The Virtual Library

The Virtual Library:
Teacher Quality

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Neediest Students Get Least-Prepared Teachers: Study finds situation cuts academic success: The odds are against California's lowest scoring students. As the teacher crunch grows, more unqualified teachers are teaching in the most disadvantaged schools — according to a new report. The problem is that as the percentage of underqualified teachers increases, schools can't handle the burden of on-the-job training. This blunt article gives some unsettling statistics and offers possible solutions to California's teacher quality dilemma.

NOTE: The report, "The Status Of The Teaching Profession," is available at the Center for Teaching and Learning web site. View a summary or the entire publication (the latter requires Adobe Acrobat Reader freeware).

Study Finds Unequal Education in California: High-income students getting better teachers: Inequality still exists between schools serving the affluent and schools serving the state's poor students, and the problem is growing. A new study shows that schools with needy children have many more uncredentialed teachers than wealthy schools. The statistics are frightening: of schools having the most disadvantaged students, almost 22 percent of the teachers did not have credentials. In contrast, in schools with wealthier children, only 2 percent of the teachers lacked credentials. The conclusion reached in the study? Teacher skill matters most ... what a surprise!

University Leaders To Ask State to Pay Its Teachers More: Colleges will also try to improve training: The main problem in the California quality teacher shortage is the lack of incentive to attract teachers into a low-paying profession. Further, the public perception of teaching must also change. The latest studies confirm that skilled teachers are the most important element in student success, but this fact has been put aside in the crunch to get warm bodies teaching in the classrooms of California. Go to this hard-hitting article to learn more about why so many college and university leaders are banding together to commit to improving teacher training programs and more.