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Teaching and California's Future

California's teacher workforce is the largest in the country, with more than 300,000 public school teachers serving a student population of over 6 million. Since 1999, SRI's Center for Education Policy, in collaboration with the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, has been conducting research on the status of the teaching profession in California. SRI has produced a series of reports that provide policymakers with objective and timely data on the state’s teacher workforce. These reports detail a variety of teacher development issues, including teacher supply and demand, preparation, recruitment, induction, and professional development and the impact of state policies on teacher quality and distribution. The most recent report, California's teaching force 2008: Key issues and trends, was released in December 2008. These reports have drawn on original data collection efforts and secondary data sources, and report findings have been credited with helping shape California legislation to increase investments in the teacher development system and to improve the quality of the workforce.

The Center of Education Policy has also begun a more in-depth look at the growing high school reform movement in California and the skills and knowledge that teachers need to prepare all students for the demands of the 21st century economy. This focus on high schools reflects the concerns of state and federal policymakers, foundations, business leaders, nonprofit organizations, and education practitioners about low student achievement, high dropout rates, and inadequate preparation of high school graduates for postsecondary education and work. Data collection on high school reform will occur during the 2008-09 school year and includes a review of secondary data on high schools and high school reform, interviews with key high school reform stakeholders, a survey of high school principals, and case studies in 20 high schools throughout the state. The report on high school reform will be released in December 2009.

(Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, 1998-2009)

Key Staff

Principal Investigator: Patrick Shields

Project Manager: Juliet Tiffany-Morales

Staff: Katherine Baisden, Nancy Bier, Jennifer Bland, Ashley Campbell, Kyra Caspary, Roneeta Guha, Paul Hu, Daniel Humphrey, Debbie Kim, David Sherer, Victoria Tse, Haiwen Wang, Marjorie Wechsler, Katrina Woodworth