days.”

    Sounds great, right?

    In the spring of 2024 my union, San Diego Education Association, and my district came to an agreement to “minimize fall staffing movement.” This signed and approved contract agreement is supposed to encourage the district to sort out their enrollment numbers well before the start of the school year. The idea behind the agreement is to reduce the chances of a teacher being moved after school has already started. But it wasn’t enough to keep me from being excessed.

    So I call for reinforcements. A teacher friend whose district hasn’t started yet gets busy packing up my old classroom. My husband loads my new green chair into his truck and takes it home. Eight hours later, my personal classroom items are making their way onto two pallets, headed to the school’s multipurpose room, while a stunned teacher who has been moved down two grade levels is making his way into the classroom to now teach transitional kindergarten.

    My former classroom looks like it’s been pillaged, with leftover boxes, rolls of tape and a steady stream of boxes from the new teacher. The once sunny and bright room looks sad and forlorn, like she’s having trouble letting me go, as I am struggling to let her go as well.

    I grapple with the hopes and dreams I had for these new students, whose names were already written on their tables, and etched on my heart. The students will be fine, they will only know one teacher, the one taking my place, three days before the official start of school. But I will always know that they were mine first.

    The next few days are a blur of packing the last few boxes, crying, showing the new teacher the curriculum, crying and talking to union reps and the human resources department at my district. I feel crushed, unimportant, deflated. I am dismayed to hear that I have to stay on my campus for, a minimum of three weeks, but likely more like six or seven weeks. As a newly excessed teacher, I have to wait until the official fall excess date, typically the third or fourth Friday of September, before I know where the district will place me. In the meantime, I will remain on my campus as a support teacher. It is a painful reminder of who I am to the school district. A body, an ID number. A bus driver who can be told to drive a dump truck.

    In an ironic plot twist, only half of the district’s excessed teachers were moved to new school sites. The other half, myself included, were allowed to stay at our current schools. To reduce the number of combo classes, I was directed to teach a newly created first grade class. At this point, I felt like a pawn in a mysterious chess game, with the rules only known to the upper administration.

    I’m just a teacher who was excited to get ready for going back to school, but instead was delivered a big dose of fall excessing. I took my green chair with me to my new classroom, but it wasn’t the same. I left a little piece of me in that former classroom and with those students who were supposed to be mine.

    •••

     Kelly Gonzales is a primary grade teacher at a Title 1 school in San Diego, and a teacher leader with the California Reading and Literature Project.

    The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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  • Casey Clementson’s Reflections on What to Do in Music Ensemble + Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

    Casey Clementson’s Reflections on What to Do in Music Ensemble + Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!


    Give clear, concrete directions. Scan for follow-though

     

    Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Casey Clementson, author of the following post, is a middle school music teacher at Rosemount Middle School in Rosemount, MN.

    As part of her work as a Teach Like a Champion Fellow, Casey studied the What to Do Cycle, using its principles and adapting them to the challenges of doubly-complex settings like Concert Band.

    Her reflections (below) are so helpful… they’re our Teacher Appreciation Week gift to you!

    Meanwhile if you’re interested in learning more about What to Do Directions or other elements of productve and orderly classrooms, join us for our Building Strong Classroom Cultures workshop in Tarrytown, NY, on June 5th and 6th; info here.

    And if you are interested in finding our more about becoming a TLAC Fellow, applications for our fourth cohort are open and available here: https://teachlikeachampion.org/teach-like-champion-fellows/ and are due by May 30, 2025.

    Meanwhile, here are Casey’s insights:

     

    The Concert Band or Orchestra is a complex environment. Not only are students responsible for their personal materials needed for learning, they are also in charge of a musical instrument (one that costs hundreds of dollars). In my subject area – Concert Band – there could be over ten different types of musical instruments being used among the students, up to four different key signatures, and two different clefs used for reading music notation. To top it off, most percussionists are required to perform musical tasks completely independent but at the same time as the other students in the ensemble!

     

    Self-regulation and self-discipline from the students is essential to making this type of classroom shine. The best Instrumental Music teachers know how to harness these challenges to shape the attention of their student musicians to keep everyone learning and helping every student become an independent musician.

     

    During my time as a TLAC Fellow, I tried on many techniques to see how they fit in a class where nobody sits at a desk to learn. The technique that I fell in love with most was the What to Do Cycle. The What to Do Cycle is a sequence of moves that provides students clarity so they can experience success and belonging in the classroom.

     

    See Casey use the What to Do Cycle here: 

     

     

    Here are a few things I learned during this process:

     

    What To Do Cycles take planning, practice, and refinement.

     

    There is a potency in consciously naming a What to Do Cycle. Teachers may say they are giving clear instructions when they are really not. Teachers may assume the students will magically do what is asked of them no matter what. I was this teacher.

     

    For example, I have been teaching out of the same rhythm workbook for years. This year, I carefully craft my explanations, my examples, and my directions each day we have a rhythm lesson. I learned to change the register and tempo of my voice to make the ask exciting, or magical, or to harness middle school energy into concentration.

     

    Sometimes Be Seen Looking and Correct When Necessary are the most important part of the What to Do Cycle.

     

    A What to Do Cycle is more than just giving clear concise directions. By using Be Seen Looking and some positive narration: “The flute section has really got their pencils moving” or using an Anonymous Individual Correction such as, “Waiting for two saxophones to get their Scale sheet out,” while circulating the room is effective.

     

    One of the greatest benefits has been the use of Private Individual Correction. Anything from softly saying “Check you counts in measure 1” to “Do you have something in your mouth that needs to go in the garbage?” to the more urgent “I need you to turn your body to the front and participate” allows students to feel safe while they practice the expectations of the task at hand or of the classroom in general.

     

    Purpose not Power.

     

    One of my most impactful take-aways from a training of the What to Do cycle was the phrase “Purpose not Power.” In my 26 years of teaching, I certainly remember many instances of power struggles between me and a student. Being able to reframe my thinking that everything I do to guide behavior and culture is for the service of learning music versus trying to control young people has resulted in powerful outcomes:

     

    • Our rehearsals are calmer.
    • My emotional constancy has been easier to maintain.
    • Our students are visibly and audibly improving at a rate we have not seen since pre-pandemic.

     

    My “thank yous” and smiles to students have been more genuine than ever after a Be Seen Looking, an Anonymous Individual Correction, or in celebration of a job well-done.

     

    The purpose of the TLAC Fellows program is a two-way street: The TLAC team learns from the Fellows and receives a ton of great video from us to work with. And, in return, I was inspired to improve my craft, thus reigniting my love of teaching.

     

     

    Post script 1: Since adopting the use of strong WTD cycles, Cold Call has become a natural extension/part of our classroom (even without a roll out). After a Be Seen Looking and making eye contact with multiple students, I can engage in successful Cold Calls, but that’s for another blog post.

     

    Post script 2: Our school is a 1:1 iPad school. After reading the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt over the summer, my colleague and I decided the Band Area would be an iPad-free zone. Students turn their iPad in at the beginning of class and don’t pick it up until the bell rings. For 52 minutes, our musicians get to engage in something truly collective – learning music together – without the distraction of gaming, doing work for another class, or communicating with peers online. Could this be another factor in a successful classroom this year? Probably, yes!

     



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  • Bilingual teacher training must be a long-term investment in California schools

    Bilingual teacher training must be a long-term investment in California schools


    Photo courtesy of SEAL

    Speaking more than one language is a superpower and a growing necessity in our global economy. If we want more California students to experience the economic, academic, social and emotional benefits of multilingualism, bilingual or dual language classrooms should be the gold standard for all schools. English learners, who often fall behind in school, especially stand to benefit from bilingual/dual language programs.

    Families across the state — regardless of political affiliation, or whether they speak English at home — can recognize the academic, cognitive and economic advantages of bilingualism. They want multilingual education for their children when they see the data and experience these benefits for themselves. While California has made major strides toward making bilingual classrooms the norm, there is a long road ahead, particularly in communities with large numbers of English learners. This is a grave injustice for the 40% of California children who speak a language other than English at home, because these children would excel in bilingual classrooms academically while still developing literacy in their home language and English. We need long-term investment from the state for our students to realize their full potential.

    A recent report from the UCLA Civil Rights Project underscores this urgent need. Proposition 227, which passed in 1998, mandated English-only education for English learner students in public schools and dismantled bilingual teacher preparation programs. Then, in 2016, California voters passed Proposition 58 with 73% of the vote, overturning Proposition 227 and making it easier, in theory, to implement bilingual classrooms.

    However, more than two decades of “English-only” education has left us without enough qualified bilingual teachers, even though there is now more demand for them. According to the UCLA report, out of 1.1 million English learners in California, only 188,381 students, or 16% of that population, were enrolled in these programs as of the 2019/2020 school year.

    California is still a nationwide leader in supporting bilingual education, despite these numbers. The state’s English Learner Roadmap and Global California 2030 show that our education leaders really do want to improve our students’ critical thinking skills, family and community relationships, and earning potential through bilingual education. And one-time programs like the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program, English Learner Roadmap Power in Collaboration Across California, and the English Learner Roadmap Implementation for Systemic Excellence are doing important work to fulfill these goals.

    But visionary policies and initiatives, along with one-time grants alone, are not enough. Schools and districts require sustained resources and incentives to train bilingual teachers, set up classrooms, purchase materials, recruit families and ensure their programs can launch and thrive. Right now, we simply do not have that in California. It’s a symptom of our state’s fundamental lack of investment in education overall — California is the world’s fifth largest economy, but we rank 18th in education funding out of the 50 states.

    To illustrate this, the UCLA report compares California to Texas, another state with similar English learner populations. Even though California has a large number of English learner students and high interest in bilingual education, it’s still difficult to expand these models in California classrooms. Meanwhile, in Texas, enrollment in bilingual education programs is twice as high as in California. This is because Texas mandates bilingual education for districts enrolling significant numbers of English learners and provides extra state funding per student enrolled in these programs. This ensures strong demand for bilingual teachers and secure funding for their training.

    Districts and schools need ongoing funding sources like this embedded in their funding formula. Policymakers must support both one-time initiatives like those mentioned above and long-term sustainable funding sources that help increase our bilingual teacher pipeline and incentivize schools to build high quality bilingual/dual language programs.

    These long-term solutions could be modeled after initiatives like First Five, which has received $492 million in state investments since 2000. We need a comprehensive approach to the bilingual teacher pipeline, such as giving colleges and universities “Jump Start” funds to hire faculty and build out their bilingual teacher prep and authorization programs. California should also create initiatives to recruit and give incentives to students who graduate from high school with a State Seal of Biliteracy to enter bilingual teacher preparation programs.

    Language is the vehicle of learning. When educators understand how to integrate and leverage language development across everything, all students thrive. We must invest in bilingual education long-term if we are ever going to create a sustainable future for our state’s most valuable resource: our children.

    •••

    Anya Hurwitz is president and executive director of SEAL (Sobrato Early Academic Language), a nonprofit initiative of the Sobrato Foundation and vice president of the board of directors for Californians Together. She holds a doctorate in education from University of California Berkeley.

    The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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  • California should continue to invest in teacher recruitment, retention, study says

    California should continue to invest in teacher recruitment, retention, study says


    Credit: Julie Leopo / EdSource

    California has spent more than $1 billion since 2018 on programs to aid in the recruitment and retention of TK-12 teachers. It must continue to make those investments if it wants to end the persistent teacher shortage, according to a report, “Tackling Teacher Shortages: Investing in California’s Teacher Workforce,” released last week.

    Major investments include $672 million for the Teacher Residency Grant Program, $521 million for the Golden State Teacher Grant Program and $250 million for the National Board Certified Teacher Incentive Program. 

    The state programs to recruit and retain teachers are gaining traction, but still need more time to show results, according to the national Learning Policy Institute (LPI), a nonprofit education research organization that released the report. But many of the programs are funded with one-time funds nearing expiration.

     The Golden State Teacher Grant Program awards up to $20,000 and the National Board Certified Teacher Incentive Program provides $25,000 to teachers who agree to work at a high-needs school.

    The Teacher Residency Grant Program funds partnerships between school districts and teacher preparation programs that pay teacher candidates a stipend while they learn alongside veteran classroom teachers. 

    Interest in all three of these state programs continues to increase, said Desiree Carver-Thomas, a senior researcher at LPI. But, because participation is still just a fraction of the overall teacher pipeline, it may take years until researchers will be able to tell whether the programs are actually helping to boost enrollment in teacher preparation programs, she said.

    “I think it’s important to mention that the teacher residency grant program and Golden State Teacher Grant program aren’t just subsidizing people who might go into the profession either way,” Carver-Thomas said. “Those individuals are being targeted by the districts where they’re needed, to the schools where they’re needed. It’s important that the kind of supply-demand alignment that the state is supporting can help to address shortages.”

     Linda Darling-Hammond is LPI president as well as the president of the California State Board of Education.

    Enrollment in teacher preparation programs dip

    Despite the investments, enrollment in teacher preparation programs dipped in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, the last two years state data is available. In 2022-23 there were 19,833 teacher candidates enrolled in teacher preparation programs, compared with 26,179 in 2020-21, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Teacher enrollment has been increasing incrementally each year between 2018 and 2021.

    The numbers are far behind enrollment in state teacher preparation 20 years ago, but there has been some progress, Carver-Thomas said. The Covid-19 pandemic could have impacted enrollment in 2021-22 and 2022-23, she said.

     “We don’t know what is on the other side of that 2023 data,” Carver-Thomas said.

    Teacher shortages impact poor communities the most

    The teacher shortage, especially in hard-to- fill areas like math, special education, science and bilingual education, persists despite proposed teacher layoffs and buyouts driven by declining enrollment and budget shortfalls.

    As a result of the teacher shortage, school districts continue to rely on under-prepared teachers on emergency-style permits. A larger number of these under-prepared teachers end up in schools in the poorest communities, according to research.

    In 2022-23, the state’s highest-need schools were nearly three times as likely to fill teaching positions with interns and teachers on emergency-style permits or waivers, compared with the lowest-need schools, according to the LPI report.

    Additional funding could be on the way

    California’s proposed state budget includes funding for recruitment and retention of teachers, including $50 million for the Golden State Teacher Grant and $100 million to extend the timeline for the National Board Certified Teacher Incentive Program. The proposed budget also includes $150 million in financial aid to teacher candidates through the new Teacher Recruitment Incentive Grant Program.

    The Golden State Teacher Grant Program, funded with $500 million in 2021, was meant to support teacher candidates over a five-year period, but the program’s funds are nearly exhausted. The new funding, if approved, would fund applicants in 2025-26.

    State lawmakers will make final decisions on funding by the June 15 budget deadline.





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  • Teacher Feature: Katherine Bueler – Wowzers

    Teacher Feature: Katherine Bueler – Wowzers


    We are happy to introduce you to one of our Superuser Teachers from Santa Fe, NM, Katherine Bueler. She started her career as a mechanical engineer but changed occupations to become a math & science teacher. She loves math and knew that with a career teaching science and mathematics she could make a difference in the lives of the students in her community.

    Katherine earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude, California State University-Chico in 1983.

    She also acquired a teaching license in secondary math & science-bilingual and is currently a Nationally Board Certified Mathematics Instructor in Santa Fe, NM where she has been a science and math teacher for  20+ years. She is very dedicated to making sure that her students understand math and knows that it requires her to personalize learning for her diverse group of students. She has been using the Wowzers personalized math program in her classroom for a few years and recently “connected the dots” with a revelation. “As a child, I attended 12 schools between kindergarten and 12th grade. In 6th grade, we moved to Minnesota and the school said I was at a 3rd-grade math level. All students in the class were on individualized math programs: we’d do a paper lesson, wait two weeks while our bubble sheets were sent to a computer in Iowa for scanning (my first interaction with a computer!), and move on to the next. I went through three years of math that year, and have gotten high-percentage A’s in all math since, including magna cum laude in mechanical engineering. So, my revelation was that one factor in my advocacy for the Wowzers program is that it reminds me of something that worked extremely well for me. “

    Katherine has developed routines for her classroom that are set up to best benefit her students using the Wowzers program. She is able to hold students accountable through monitoring student progress on the Wowzers Teacher Dashboard.  Her room is enveloped with quiet concentration and students are on target during Wowzers time. She asked one of her once challenged & unmotivated students, who are seeing growth in his understanding of math concepts, why he used the Wowzers program beyond the required class time. He responded, “ Wowzers is helpful and fun!”. She thought, “that should be the goal for all teachers– provide instruction and materials that are helpful and fun! 
    She also says, “I believe in this Wowzers program and I’ve developed a workflow that fits nicely into my grading. In terms of the program itself, there is no other instructive math program that truly teaches & uses effective pedagogy like Wowzers. I’ve waited for a program like this for years!”



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  • Teacher Feature: Julie Nicholson – Wowzers

    Teacher Feature: Julie Nicholson – Wowzers


    For our latest teacher feature, we connected with Julie Nicholson, a sixth-grade teacher in Texas. Ms. Nicholson just discovered Wowzers this year, but already the program has made a huge impact on her classroom. Because she works in a 1:1 school, she incorporates Wowzers whenever possible. Every day, she uses Wowzers after the students answer their bell ringer question of the day. As soon as she verifies each student’s correct answer, her students immediately log in to Wowzers to pick up where they left off in the curriculum. When she pulls out small groups of students, the rest of the students continue working on Wowzers. She finds that when students use Wowzers, they stay engaged longer so she’s able to concentrate on each small group.

    Mrs. Nicholson’s favorite feature is how she’s able to import her students’ NWEA MAP Growth scores to create a personalized curriculum for each student. She toggles her students between these personalized curriculum paths and a general classroom path as needed. She explains, “I love the differentiation of it reaching my students right where they are as individuals. I have students below grade level, on grade level, and I have students a couple of grade levels above. This program allows my students to get that individualized instruction without me feeling bad that there is not enough of me to go around or enough time in one class period to work with ALL of my students. It is very important to me that the lower, middle and upper performing students grow.”

    The reports built into Wowzers have also been a lifesaver for Ms. Nicholson since they save her time and energy. By quickly looking over the real-time reports, she sees which students are struggling, and who’s receiving remediation. Because she doesn’t need to spend hours grading papers, she’s able to give her best to her students and spend more time with her family. She describes the reports as a “make or break” feature for her as a teacher.
    Ms. Nicholson’s students seem to be enjoying Wowzers as well. As one student explained, “It gives you lots of things to do and keeps you hooked. I have never been attached to a math program, and when Mrs. Nicholson said we were getting a new one, I thought, ‘Oh great, another boring program.’ But I love Wowzers!”

    When we asked Ms. Nicholson what else she’d like to see in Wowzers, she said, “One idea could be to set up a way for my students to compete against each other and in teams. They like the competition. It would also be great if they could compete against my other classes or classes within my school for points, or coins. It’s great motivation and creates excitement and teamwork.” What a great idea!



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  • Teacher Feature: Stacy Maxwell – Wowzers

    Teacher Feature: Stacy Maxwell – Wowzers


    We recently got the chance to speak to Stacy Maxwell, an elementary school teacher in Battlement Mesa, Colorado. Ms. Maxwell used Wowzers in the classroom and took advantage of Wowzers easy transition to remote learning when schools closed. She uses Wowzers to facilitate small groups and takes advantage of the program’s many resources to supplement her students’ learning. Each student has their own personalized curriculum path, which she believes has helped them become more successful in their learning, and meeting students’ specific needs in math

    As her students progress through Wowzers, Ms. Maxwell tracks their progress using the teacher dashboard. Each week, she checks their usage and uses it to highlight their successes. Celebrating her students’ successes has been more important than ever as they adapt to virtual learning. The dashboard also helps her identify where she needs to supplement and step in to assist her students.

    Ms. Maxwell’s students have been enjoying their Wowzers journey as well. They’ve remained engaged in the program and particularly liked creating an avatar to personalize their adventure. The progression in Wowzers allows them to feel successful as they move through the curriculum. They’re motivated to work hard in order to earn more game time in Wowzers.

    By customizing each student’s curriculum, Ms. Maxwell was able to create a specific learning goal for each of her students. This has been her favorite part of implementing Wowzers since it gives her the ability to easily meet each student where they are. This helps supplement the students’ learning and pushes them in the right areas exactly when they need it. Ms. Maxwell also takes advantage of Wowzers’ supplemental materials. The downloadable activities, worksheets, games, and discussion questions allow her to personalize the program to her state’s specific standards.

    We appreciate all our Wowzers users, and love hearing about how teachers customize the program to meet their classroom’s needs.



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  • End of federal grants could worsen teacher shortages

    End of federal grants could worsen teacher shortages


    Credit: Carlos Kosienski/Sipa via AP Images

    Top Takeaways
    • $600 million in federal grants for teacher preparation is in limbo while the court decides whether the Trump administration can cancel the funding.
    • Some California university and school district leaders are unsure whether programs can continue without help from the federal government.
    • The loss of the programs, which sometimes offer stipends and other financial help to teacher candidates, could worsen an already dire shortage of teachers for hard-to-fill jobs.
    • The number of teachers on emergency-style waivers and permits has tripled in the last decade. Teachers on emergency-style permits aren’t required to have completed teacher training.

    The abrupt termination of $600 million in federal teacher-training grants by the Trump administration — and the uncertainty that remains while their cancellation is contested in court — have left teacher candidates and university and school district leaders worried about whether the programs they fund can continue.

    The Teacher Quality Partnership grant and the Supporting Effective Educator Development grant have been used to help recruit and train teachers for high-needs schools and for hard-to-fill jobs, such as teaching science, special education and math.

    At least $148 million in grants go to California teacher preparation programs.

    “CSU simply does not have the resources to sustain these programs without funding from the U.S. Department of Education,” said Amy Bentley-Smith, director of strategic communications and public affairs for the university, in an email.

    The loss of the grants, which fund programs at both universities and school districts, could worsen the state’s teacher shortage and force school districts to hire more teachers on emergency-style permits that don’t require them to complete teacher training. 

    “There’s still acute shortages of credentialed teachers in California,” said Dana Grayson, director of West-Ed’s Teacher Workforce team. “Numbers show that, in the past decade, the number of teachers who aren’t fully credentialed has tripled. So, really making sure we have fully credentialed teachers in classrooms is especially important.”

    During the 2023-24 school year, the most recent year state data is available, 5% of California teachers were on emergency-style permits and waivers, according to newly released state data.

    CSU can’t sustain programs alone

    Without the grants, programs at four CSU campuses — Chico State, Cal State LA, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and CSU Monterey Bay  — could lose a total of $29 million. The funds provide stipends for teacher candidates, pay for professional development for student residents and their mentor teachers, pay staff salaries and for faculty release time, and support college preparation for K-12 students, Bentley-Smith said.

    Terminating the teacher preparation grants before the end of their terms — usually five years — would likely result in many teacher candidates delaying or abandoning plans to become credentialed teachers, she said.

    “The high-needs, high-poverty schools these programs support, which have historically experienced difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers, will lose support, collaboration, and access to new and future teachers,” Bentley-Smith said. “Further, teachers in these schools will lose out on professional development opportunities that support them in meeting the needs of their students.”    

    Among the grants in danger of being eliminated is a five-year grant to address a chronic shortage of qualified teachers in rural northeastern California. The $2.4 million grant to Chico State supports a teacher residency program that recruits, trains and prepares teachers to work in high-poverty, hard-to-staff rural communities, according to the California Attorney General’s office, which has sued to stop the terminations.

    Residencies allow teacher candidates to work alongside a mentor teacher in a classroom while completing their teaching credential. 

    The uncertainty around the grant “has led to significant disruptions in the program, including the inability to confidently plan for the upcoming year,” said Rebecca Justeson, a professor at Chico State’s School of Education.

    Termination of the grant would result in two employees being laid off and another having their hours reduced, said Jennifer Oloff-Lewis, a professor at the College of Communication and Education at Chico State.

    California State University officials would not comment on how many employees systemwide might be laid off if the grants are eliminated, saying only that the positions funded by the grants are usually terminated when grants end. 

    More than 1,000 students have completed CSU programs funded by the grants and have gone on to become credentialed teachers working in local school districts, said Bentley-Smith. About 300 teacher residents are in programs now. Some campuses have already committed funding and resources to support students for the upcoming school year. 

    Grants terminated with form letter

    The two federal grants were terminated in early February by the U.S. Department of Education with a form letter that offered no specific reason, except to say that the program might promote diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; violate civil rights law; be fraudulent, abusive, or duplicate other programs; or otherwise fail to serve the best interests of the United States, according to the lawsuit filed by the state of California and a multi-state coalition.

    When asked if California State University’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies may have put it at odds with the Trump administration, Bentley-Smith said the university complies with all federal and state nondiscrimination laws.

    “We regret that programs that promote equity in learning are being misconstrued as being inconsistent with federal priorities,” she said. “We can think of few greater priorities than ensuring all our youth are taught by skilled and qualified teachers.”

    Credential programs for school staff also at risk

    University programs aren’t the only ones under threat of losing grant funding. Some school districts and nonprofits have also won federal grants for programs to train and recruit teachers to fill hard-to-hire positions.

    The Lindsay School District began a residency program in 2021 in an attempt to recruit and retain teachers. The district had been losing about 25% of its teaching staff each year, according to the National Education Association. Residents are paid $31,400 a school year, and their mentors $7,000. 

    Its $8 million federal teaching grant is among those canceled.  

    Special education is a shortage area that would be hit hard if it loses the grants.

    “The sudden loss of federal funding for teacher residency grant programs will have a significant and profound impact on an already fragile system,” stated a letter from the Tulare Office of Education to state and federal lawmakers. “In 2020-21, 40 percent of schools hiring for open positions in special education reported having difficulties filling vacant openings as compared to 17 percent a decade earlier.”

    Cases make their way through courts

    The plaintiff state attorneys general argue in their lawsuit that termination of the grants, issued without warning, violates the Administrative Procedure Act, would impact teacher preparation programs, and immediately reduce the number of teachers and teacher trainees serving in schools.

    The coalition won a temporary restraining order on March 10 from the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, requiring the grants be restored temporarily while the case is being litigated. The reprieve was brief. The Supreme Court ruled on April 4 to allow the U.S. Department of Education to terminate the grants while the court case is being heard.

    The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled on a separate lawsuit filed by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the National Center for Teacher Residencies and the Maryland Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The court also lifted the temporary restraining order, citing the Supreme Court ruling, effectively freezing the grant funds for the plaintiffs in this suit.

    Teacher preparation programs have an administrative appeals process that allows them to respond by letter to the allegations in the termination missive, according to Reach University President Joe Ross. 

    University leaders sent appeals for each of its three federal grants and received acknowledgment that their appeal had arrived, but otherwise have not heard back.

    “As far as I know, I don’t know of any institution who has heard back on their efforts to engage with the Department of Education directly,” Ross said.

    Program reaches out to high-poverty areas

    Reach University had three federal grants totaling $14.7 million over five years that would be eliminated if the court ultimately agrees with the Trump administration. Although the nonprofit university is based in Oakland, it has been using the grants to support teacher candidates in high-poverty communities in rural Arkansas and Louisiana, where there are no universities within commuting distance.

    The federal grant money was used to start partnerships with school districts and to recruit community college graduates who want to complete a bachelor’s degree while working in a classified position, such as a para-educator, after-school tutor, office clerk or bus driver, in a public school. After earning a degree, teacher candidates can become interns or residents in the district while earning their credential through the university.

    Reach University has had to make immediate cuts, including laying off some staff members and suspending third-party evaluations of the program. The evaluations were used to determine the efficacy of the program and to allow grant programs to share best practices.

    Ross is trying to find local funding to help sustain the work, but there are no plans to reduce the number of teacher candidates the program supports. He is afraid that staff cuts may impact teacher recruitment.

    But Ross is optimistic about the long-term sustainability of these programs. He believes the funding will be replenished somehow because of broad bipartisan support for building a robust teacher pipeline across the country.

    “I think that if you travel through rural communities in California, rural communities in eastern Arkansas, or rural communities in northwest Alabama, you will see lots of different kinds of people, but they’re all trying to figure out how to find enough teachers to serve their kids,” he said.





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  • Madera drama teacher sees the arts as a gateway to improving literacy skills

    Madera drama teacher sees the arts as a gateway to improving literacy skills


    Students in Julian Ramos’ drama class in Madera.

    Credit: Courtesy of Julian Ramos

    A few years ago, when Julian Ramos first started teaching drama, he was hoping to explore Greek tragedy with his sixth graders. Then he realized only three out of his 30 students were reading at grade level. So, Sophocles was off the table.

    A practical soul, he pivoted to “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse,” a charming fable popular with his second graders. The sixth graders loved it too, but Ramos still worries about their reading skills.

    “Reading has become a chore for a lot of students,” said Ramos, a former English teacher who now specializes in dramatic literature at Pershing Elementary, a TK-6 school in Madera Unified, just northwest of Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley. “I’m currently struggling with how I can use my time wisely, productively and efficiently, as a drama class, but also to reinforce and enhance their literacy skills.”

    In an age of widely declining literacy rates, Ramos, who grew up in Madera, realized that he has to meet the students where they are. Like many experts, he blames a confluence of factors, including excessive screen time and pandemic disruptions, for the fact that many students struggle to concentrate long enough to read deeply. One thing he doesn’t do is blame the kids.

    “I myself have fallen victim to it,” he admits with characteristic candor. My whole life I have been a reader, but I’m not reading like I used to either. I find myself scrolling. So I can relate to the kids.”

    Ramos, who studied with the celebrated Cajun playwright Anne Galjour (“Hurricane/Mauvais Temps”) at San Francisco State University, sees drama as a spark to fuel literacy. He hopes to parlay his students’ excitement about storytelling, their insatiable need to spill the tea, into a love of language. 

    “How can I use drama to familiarize them with language, with words, with communication?” he said, given that they are growing up in a texting culture that often eschews words and leans on emojis so hard that it’s “basically like hieroglyphics.” “Drama helps students to understand what motivates characters, and how those motivations can be expressed through written language.”

    Students in Julian Ramos’ drama class in Madera.
    Credit: Courtesy of Julian Ramos

    That’s why he’s so grateful that Proposition 28, the groundbreaking arts mandate, has allowed every Madera school to hire more arts teachers, expanding its music and drama programs substantially.

    “It is important to expose children to the arts because they all have a voice and a story to tell and, without encouragement, many of those voices and stories go silent or become stifled,” said Ramos. “Many of those voices are made to believe what they have to say does not matter.”

    While teaching full-time, Ramos is also pursuing his credential through Cal State East Bay’s new online dance and theater program, which launched in 2021, making it the first CSU to offer those credentials just as Proposition 28 kicked into high gear, creating thousands of new arts teaching jobs at California schools. It’s now the largest such program in the state, with students logging on from San Francisco to Los Angeles, not to mention the state’s geographical center, Madera.

    Initially, many faculty members were skeptical of the efficacy of an online program, but it has proved to be quite popular, particularly with students who have competing responsibilities, such as jobs and children, like Ramos. 

    “The largest obstacle faced was a division in the faculty about whether teacher education could be taught in an online modality,” said Eric Engdahl, professor emeritus in the department of teacher education at CSUEB, who designed the program. “In the opinion of some, not all, teaching is an in-person profession and therefore needs all in-person instruction. However, online learning is what students want.”

    If not for Engdahl’s prescience, pushing through an online program before the pandemic made such initiatives the norm, it would be even harder for districts like Madera to recruit arts teachers amid a statewide staffing shortage. 

    “I hope for a better hiring season this year, but local options look bleak,” said Brandon Gilles, director of arts education for Madera Unified School District, who has come to rely on the CSU East Bay training program to expand its arts initiatives. “The greatest challenge facing arts education in Madera Unified presently is hiring highly qualified teachers.”

    One ongoing obstacle is the need to further expand the arts credential pipeline, which has withered amid decades of cutbacks. While 64 programs in the state offer a music credential and 57 offer a visual arts credential, right now fewer than two dozen focus on theater and dance. That’s not nearly enough to feed the need created by Proposition 28, which means Engdahl’s students are quite sought after.

    “For the past few years, CSU East Bay has been an important program for training credentialed teachers,” said Gilles. “Many of our recent hires have benefited from their internship program, which allows credential candidates to start working while going to school instead of the traditional student teaching route. … CSUEB remains one of the only stable channels in this time of high demand.”

    Despite the ongoing teacher crunch, there are several ways to work around the shortage. For example, physical education teachers who were credentialed before 2022 may already have dance embedded in their credential, experts say. The same is true for English teachers with a theater credential. Prospective arts educators with sufficient college credits in their discipline can also apply for supplemental authorization to teach instead of getting a full credential. Also, school districts that don’t have enough money to hire a full-time arts teacher of their own, experts say, may also qualify for a waiver to partner with a nonprofit arts provider instead.

    Despite the growing pains of implementing Proposition 28, from finding teachers to navigating the complex spending rules, Engdahl is hopeful that, as the new arts mandate rolls out, more districts will realize what a powerful tool art is for uplifting a generation shaped by the pandemic. 

    Students in Julian Ramos’ drama class in Madera.
    Credit: Courtesy of Julian Ramos

    “Proposition 28 will improve education in California, and it will increase our national standing,” said Engdahl. “One of the things I hope happens is not just a greater understanding of the arts, but that the arts are taught in a much broader and more inclusive and creative and physical way. I’m hoping that, as the arts become more normalized in schooling, we convey the idea of being a lifelong learner, that learning is fun.”

    While some argue that the arts are a nicety and not a core element of education, many educators point to its ability to increase focus and concentration in the classroom, qualities which help students better understand all subjects, from reading and writing to math. Students can also learn life skills such as conflict resolution and social-emotional learning.

    “Theatre engagement brings kids into the present moment and helps silence any chaos outside the rehearsal room, encouraging self-reflection and positive connections,” said Michele Hillen-Noufer, executive director of NorCal Arts, an arts education initiative that uses theater to help prevent violence. “As kids create and develop a character, they gain insight into other perspectives.”

    Ramos particularly enjoys watching children let go of their fears, including the social anxiety that bedevils many children today, and come together with their peers to “create something beautiful.” They grow their creativity and their confidence day by day, he says.

    “Many students enter the library, my classroom, and ask me if they can “act” that day,” said Ramos. “I have seen my students grow comfortable in being silly or serious in front of their peers and embrace new challenges and creative endeavors. Students have grown by collaborating with classmates, and are more comfortable in using their body, voice and imagination.” 

    Ramos has long felt a duty to share his love for dramatic art with the next generation. He sees it as a key to unlocking a love of language that opens the door for lifelong self-discovery, the alchemy of finding the right words. He uses everything from puppetry and poetry to pantomime to unleash that drive to create. 

    “These kids are storytellers, and giving them the opportunity to work on and tell those stories is fuel enough to keep wanting to provide that outlet,” he said.





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  • California can strengthen its teacher workforce; here’s how

    California can strengthen its teacher workforce; here’s how


    A teacher reviews students’ project notes on a computer.

    Credit: Allison Shelley for EDUimages

    California’s teacher workforce needs stronger stewardship.

    Our state has established high standards for English, math, science and history that lay out what students must know and be able to do. But, as I have argued before, California has failed to adequately ensure even a majority of local educators are trained on — and equipped to teach to the level expected by — these standards.

    There are many reasons for this failure, but the state can provide more coherent and effective leadership.

    Here’s the improvement I propose:

    Currently, the state has one entity responsible for preparing and licensing teachers, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). But once teachers receive their credential, responsibility for professional development and educator support falls to the districts and county offices of education where they work. With nearly 1,000 local school districts and county offices of education, there is no oversight of whether experienced teachers are prepared to implement state standards.

    Some state entity needs to take charge, and overcome the current situation: no large-scale vision, too many small-scale, one-time initiatives, and fragmented programs and governance.

    We need legislation that would empower the current California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to provide the needed overall leadership. Currently, the commission, whose members are appointed by the governor, sets teacher preparation standards and approves postsecondary teacher preparation programs that meet the standards. Also, the commission provides teacher performance assessments that prospective teachers must pass to attain a credential.

    California is one of 10 states that has a state Department of Education and a separate agency — the Commission on Teacher Credentialing — overseeing teacher preparation and licenses. But we can take advantage of this division by increasing the CTC’s role. It makes no sense, given the conditions of education today, to force the commission to stop working with teachers and principals once they have their credential. Rather, it should also be responsible for a career continuum and a long-term educator learning system.

    Legislation should specify that the commission will encompass the entire career of a principal, teacher and early childhood permit holder. It might make sense to start with early career teachers and scale up from there, because this would be a continuation of what it does now. The legislation should empower the commission to support professional development across the spectrum, from candidates working toward a credential to experienced senior teachers, principals, instructional coaches, and other leaders.

    Of course, this needs to be done carefully and deliberately. The kinds of things we want to get right require the teacher commission to work closely with school districts and county offices of education.

    CTC should start with a strategic plan and road map reaching teachers statewide to signal that building educators’ skills is a major state role and responsibility. The road map would include the many moving parts that must be integrated into subject matter teaching. This includes key suppliers of products, curriculum developers, textbook publishers, universities, county offices and much more. The role of school districts must be rethought, including how to develop teaching capacity within districts and rely less on vendors that come and go.

    The plan would create micro-credentials or other forms of state recognition of teaching competence in current state subject matter frameworks, such as the new math framework. Some districts in California have already been experimenting with micro-credentials. Other states such as Mississippi and New York have used micro-credentials to enhance pupil outcomes. The plan should include integration of current fragmented state-funded capacity grants. The commission would lead a project to estimate the costs of implementing the proposed state and local capacity-building role, including analyses of cost-effectiveness, such as using digital professional development delivery.

    California has high academic standards and a talented teaching force. With effective statewide leadership and oversight, we can address persistent achievement gaps and help our students succeed. 

    •••

    Michael Kirst is a professor emeritus at Stanford University and served 12 years as president of the California State Board of Education.

    The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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