Licensure Advancement: California
Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Analysis of California's policies
California's requirements for licensure advancement and
renewal are not based on evidence of teacher effectiveness.
California defines two types of certification most commonly used in elementary
and secondary schools. To advance from the Preliminary Multiple
Subject Teaching Credential to the Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential,
a teacher must complete an approved Professional Teacher Induction Program,
which includes advanced study of health education, special populations,
computer technology and teaching English learners. In addition, a category of
program standards addresses "opportunities for participants to demonstrate
effective teaching."
The requirements are the same for teachers advancing from a Preliminary Single
Subject Teaching Credential to a Clear Single Subject Teaching Credential.
California does not require evidence of effectiveness to be factored into the
renewal of a professional license. Licenses must be renewed every five years.
Renewal applicants must only answer a series of "professional
fitness" questions.
Recommendations for California
Require evidence of effectiveness as a part
of teacher licensing policy.
California should require evidence of teacher effectiveness to be a factor in
determining whether teachers can renew their licenses or advance to a
higher-level license.
Discontinue licensure requirements with no
direct connection to classroom effectiveness.
While California's induction program includes some targeted coursework on
special populations and English language learners that may expand teacher
knowledge and include opportunities for teachers to demonstrate effective
instruction, the state should ensure that its requirements do not merely call
for teachers to complete a certain amount of seat time. Such requirements will
not advance teacher effectiveness.
State response to our analysis
California asserted that NCTQ mischaracterizes the nature of the induction program required for multiple and single subject candidates to earn the Clear credential. The program does not represent seat time, but rather is a two-year program of individualized mentoring and support guided by the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP), which define expectations for competent experienced teacher practice. During the induction program, candidates are assessed against the CSTP. Teachers bring with them at the start of the experience an analysis of their strengths and areas for improvement based on the Teaching Performance Assessment and related to the Teaching Performance Expectations for beginning teachers. Candidates are expected to develop and show progress along the continuum of performance outlined within the CSTP. The Commission is currently updating the induction program standards to reflect the importance of identifying qualified mentors and providing a high-quality mentoring experience for all new multiple and single subject teachers.
California added that state law specifies the requirements for credential renewal. These requirements do not currently include professional development. However, it is possible that the requirements may change in the future based on potential legislation.
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California
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
The reason for
probationary licensure should be to determine teacher effectiveness.
Most states grant new teachers a probationary license that
must later be converted to an advanced or professional license. A probationary
period is sound policy as it provides an opportunity to determine whether
individuals merit professional licensure. However, very few states require any
determination of teacher performance or effectiveness in deciding whether a
teacher will advance from the probationary license. Instead, states generally
require probationary teachers to fulfill a set of requirements to receive
advanced certification. Thus, ending the probationary period is based on
whether a checklist has been completed rather than on teacher performance and
effectiveness.
Most state
requirements for achieving professional certification have not been shown to affect
teacher effectiveness.
Unfortunately, not only do most states fail to connect
advanced certification to actual evidence of teacher effectiveness, but also the
requirements teachers must most often meet are not even related to teacher
effectiveness. The most common requirement for professional licensure is
completion of additional coursework, often resulting in a master's degree.
Requiring teachers to obtain additional training in their teaching area would
be meaningful; however, the requirements are usually vague, allowing the
teacher to fulfill coursework requirements from long menus that include areas
having no connection or use to the teacher in the classroom. The research
evidence on requiring a master's degree is quite conclusive: These degrees have
not been shown to make teachers more effective. This is likely due in no small
part to the fact that teachers generally do not attain master's degrees in
their subject areas. According to the National Center for Educational
Statistics, less than one-fourth of secondary teachers' master's degrees are in
their subject area, and only 7 percent of elementary teachers' master's degrees
are in an academic subject.
In addition to their dubious value, these requirements may
also serve as a disincentive to teacher retention. Talented probationary
teachers may be unwilling to invest time and resources in more education
coursework. Further, they may well pursue advanced degrees that facilitate
leaving teaching.
Licensure Advancement: Supporting Research
For
a meta-analysis of the research on the relationship between advanced degrees
and teacher effectiveness, see M. Ozdemir and W. Stevenson, "The Impact of
Teachers' Advanced Degrees on Student Learning" which has been published
as an appendix in Arizona's Race to the Top: What Will It Take to Compete? (NCTQ, 2009).
Studies
in the analysis include: Clotfelter, C. T., Ladd, H. F., & Vigdor, J. L., 2004, Teacher sorting, teacher shopping, and the assessment of teacher effectiveness, which is the previous draft of the current paper entitled C. Clotfelter, H. Ladd, and J. Vigdor, Teacher-student matching and the assessment of teacher effectiveness, January 2006 from the National Bureau
of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 11936, web site: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11936; C. Clotfelter, H. Ladd, and J. Vigdor, How and why do teacher credentials matter for student achievement?, January 2007 from the NBER, Working Paper 12828, web site: http://www.nber.org/papers/w12828. R. Ehrenberg and D. Brewer, Do school and teacher characteristics matter? Evidence from high school and beyond. Economics of Education Review, Volume 13, No. 1, March 1994, pp. 1-17; D. Goldhaber and E. Anthony, Can teacher quality be effectively assessed? National board certification as a signal of effective teaching. Review
of Economics and Statistics, Volume 89, No, 1, February 2007, pp. 134-150; D. Goldhaber and D. Brewer, Why don't schools and teachers seem to matter? Assessing the impact of unobservables on educational productivity. The Journal
of Human Resources, Volume 32, No. 3, Summer 1997, pp. 505-523; D. Goldhaber and D. Brewer, Does teacher certification matter? High school teacher certification status and student achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy
Analysis, Volume 22, No. 2, June 20, 2000, pp. 129-145; E. Hanushek, J. Kain, D. O'Brien, and S. Rivkin, (2005) The market for teacher quality. Retrieved February 2005 from the National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 11154 from web site: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11154.pdf; E. Hanushek, J. Kain, and S. Rivkin, Teachers, schools, and academic achievement. Retrieved August 1998 from the National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 6691 from web site: http://www.nber.org/papers/w6691.pdf; D. Harris and T. Sass, Value-added models and the measurement of teacher quality. Unpublished paper, Florida State University; D. Harris and T. Sass, What makes for a good teacher and who can tell?, Calder Institute, September 2009, Working Paper 30; Harris, D. and T. Sass, Teacher training, teacher quality, and student achievement; Calder Institute, March 2007, Working Paper 3; D. Harris and T. Sass, The effects of NBPTS-certified teachers on student achievement, Calder Institute, March 2007, Working Paper No. 4; C. Jepsen, Teacher characteristics and student achievement: Evidence from teacher surveys. Journal of Urban Economics, Volume 57, No. 2, March 2005, pp. 302-319; D. Monk, Subject area preparation of secondary mathematics and science teachers and student achievement. Economics of Education Review, Volume 13, No. 2, June 1994, pp. 125-145; J. Riordan, Is There a Relationship Between No Child Left Behind Indicators of Teacher Quality and The Cognitive and Social Development of Early Elementary Students? April 8, 2006, Paper presented at the annual meeting of
the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, CA; B. Schneider, Further evidence of school effects, Journal of Educational
Research, Volume 78, No. 6, Jul.-Aug., 1985, pp. 351-356.
For
evidence on the lack of correlation between education coursework and teacher
effectiveness, see M. Allen, "Eight Questions on Teacher Preparation: What Does the Research Say?" Education Commission of the States, 2003