Orange County Register

Report: More O.C. teachers prepared for the classroom
Number of local teachers defined as underprepared has dropped from 8.5% to 1.5% in 8 years.

By FERMIN LEAL
September 18, 2009

The number of underprepared teachers in Orange County has dropped dramatically in just eight years, according to preliminary results of a report due out later this year.

Analysis by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning shows that about 1.5 percent all 22,000 teachers in the county were underprepared in the 2008-09 school year. In the 2000-01 school year, about 8.7 percent of 23,000 teachers were underprepared.

The center defines an underprepared teacher as any individual who has not completed a teacher preparation program and attained a preliminary or professional clear credential.

Statewide, about 3.5 percent of the 306,000 teachers in the 2008-09 school year were defined as unprepared, compared about 14 percent in 2000-01.

"These gains go a long way toward providing every child with a fully prepared teacher," said Margaret Gaston, the center's president. "California's policymakers have shown that informed and thoughtful education policy can make a real difference in our teaching workforce, but in order to ensure all students benefit, they must stay the course."

These findings are part of a report on teacher training and preparation coming out in December that plans to detail how California's school district have worked to improve professional development of teachers.

The preliminary findings do not detail whether the statewide implementation about a decade ago of the popular class-size reduction program contributed to fewer underprepared teachers.

In the late 90s and early in this decade, districts hired thousands of emergency-credentialed teachers to fill demand as scores of elementary classrooms shrunk to 20 from 30 students. Budget cuts have forced many districts to increase class sizes in recent years, meaning fewer teachers with limited experience and training are being hired.

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