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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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