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  • How veteran teachers can support new ones and keep them in the profession

    How veteran teachers can support new ones and keep them in the profession


    Middle school history teachers discuss their lesson plans for teaching about the Great Depression.

    Credit: Allison Shelley / American Education

    My first year of teaching was the worst year of my life. 

    I remember preparing for the new school year, prepping my classroom and making lesson plans. If you know the Central Valley of California, you know the summer heat and heavy lifting in a classroom are not the most desirable combination. However, I had hope in my heart, and I was so excited for my career to finally begin! 

    Then I made the grave mistake of going into the copy room packed with veteran teachers. I was eager to learn from them; they had the experience I lacked. One gave me a tip to “not smile until October” so the kids would know I was a tough teacher. One advised me to stick to worksheets so that I didn’t burn out. 

    While these bits of advice were well-intentioned, they were not what a budding teacher needed. Teaching is an extremely difficult profession, but it is also incredibly rewarding. There is an extreme learning curve for new teachers. Despite the credential program and a mentor teacher’s best efforts, nothing can thoroughly prepare you for your first classroom. 

    It’s no secret that there is a mass exodus of teachers leaving the profession. To keep people in the profession, we need to support them throughout. If the support is consistent and starts when a teacher first enters the school, there can be a shift in the number of people leaving and the school’s overall culture. 

    As I said, the copy room was a hot spot for negative talk. At every school I have worked in, this has reigned true. Instead of continuing to let the negative talk fester, I propose making the copy room a hub for ideas to be shared and support to be given. Dedicating a space on the wall where teachers can “shout out” each other can quickly change the room’s vibe. Having funny memes posted by the printer about how it’s always “jammin’.” A designated space where teachers can drop off or pick up extra supplies. Best yet, make every first Monday a little treat day. Each department takes turns bringing small treats. These little things can help build a culture and safe place for teachers, especially the newer ones, to feel supported. 

     Another method to support new teachers is to create a partnership between them and a veteran teacher. This veteran does not even need to be in the same content area. Instead, an experienced teacher that matches a new teacher in personality or classroom management style can be extremely beneficial. I distinctly remember the veteran teachers who guided me through my first few years, and I’m eternally grateful for them.

    One important aspect, however, is that veteran teachers must volunteer for this. Pushing this vital role on somebody who doesn’t want it would not work. This partnership can look like once a week, 30-minute check-in meetings. It can be regular, short observations. Maybe the two teachers team-teach a lesson while an administrator covers one of their classes. This partnership, however it is laid out, can be rich in growth for the veteran and new teacher. 

    Teachers of all ranks need to continue to grow and update their methods. This can be done by creating a culture of observation without the “gotcha!” feeling. Administrators can simply pop in, offer compliments, support, and notes in general, and then leave. Teachers working on the same content can observe others, offer feedback, and see new methods. The frequency of observations can help spot any areas of growth and strengths. As new teachers learn their individual teaching styles, it’s important that they be observed constructively, and it should be done often. 

    Inundating new teachers with supplemental training, resource books and websites can be overwhelming and exhausting. The goal is to support new teachers so they stay in the profession and feel appreciated. They do not need to hear horror stories constantly, receive unhelpful criticism or feel isolated. This will only increase the number of teachers leaving the profession.

    Teachers, administrators and support staff can all make an effort to openly welcome and support new teachers. Inviting a teacher to the staff outing, getting them the school shirt, helping them staple borders on the walls and supporting them however they need will make a difference in their career.

    •••

    Kati Begen is a high school biology educator and credential coach in Fresno and has earned a multiple-subject credential, a single-subject credential and a master’s degree in teaching.

    The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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  • Commission decision could move thousands of new teachers into the workforce quicker

    Commission decision could move thousands of new teachers into the workforce quicker


    A teacher helps a student with a math problem.

    Credit: Sarah Tully /EdSource

    Thousands of teachers could be added to the state’s workforce next school year because of a California Commission on Teacher Credentialing decision to offer teacher candidates who almost pass their teaching performance assessment a chance to earn a preliminary credential without retaking the test.

    Beginning early next year, teacher candidates who come within -1.0 standard error of measurement — generally about two or three points — of passing either the California Teaching Performance Assessment or the edTPA, can earn their credential if their preparation program determines they are prepared, commissioners voted on Friday. This decision will not impact teacher candidates who take the Fresno Assessment of Student Teachers. 

    “To be clear, the recommendation is not proposing lowering the standard, rather it would expand the ways in which candidates could demonstrate their readiness to begin teaching,” said Amy Reising, chief deputy director of the commission on Friday.

    Performance assessments are required to earn a teaching credential in California. Candidates demonstrate their competence by submitting evidence of their instructional practice through video clips and written reflections on their practice. Student candidates who select the CalTPA must complete two assessments or cycles.

    “The secondary passing standard would be targeted toward candidates who fell just short of the current adopted passing standards set for these assessments, but may have demonstrated classroom readiness through other measures at the local level and within their programs,” Reising said. 

    Preparation programs can recommend eligible candidates for a preliminary credential by documenting that they have demonstrated proficiency in each of the seven domains in the state Teaching Performance Expectations, according to the commission.

    The decision came after commissioners reviewed a report at their October meeting that revealed that a majority of teacher candidates who failed performance assessments over the last five years were extremely close to passing. If the new standard had been used over the last two years, 2,000 of the 2,731 teacher candidates who failed cycle one of the CalTPA , 953 candidates of the 1,152 who didn’t pass cycle 2 of the CalTPA, and 360 of the 1,124 candidates who failed the edTPA would have passed the assessment and earned a credential, according to the commission.

    Teacher candidates whose score is too low on their performance assessment to take advantage of the secondary passing standard can work with their teacher preparation program to revise or resubmit their work, said Anita Fitzhugh, spokesperson for the commission. The assessment can be submitted at any time at no cost because the state waived the fees. It takes about three weeks to receive a score.

    Commission staff also plan to work with teacher preparation programs to develop a formal process to identify and support programs with low teacher performance assessment passing rates, according to staff reports.

    An enduring teacher shortage has put pressure on the state to remove hurdles to earning a teaching credential. In July 2021, legislation gave teacher candidates the option to take approved coursework instead of the California Basic Education Skills Test, or CBEST, or the California Subject Examinations for Teachers, or CSET.  

    The commission’s new plan isn’t without controversy.  One concern from speakers at Friday’s meeting was that the decision would undermine Senate Bill 488, which requires the commission to replace the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment with a teaching performance assessment.

    Commission staff said that the secondary passing standard for the two performance assessments will not impact the literacy performance assessment that is under development and is expected to be piloted in the spring and field-tested the following school year.

    “A separate standard-setting study will be conducted in Spring 2025 to recommend passing standards for the literacy performance assessment,” Reising said in an email on Monday.

    According to commission staff, a work group made up of teachers, administrators, mentor teachers and university faculty will convene in July to study and make recommendations on how to improve all three of the state’s performance assessments. It will consider best practices, the challenges of implementation and how to ensure reliable scoring. 

    More than 50 people submitted comments to the commission on the state’s performance assessments. Most urged commissioners to either eliminate or revamp the performance assessments. 

    “TPAs are vastly subjective, depending on who is scoring the assessment; rubric-based explanations and feedback upon results are very vague,” said Aly Gerdes, a teacher at Evergreen Elementary School District in San Jose. “I truthfully do not see the inherent value in CalTPA and believe it needs to be abolished or replaced with something that is worthwhile and will do more than add an extra stressor to teacher-candidates’ lives.”

    Many speakers and letter writers said the high-stakes assessment is detrimental to teacher candidates.

    “On a personal level, the stress and pressure associated with the TPA can be overwhelming,” wrote teacher Cheena Molsen.

    “The weight of high-stakes evaluations can adversely affect the well-being and morale of educators, potentially diminishing their effectiveness in the classroom. The toll it takes on the personal lives of teachers should not be underestimated, as the pursuit of excellence in education should not come at the cost of educators’ mental and emotional well-being.”





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  • Substitute teachers can serve as mentors; we need more of them

    Substitute teachers can serve as mentors; we need more of them


    Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education

    When most people think of a substitute teacher, they think of a temporary fill-in for a job that is difficult to secure and difficult to do. They might think that a substitute is simply there to monitor a classroom or, worse yet, put on a video for the class and then sit at their desk.

    I know substitutes are so much more.

    The best substitutes are passionate mentors who play a role in student success. As a substitute teacher with 14 years of experience in public and private schools in Oakland, I believe my commitment to students and my experience outside of teaching enable me to be a valuable guide in the lives of the K-12 students I have the privilege of working with, and I want more school leaders to recognize that role.

    Before I started teaching, I served in the Air Force, went to law school, became a paralegal, and launched my own clothing line. I bring every aspect of these experiences — the ups and the downs — with me to the classroom to provide a fresh perspective to students. When I substitute in math classes, I can talk about how interpreting numbers helps entrepreneurs understand their profit margin in the future. In language arts classes, I can talk about how persuasive arguments are the basis of a strong legal case. And, in all my classes, I’m always quick to discuss the importance of critical thinking, adaptability, and a strong work ethic, no matter where a student’s life will take them.

    Each time I bring my personal experience into the classroom, I know I’m showing students more about the world around them and helping them connect what they’re learning to their future. It’s something so many mentors did for me. I was fortunate to be surrounded by caring adults when I was growing up. When I needed great life advice, I knew I could turn to them. Their support is part of the reason I started teaching. Sharing knowledge is contagious. When I share knowledge with a student or show them how to do something, then they have the knowledge I have and can share it with someone else.

    Even though I know the value of sharing knowledge, students aren’t always ready to accept it. Especially from a substitute teacher. I have to earn their trust first. That means the role of a substitute is more than simply managing a classroom in the absence of a regular teacher. Students have to be able to trust that a substitute is emphatically inclined to believe in them and their purpose. I’ve found that starting with a joke, posing a tough question, or asking students to say one fun thing about themselves during introductions can break the ice and form a strong mentor-mentee relationship.

    It is true that it can be difficult to navigate the paperwork needed to become a sub, but for me, it is important to take these steps to be a mentor to students because of the impact it can have on them. A survey found that 95% of teachers say mentorship benefits students, with a majority noting that supportive relationships boost academic outcomes and help students develop critical skills. It’s why great substitutes know teaching class is about more than just following the lesson plan. We actively listen to students, help them access knowledge, and encourage their curiosity — just as great permanent teachers do.

    Consider becoming a substitute teacher in California schools despite any preconceptions you may harbor that the job is difficult or unrewarding. The job is sometimes difficult, but it is never unrewarding. Students need caring adults in their lives, especially in a world where young people face new heights of academic and social pressures. Passionate substitute teachers have the opportunity to make a difference. Leading school districts, where I’ve been fortunate to serve, already recognize the value of exceptional substitute teachers, and the process is easing a bit. There are groups out there that help navigate the paperwork or that make it easier to find and sign up for substitute positions.

    I hope many more people will soon realize this transformative potential and embrace the positive influence we can bring to the lives of our students.

    •••

    Thelonious Brooks is a substitute teacher in Oakland.

    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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  • Special education teachers need more mental health initiatives

    Special education teachers need more mental health initiatives


    The federal government has not fully funded special education in decades, leaving the bulk of the costs to school districts and the state.

    Alison Yin/EdSource

    When Erica Mazariegos heard that a shocking number of special education teaching positions remain vacant, she was not surprised. With over 27 years as a special educator, Mazariegos is dedicated and passionate, yet says “the stress of recent years has led me to question my ability to carry on. There will come a point when I must prioritize my health over my career.”

    Like Erica, special education teachers throughout U.S. public schools have been vocal about their concerns regarding working conditions after the pandemic, particularly the shortage of resources and staff support. The attrition rates among special education teachers soared following Covid-19, and educators have endured heightened levels of job-related stress, prompting an increasing number of them to exit the profession.

    This exodus has left schools grappling with severe teacher shortages. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 45% of schools reported unfilled positions in special education roles, with 78% citing difficulties in hiring special education staff for the current school year. The situation in California closely mirrors the national shortages, with the Learning Policy Institute describing the teacher shortage in California as a “five-alarm fire.”

    The stress experienced by special educators is not only deeply ingrained in the inherent nature of their roles but also in the perceptions surrounding them. A key contributing factor is the idealization of special education teachers by schools, often portraying them as extraordinary individuals who are characterized as nurturing and self-sacrificing, willing to prioritize their students’ well-being over their own. It’s commonplace to hear general education teachers express sentiments like, “I could never do what you do.” This portrayal creates unrealistic expectations for special educators, adding to the systemic sources of stress, which include unequal resource allocation and a shortage of adequately trained support staff.

    Padma Vajhala, an early-career special education teacher with two years of experience, highlights many stressors in her job, such as individualized education program meetings, conducting paperwork checks, navigating uncertainties about parental consent, encountering subtle racism in schools, and adhering to the core mission of special education — differentiated teaching for each student. But, she underscores that these stressors are overshadowed by the primary source of stress: daily management of challenging behavior exhibited by her students in class without enough staff support. She points out that her stress affects students by hindering effective instruction, classroom management and the modeling of social-emotional skills. Stressed teachers are more likely to react unpredictably and employ ineffective behavior management strategies.

    While it remains crucial to address such systemic causes of stress as lack of staff support in the classroom, schools must simultaneously implement programs dedicated to teaching self-care strategies and allocate resources to support these educators’ mental health and overall well-being. These initiatives should involve professional development programs that prioritize physical wellness, encompassing exercise, dietary choices, and sleep, to sustain energy levels and enhance emotional resilience.

    Additionally, it is imperative to equip special educators with training in social-emotional learning skills. This training should cover the establishment of clear boundaries between their professional and personal lives, mindfulness practices, participation in yoga, and learning relaxation techniques. Acquiring these skills can significantly reduce stress levels among special educators while providing positive role models for students concurrently learning these skills in their classes.

    Most importantly, special education teachers can create communities of practice informally with their colleagues based on shared interests, facilitating connections with colleagues, mentors, and therapists to seek guidance and share their experiences. Moreover, these communities of practice can leverage self-reflection practices to recognize and manage stressors effectively.

    A notable approach is reflexive visual journaling, a creative process that intertwines written reflection with images, drawings, and other visual elements. This practice has demonstrated considerable effectiveness in early detection of burnout indicators, pinpointing triggers, and aiding individuals in navigating and coping with stress. Zachary McNiece, assistant professor of counselor education at San Jose State University, emphasizes the importance of visual journaling, stating, “In today’s post-Covid world, while teachers act as front-line mental health advocates, they can experience the after-effects of trauma their students have faced over the last few years; visual journaling creates a means for teachers to slow down, allow space for their feelings and reactions, and let go of the emotional residue of secondary trauma exposure, so they can improve their wellness and support their students.” These self-reflective practices can also be embedded into teacher preparation programs to support new special education teachers.

    Preventing burnout in special education cannot be solely an individual responsibility; it requires collaboration from schools, districts and policymakers. Special educators are pivotal in fostering an inclusive and equitable education system.

    It is essential that schools prioritize special educators’ well-being by supporting and implementing targeted self-care strategies to sustain their passion and dedication. This approach not only safeguards the mental and emotional health of educators but also enriches the educational experience for students with disabilities, ultimately contributing to the development of a stronger and more compassionate society.

    ●●●

    Sudha Krishnan is an assistant professor at San Jose State University’s special education department, Lurie College of Education, and a Public Voice Fellow with the OpEd Project.

    The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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  • California needs to do more to ensure teachers can teach kids to read, national study says

    California needs to do more to ensure teachers can teach kids to read, national study says


    Melissa Ramirez, a first grade teacher at Lockeford Elementary in Lodi, holds up a flashcard while students say and spell the word ‘water.’

    Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource

    Despite a newfound national focus on the science of reading, states, including California, aren’t doing enough to support and train teachers to effectively teach literacy, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality. 

    Thirty-two states have passed laws or implemented policies related to evidence-based reading instruction in the last decade. Despite that, nearly every state could do more to support literacy instruction, according to the report, “Five Policy Actions to Strengthen Implementation of the Science of Reading.“

    “While states are rightly prioritizing literacy, they are not focusing enough attention on teacher effectiveness and teacher capacity to teach reading aligned to the science,” council President Heather Peske told EdSource. “If these efforts are to succeed … the state needs to ensure that teachers are prepared and supported from the time that they are in teacher preparation programs to the time that they enter classrooms.”

    The report rated states as strong, moderate, weak or unacceptable, based on whether they have policies to ensure students receive science-based reading instruction that includes teaching them to sound out words, a process known as phonics. Only 12 states, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia, were rated as strong.

    California received a moderate rating.

    The state gets high marks for setting reading standards for teacher preparation programs, adopting a strong reading licensure test for teachers, and requiring districts to select high-quality reading curricula. California scored lower on whether it requires ongoing literacy training for teachers and on its oversight of teacher preparation programs to ensure they are teaching the science of reading.

    Not all teachers are trained in the science of reading

    While California provides funds to school districts to offer literacy training to teachers, it does not require all elementary school teachers to be trained in the science of reading, as other states do, Peske said, adding that without proper training, teachers often flounder when teaching literacy, despite having access to high-quality instructional materials.

    Effective teaching is critical to improving students’ reading skills. More than 90% of students would learn to read with effective reading instruction, according to the report.

    About 40% of students entering fourth grade in the United States can read at a basic level, according to the research. The latest California test scores show fewer than half of the students who were tested were proficient in reading. These results have not changed much in the past decade. 

    “Why do we see staggering numbers of children, especially children of color and from low-income backgrounds, without fundamental literacy skills? said Denise Forte, president and CEO of The Education Trust. “Because in many districts and schools nationwide, outdated teaching methods and curricula that have been proven ineffective, and even harmful, are still being used.” 

    The report comes as California and other states are renewing their focus on the science of reading, which is based on over 50 years of research that provides a clear picture of how effective literacy instruction can produce a skilled reader, Peske said. 

    Only two of the 41 teacher preparation programs reviewed in California adequately cover all five components of the science of reading, according to the report. The five components include phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

    California puts renewed emphasis on reading

    But that could change soon. By July 1, California will require teacher preparation programs to provide literacy training based on the science of reading and the state’s new literacy standards. The new standards include support for struggling readers, English learners and pupils with exceptional needs, incorporating dyslexia guidelines for the first time.

    The state is also eliminating the unpopular Reading Instruction Competence Assessment in 2025. It will be replaced with a performance assessment based on literacy standards and a new set of Teaching Performance Expectations.

    “This latest set of standards and TPEs are probably the strongest statements we’ve had about reading and literacy in teacher preparation,” said Mary Vixie Sandy, executive director of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. “We are going gangbusters to get them in the field.”

    More than half of the states use outside accreditors to review teacher preparation programs, which researchers say is not ideal. The report includes California as one of those states, but Sandy says that is not the case. Teacher preparation programs in California must be reviewed every seven years by a commission-approved institutional review board made up of university faculty and practitioners across all credential areas, Sandy said. Members are trained on the standards, or have a background or credential in the subject being reviewed, she said.

    Teacher preparation programs that want a national accreditation can choose to use an outside accreditor, but it is not required for state accreditation, Sandy said.

    California should also include data it collects on teacher pass rates on the state reading licensure test as part of the review of teacher preparation programs, Peske said.

    California’s changes to teacher preparation and emphasis on the science of reading were taken into consideration by National Council on Teacher Quality’s researchers when evaluating the state, Peske said. The research was also sent to the California Department of Education at least twice for review. No one at the department said the research was in error, according to the council.

    The council has provided a guide to help states implement and sustain strong reading instruction.

    “Helping all children learn to read is possible when you have teachers who’ve been prepared in the science of reading,” Peske said. “Much like an orchestra needs each section of instruments to come together to successfully create music, states need to implement multiple teacher-focused reading policies that work together to improve student outcomes.”





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  • Teachers need a better way to ensure their curricula are culturally relevant

    Teachers need a better way to ensure their curricula are culturally relevant


    Credit: Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for American Education

    In a 2023 survey, Educators for Excellence found that only 26% of educators nationally believe that their classroom curriculum is culturally relevant for their student population, and the truth is no different in Los Angeles Unified, where I teach. I have been in the classroom for 25 years, and I agree. 

    Culturally responsive education refers to the combination of teaching, pedagogy, curriculum, theories, attitudes, practices, and instructional materials that center students’ cultures, identities, and contexts throughout educational systems. What’s more, culturally relevant education increases the sense of community and builds trust and connection between educators and students, resulting in better academic outcomes. 

    This is important for students because we do not live in isolation. The world is growing smaller as we connect through different types of media and are constantly introduced to different cultures, beliefs and customs. A 2019 report shows that since 2000, classrooms in our country have become increasingly diverse, with the Latino student population growing from 16% to 25%. This is especially pertinent in LAUSD classrooms. 

    My classroom is made up of approximately 20% African American students and 80% Latino students. As a kindergarten teacher, my focus is on the social-emotional development of my students, and I try to build a strong cultural competency, where students become familiar with aspects of other cultures. This helps to expose students to the differences and similarities that exist within their identities, and therefore within our classrooms. One age-appropriate way I do this is by focusing on different holidays and cultural celebrations. I will bring in food or showcase dances, arts and crafts that represent various cultures and allow the students to immerse themselves with their senses, trying to expand their knowledge and understanding.  

    Unfortunately, I do not feel supported in my culturally relevant education efforts in the classroom. There must be ways to create more welcoming classrooms and foster understanding and appreciation among students for each other’s unique identities and backgrounds. I need more support to do this, more understanding of how to embed cultural awareness and relevance into my curriculum and teaching.

    That’s why I have joined a teacher action team with some of my colleagues and the help of Educators for Excellence – Los Angeles. This group allows us to come together to discuss ideas and put together a plan to help improve cultural relevancy throughout LAUSD. We’re calling for a public rubric to help the district succeed with its commitment to safe, inclusive learning environments. This rubric would list requirements for curricula to be culturally relevant and would be a way for schools to ensure that what they are teaching meets a predetermined district standard. 

    For example, over 50 of my colleagues and I from across LAUSD have evaluated our curriculum with a rubric developed by the New York University Steinhardt school. This process has allowed us to determine that our curriculum was satisfactory when it came to connecting the local community to the texts, but it falls short when it comes to the representation of LGBTQ+ and disabled identities, as well as in providing opportunities for students to bring their own community experiences to the classroom. If this rubric were used districtwide, we could improve our implicit-bias training, give teachers more support, and have a specific long-term vision for the type of curriculum we’re using in LAUSD, all leading to the achievement of the goals outlined in the district’s strategic plan.  

    Meeting these standards will not only give educators a guiding light in making their classrooms more inclusive, but it will also give students the opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding of society. As I mentioned, I already incorporate diverse practices and lessons into my classroom. In return, I see students being more understanding of one another, and I see students from all backgrounds connecting to the material we are learning. It helps me to build a love of learning and a tolerance for others’ differences. 

    Having a higher level of cultural relevancy in our district-approved curriculum would allow students to meet their differences with an open mind and heart, and help them to build a foundation for acceptance and inclusion. Additionally, seeing themselves represented in the classroom allows students to connect better with lessons and demonstrate more interest in their academic success. 

    Even in a district as diverse and progressive as LAUSD, the long-term quality and inclusiveness of classroom curriculum is under attack. Efforts to attack student learning environments are no longer just distant issues that confront other districts and other states; it is here in California. This problem is not going away. LAUSD has already committed to increasing inclusion efforts in the classroom. My colleagues and I want to help this commitment come true. By collaborating with the district to develop a rubric that contains the cultural relevancy we are demanding, we are giving the district a recommendation directly from LAUSD classroom teachers on what needs to happen to improve our classrooms and create a more robust curriculum.

    Our schools need culturally relevant education to educate tolerant, understanding, knowledgeable and successful students. We need more educators on board with calling on the district to partner with us and update the curriculum in our classrooms. Speak up to your administrations, and collaborate with colleagues on a way to build more inclusive classrooms throughout LAUSD. Our students and our future generations deserve it.

    ●●●

    Petrina Miller is a longtime educator in Los Angeles Unified, and is an active member of Educators for Excellence – Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization of more than 30,000 educators united around a common set of values and principles for improving student learning and elevating the teaching profession.

    The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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  • Aspiring bilingual teachers gain new perspectives by crossing the border

    Aspiring bilingual teachers gain new perspectives by crossing the border


    The U.S.-Mexico border is a fraught topic in political debate in Congress and between presidential candidates. But crossing it is a key part of training for some prospective bilingual teachers in California to get insight into their future students’ lives.

    The dual language and English learner education department at San Diego State University has taken student teachers on four-day trips to visit schools in Tijuana for about 10 years. The goal is for the prospective teachers to learn about some of the experiences that students from Mexico and other countries in Central and South America face and how those experiences might affect students in the classroom.

    “We want them to understand, basically, the students we share. Sometimes there could be a student in Tijuana that the next day is in a classroom in San Diego,” said Sarah Maheronnaghsh, a lecturer in the department who helps organize the trips. 

    She said the opposite is also true. San Diego State students have also met children in Tijuana who had previously been living and attending schools in California but have since been deported.

    “A lot of the issues are the same on both sides,” Maheronnaghsh said. “Knowing and having a deep understanding of the kids and where they’ve come from and what they’ve been through is only going to help them in the classroom.”

    The San Diego State bilingual credential program was identified by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing as a model for preparing bilingual teachers. The department offers both online and in-person classes and boasts having the largest graduating class of bilingual teachers in the state.

    During the latest trip in November, student teachers visited and taught classes in English and Spanish at three different schools — a school in a very low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, another that has a program for blind students, and a third school inside a migrant shelter. They also visited a local university and watched a documentary about children who travel through Mexico on the top of a cargo train to reach and cross the border.

    “We want them to understand, basically, the students we share. Sometimes there could be a student in Tijuana that the next day is in a classroom in San Diego.”

    Sarah Maheronnaghsh, SDSU lecturer

    The experience was powerful for Erika Sandoval, who was born in a small town in the state of Jalisco in western Mexico and migrated to California when she was 9 years old.

    “I cried a lot because it kind of made me connect to what I encountered as a kid, leaving my country and coming here to start over again,” Sandoval said. “I was once that child.”

    Sandoval, who is 39, is enrolled in San Diego State’s online bilingual credential program part time, while also working as an aide with special education students in Saugus Union School District in Santa Clarita, in Los Angeles County. She first heard about the program through her son’s kindergarten teacher.

    “I knew I wanted to be part of the program, especially because it gave me an opportunity of using my Spanish,” Sandoval said. “Within my friends’ circle, I’m one of the only ones who continues to speak Spanish to my kids. Even my niece and nephew I’m starting to see the language be forgotten and it kind of makes me sad.”

    The trip to Tijuana highlighted for her why it’s important for schools to provide resources and support for immigrant children and families.

    “A lot of the kids that come to the United States have a story and a reason why they left their country, and because of those reasons they are going to struggle when they go to school,” Sandoval said. “A lot of them didn’t know how to read or didn’t go to school because they were working at a young age.”

    She said the trip was also a reminder to not make assumptions about children’s home lives. 

    “A lot of times we assume that every child has a mom and a dad. But that’s not the reality for a lot of us. A lot of us have left so much behind to be in this country,” Sandoval said.

    Aspiring bilingual teachers and professors from San Diego State visit a school in Tijuana.
    Credit: Courtesy of Rick Froehbrodt

    Another student in the bilingual teacher program, Clarissa Gomez, said her parents and grandparents migrated from Mexico, and she grew up in the Central Valley with many other immigrant families around her. Still, she said meeting the children and families at the migrant shelter was eye-opening.

    Many of the students were fleeing violence in other parts of Mexico or in Central America, and some had to leave family behind. One young girl said she was about to cross the border to the United States the next day.

    “We had a student who said, ‘Tomorrow we wake up and we make a long journey. I feel so sad that I’ve met you guys and tomorrow I have to leave. I’m scared,’” Gomez said. “That was heart-wrenching.”

    Despite all that the children had endured, Gomez said they were eager to learn and share their own knowledge.

    She said visiting the shelter and hearing about the children’s experiences will help her as a teacher to understand her students. She’s currently student-teaching at an EJE Academy, a dual-language immersion charter school in El Cajon, in San Diego County.

    “I’m expecting that some of the students that I did meet at the shelter will most likely be the students in my classroom,” Gomez said.

    Overall, she said, the visit was a reminder of the importance of learning about and respecting students’ cultures and life experiences.

    “I know that getting down the standards is important, but there’s so much we can implement by building this culture of, ‘You’re welcome in my classroom and I respect you and your family and your family dynamic,’ and that’s me respecting you as a person.”

    Student teachers prepare lessons to teach on the trip, but they also have to be ready to change plans at a moment’s notice. For example, Sandoval and a group of her peers had prepared to teach second grade, but ended up teaching fifth graders at one school and preschoolers at another.

    It’s crucial for teachers to learn that they have to be flexible, said Rick Froehbrodt, a lecturer in the department who helps organize the trips.

    Aspiring bilingual teachers work with children at a migrant shelter in Tijuana.
    Credit: Courtesy of Rick Froehbrodt

    “With this experience, something always happens, something changes,” said Froehbrodt. “It’s understanding that this is not, ‘Here’s my lesson plan, here’s what I’m going to teach, this is how it’s going to go from start to finish,’ understanding there are so many factors involved that you always have to be prepared.”

    Sandoval said at one school, they were able to tour the campus and see fruit trees that staff planted for kids to learn outdoors, as well as Day of the Dead altars that gave her ideas for how to celebrate the holiday at her own school in California. 

    She said she was struck by how much teachers and children were able to do with the few classroom supplies they had. 

    “The few things that they have, they make use of them to the best of their ability, and they’re not concerned about sharing their things,” Sandoval said. “Seeing that community was really nice, and it makes you wonder how come a lot of our students in the United States struggle to give much to each other. With the abundance of supplies, they still have such hesitation to share even a pencil with a classmate.”





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  • CTA-sponsored legislation would remove one of state’s last required tests for teachers

    CTA-sponsored legislation would remove one of state’s last required tests for teachers


    First grade teacher Sandra Morales discusses sentences with a student.

    Credit: Zaidee Stavely / EdSource

    Newly proposed legislation sponsored by the California Teachers Association would eliminate all performance assessments teachers are required to pass, including one for literacy that it supported three years ago. The result could leave in place an unpopular written test that the literacy performance assessment was designed to replace.

    Senate Bill 1263, authored by state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, would do away with the California Teaching Performance Assessment, known as the CalTPA, through which teachers demonstrate their competence via video clips of instruction and written reflections on their practice. 

    Eliminating the assessment will increase the number of effective teachers in classrooms, as the state continues to contend with a teacher shortage, said Newman, chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

    “One key to improving the educator pipeline is removing barriers that may be dissuading otherwise talented and qualified prospective people from pursuing a career as an educator,” Newman said in a statement to EdSource.

    The bill also would do away with a literacy performance assessment of teachers and oversight of literacy instruction in teacher preparation programs mandated by Senate Bill 488, authored by Sen. Susan Rubio, D-West Covina, in 2021.

    The literacy performance assessment is scheduled to be piloted in the next few months. It is meant to replace the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment set to be scrapped in 2025. 

    New law could leave RICA in place

    The proposed legislation appears to leave in place a requirement that candidates for a preliminary multiple-subject or education specialist credential pass a reading instruction competence assessment, said David DeGuire, a director at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

    “At this time, it is unclear what that assessment would look like, but it could be that the state continues to use the current version of the RICA,” he said.

    Newman will present the legislation to the Senate Education Committee in the next few months. Discussions about whether the RICA remains in use are likely to take place during the legislative process.

    Rubio recently became aware of the new legislation and had not yet discussed it with Newman.

    “For three years, I worked arduously and collaboratively with a broad range of education leaders, including parent groups, teacher associations and other stakeholders to modernize a key component of our educational system that in my 17 years as a classroom teacher and school administrator I saw as counterproductive to our students’ learning,” Rubio said of Senate Bill 488.

    Teachers union changes course 

    The California Teachers Association, which originally supported Senate Bill 488, now wants all performance assessments, including the literacy performance assessment, eliminated.

    “We are all scratching our heads,” said Yolie Flores, of Families in Schools, a Los Angeles-based education advocacy organization. “We were really blindsided by this (legislation), given the momentum around strengthening our teacher prep programs.”

    The results of a survey of almost 1,300 CTA members last year convinced the state teachers union to push for the elimination of the CalTPA, said Leslie Littman, vice president of the union. Teachers who took the survey said the test caused stress, took away time that could have been used to collaborate with mentors and for teaching, and did not prepare them to meet the needs of students, she said.

    “I think what we were probably not cognizant of at that time, and it really has become very clear of late, is just how much of a burden these assessments have placed on these teacher candidates,” Littman said. 

    Teacher candidates would be better served if they were observed over longer periods of time, during student teaching, apprenticeships, residencies and mentorship programs, to determine if they were ready to teach, Littman said. This would also allow a mentor to counsel and support the candidate to ensure they have the required skills.

    California joins science of reading movement

    California has joined a national effort to change how reading is being taught in schools. States nationwide are rethinking balanced literacy, which has its roots in whole language instruction or teaching children to recognize words by sight, and replacing it with a method that teaches them to decode words by sounding them out, a process known as phonics. 

    Smarter Balanced test scores, released last fall, show that only 46.6% of the state’s students who were tested met academic standards in English.

    Last week Assemblymember Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, introduced Assembly Bill 2222, which would mandate that schools use evidence-based reading instruction. California, a “local control” state, currently only encourages school districts to incorporate fundamental reading skills, including phonics, into instruction.

     “It (Newman’s SB 1263) goes against not only the movement, but everything we know from best practices, evidence, research, science, of how we need to equip new teachers and existing teachers, frankly, to teach literacy,” Flores said. “And that we would wipe it away at this very moment where we’re finally getting some traction is just very concerning.”

    Lori DePole, co-director of DeCoding Dyslexia California, said the proposed legislation would cut any progress the state has made “off at the knees.” 

    Among her concerns is the elimination of the requirement, also authorized by Senate Bill 488, that the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing certify that teacher preparation programs are teaching literacy aligned to state standards and a provision that requires the commission to report to the state Legislature annually on how stakeholders are meeting the requirements of the law.

    “It would be going away,” DePole said. “Everyone agreed with SB 488, all the supporters agreed, this was the direction California needed to go to strengthen teacher prep with respect to literacy. And before it can even be fully implemented, we’re going to do a 180 with this legislation. It makes no sense.”

    Flores said teachers want to be equipped to teach reading using evidence-based techniques, but many don’t know how.

    “We know that reading is the gateway, and if kids can’t read, it’s practically game over, right?” said Flores. “And we are saying with this bill that it doesn’t matter, that we don’t really need to teach and show that teachers know how to teach reading.”

    Teacher tests replaced by coursework, degrees

    California has been moving away from standardized testing for teacher candidates for several years as the teacher shortage worsened. In July 2021, legislation gave teacher candidates the option to take approved coursework instead of the California Basic Education Skills Test, or CBEST, or the California Subject Examinations for Teachers, or CSET. In January’s tentative budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed eliminating the CBEST and allowing the completion of a bachelor’s degree to satisfy the state’s basic skills requirement.

    Littman disagrees with the idea that there will be no accountability for teachers if the legislation passes. “There’s always been, and will continue to be, an evaluation component for all of our teachers in this state,” she said. “It just depends on what your district does and how they implement that. There’s always been a system of accountability for folks.”





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  • Teachers alone can’t address the literacy crisis

    Teachers alone can’t address the literacy crisis


    Credit: Alison Yin/EdSource

    Improving literacy instruction is once again in fashion among America’s policy circles. Between 2019 and 2022, state legislatures passed more than 200 bills that sought to push and pull public schools to embrace the “science of reading.”

    But one year into closely following a big city school district’s effort to remake literacy instruction as part of a project with the Center on Reinventing Public Education, I can’t help but think these well-intended legislative efforts ignore the larger problem: teachers working alone in their classrooms are ill-positioned on their own to provide the support children most need to learn to read. 

    CRPE’s report on this project suggests that addressing the literacy crisis requires more than papering over the harms of bad curricula. It means rethinking the traditional teaching model, long a hallmark of public education in the United States, that leaves one adult in charge of supporting 25 or more children who arrive with wildly different levels of preparation and uneven or absent literacy support at home.  

    Thanks to the work of organizations like The Oakland REACH and the Oakland NAACP, the Oakland Unified School District started quietly overhauling its approach to literacy instruction two years ago. That work involved familiar investments in new curriculum and professional development.

    But the real stars of the strategy were early literacy tutors, community members — including parents and grandparents — who were trained and paid to support small groups of students working to develop foundational literacy skills. 

    Thanks to the investment in early literacy tutors, Oakland schools were able to offer significantly more targeted and differentiated instruction than they would have otherwise. One school we visited used an “all hands on deck” approach that leveraged eight classroom teachers, two tutors, and two non-classroom educators to ensure that every student was getting the targeted literacy instruction they needed. Another school described using tutors to support literacy instruction in a first-second combination class, where students’ instructional needs varied by multiple grade levels. 

    In interviews, teachers and principals alike described the importance of having an additional adult to support reading instruction. A teacher we spoke to said having a trained tutor in her classroom meant she could support five literacy groups instead of two and provide extra support to children who were furthest behind. Without the tutor, this teacher said she would have had to rely more on whole-group direct instruction, pushing children who didn’t yet know their letter sounds to learn alongside those already reading. 

    A parent contrasted her child’s experience in an Oakland school supported by a tutor with her own experience: “I think back to when I was in school. If you were behind where the class was, you were really left behind, or if you were ahead, then maybe you were bored and your mind was wandering and you weren’t paying attention. I feel like with (early literacy tutors) … (students) get special time with an adult who is working with them. And I think that is really impactful.”

    Importantly, in shouldering some of the work of literacy instruction, early literacy tutors provided a critical well of support for beleaguered educators, whose jobs have become ever more difficult coming out of the pandemic. Increasing behavioral challenges, an attendance crisis and larger variation in students’ learning needs are putting extraordinary demands on teachers at a time when public attitudes about work and the prestige of teaching are also evolving and eroding teachers’ commitment to their jobs. 

    Early literacy tutors could meaningfully help shoulder the load of reading instruction in large part because they were fully integrated into the district’s larger strategy around literacy. Unlike other tutoring programs that largely operate on the periphery of schools, Oakland’s early literacy tutors worked hand-in-hand with school staff charged with supporting literacy instruction. 

    Two years after they embarked on the new strategy, Oakland can’t yet claim to have solved the literacy problem, but there are glimmers of hope. Our study found that students who had access to evidence-based, differentiated literacy instruction — whether tutor- or teacher-provided — made statistically significant learning gains in reading and these gains were especially large in kindergarten. These results were achieved despite the fact that schools told us they needed additional tutors to fully optimize small-group reading instruction. Imagine what might be possible if every child had access to differentiated instruction that met their individual needs.

    Expecting teachers, working alone in their classrooms, to provide both all the individualized support students most need was probably always a fool’s errand; continuing to embrace it as students struggle and deal with the lifelong consequences of illiteracy is simply irresponsible. As schools look to make up ground lost during the pandemic, those that support them should understand the limitations that come with investing too little into the effort. 

    ●●●

    Ashley Jochim is a principal at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, where her research focuses on identifying opportunities and obstacles to addressing systemic challenges in K-12 schools. She co-authored a report on the organization’s work in Oakland Unified School District.

    The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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  • California must invest in professional learning for arts teachers

    California must invest in professional learning for arts teachers


    Maira Rodriguez, a teacher at Ferndale Elementary in Humboldt County, participates in professional learning.

    Credit: Joanna Galicha / the Humboldt County Office of Education

    California voters demonstrated their commitment to arts education in our schools with the passage of Proposition 28, which brings unprecedented resources for teaching the arts to every school in California. The state also adopted a forward-looking arts standards and curriculum framework and reinstated theater and dance credentials.

    But truly realizing the potential of that commitment requires arts teachers who are fully prepared to teach the arts. 

    Unfortunately, California currently faces a statewide shortage of credentialed and classified PK-12 educators, especially multiple-subject and single-subject arts credentialed educators. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s most recent data show a decrease in new arts teachers. Currently, only 3% of all credentialed teachers hold a single-subject credential in the arts. In the 2021-22 school year, California had about 7,500 teachers with clear arts credentials. This works out to be one teacher with a single-subject arts credential for every 785 California public school students.

    upcoming roundtable | march 21
    Can arts education help transform California schools?

    In an era of chronic absenteeism and dismal test scores, can the arts help bring the joy of learning back to a generation bruised by the pandemic?

    Join EdSource on March 21 at 3 p.m. for a behind-the-scenes look at how arts education transforms learning in California classrooms as schools begin to implement Prop. 28.

    Save your spot

    The thousands of new teachers needed to expand access to arts education will take years to recruit and prepare. With this persistent statewide hiring challenge, we urge immediate attention from state policymakers and district leaders to provide high-quality differentiated professional learning for arts educators already in classrooms and preparation programs. Professional learning is a critical component of California’s arts education infrastructure. Teachers are not a monolith and have a wide range of professional learning needs and interests. So we need tailored professional learning for a wide variety of arts educators, including:

    • Intern teachers. While data from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shows that the arts have fewer intern teachers than the other single-subject areas on average, internships can offer a shorter path to the classroom. Since intern teachers are at the start of their teaching careers, key factors for keeping them in the classroom include mentoring, interaction with professional learning communities (PLCs), and networks of other arts teachers. 
    • Teachers, especially those with out-of-state preparation. These teachers will continue to need professional development in the recently adopted state framework and standards. The California Arts Education Framework for Public Schools, adopted in 2020, did not have a robust statewide rollout due to the pandemic and is an essential resource for new and established teachers. Funding professional learning in this area will benefit teachers trained in- and out-of-state. 
    • “Ineffective” credentials. According to California Department of Education data, arts students in California are more likely to be taught by an educator with an “out-of-field” or “ineffective” credential than students in other subject areas. While institutions prepare new arts educators, professional learning must be widely available, easily accessed and responsive to the many needs of educators who are already teaching but who may be classified by the State Board of Education as “ineffective” due to having out-of-field credentials and permits. Ideally, all educators charged with teaching the arts should be credentialed in the arts discipline they teach. In the meantime, professional learning can help build capacity and increase effectiveness to better support and equip teachers to teach arts content.   
    • Elementary teachers. The distribution of teachers with single-subject arts credentials is not evenly spread across grade levels. More than 75% of credentialed arts teachers work in sixth through 12th grades. As a result, teachers with multiple-subject credentials are a vital arts education provider to elementary students.  Besides being required in the California education code, arts education in elementary schools is an essential foundation that enables students, by middle and high school, to be successful in arts courses that meet the A-G admission requirements for University of California and California State University or in a career technical arts, media and entertainment pathway to prepare for a career. 
    • Multiple-subject teachers. They make up the largest group of credentialed educators in California, and research shows that multiple-subject teachers who integrate the arts in their teaching are reinvigorated and more engaged. Incorporating more preparation in the arts for multiple-subject credentialed teachers, through summer intensives, and job-embedded training builds teacher knowledge, skills and confidence in the arts while supporting arts learning across all grade levels.

    To meet such diverse needs, California needs support from the legislators, policymakers, higher education institutions, and PK-12 professional learning providers. The professional learning infrastructure exists, and there are many avenues across the state for high-quality professional learning. Prioritizing funding toward high-quality professional learning helps advance the intent of Proposition 28. 

    We must nurture and strengthen the entire system. Policymakers must advocate for a robust statewide funding effort similar to past models such as health education, history-social science, ethnic studies, mathematics, science, and computer science. Building capacity through professional learning for those already in classrooms and in teacher preparation programs should be funded and prioritized. There are many organizations across the state already engaged in effective professional learning, and these efforts are necessary to build our human capacity to fully realize the promise of Proposition 28. 

    •••

    Letty Kraus is director of the California County Superintendents Arts Initiative, which works through the 58 county offices of education to support high quality, sequential, standards-based arts education for all students in California. 

    Patti Saraniero is principal of Moxie Research, a research and evaluation firm serving arts, culture, science and educational organizations.

    The opinions in this commentary are those of the authors. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.





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