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The field of special education has long been plagued by persistent shortages of fully prepared teachers. New LPI research finds that the high turnover of special education teachers is associated with such issues as inadequate preparation, professional development, overwhelming workload, low compensation, and inadequate support. What can policymakers do to address this shortage and help recruit, prepare, support, and retain these teachers?

A severe special education teacher shortage threatens the ability to improve outcomes for students with disabilities, who often have the greatest needs but receive the least expert teachers. LPI researchers review the factors contributing to special education teacher turnover and provide evidence-based policy strategies aimed at resolving the shortage.

Access to fully certified and experienced teachers matters for student outcomes and achievement, yet many states have hired uncertified and inexperienced teachers to fill gaps created by persistent teacher shortages. These teachers are disproportionately found in schools with high enrollments of students of color, according to LPI analysis of the most recent U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection, which has proposed cutting key data collection questions related to school funding and educator experience.

As California prepares to make major investments in its early childhood education workforce, three programs offer promising models for recruiting and preparing educators through innovative, affordable pathways. These successful programs provide lessons for the state's policymakers about how to ensure all children have teachers who meet high standards and reflect the racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of children and their families.

Three California-based programs offer promising models for recruiting and preparing diverse cohorts of early educators through innovative and affordable pathways. These successful programs provide valuable lessons for policymakers and others interested in ensuring that all children have teachers who meet high standards and reflect the racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of students and their families.

The first years of a child’s life provide a foundation for long-term health and well-being. As states consider policy proposals to update credential or degree requirements for early childhood educators, they can look to promising programs and state policies that recruit and prepare diverse cohorts of educators to teach in early childhood education programs. This report includes case studies of distinct approaches offering innovative, affordable pathways to preparation for diverse candidates.

Research suggests that deeper learning strategies that support critical thinking and problem-solving can improve student outcomes, but implementing these strategies is not easy. Three networks of schools—Big Picture Learning, Internationals Network for Public Schools, and New Tech Network—have created the systems and structures to scale their equitable deeper learning models in diverse public school settings to serve students in more personalized and productive ways.

A hallmark of deeper learning is students’ ability to apply their knowledge to new situations and complex problems. Big Picture Learning, Internationals Network for Public Schools, and New Tech Network have successfully instantiated, sustained, and spread deeper learning practices in ways that advance equity in schools across the nation. A deep look into their systems and structures reveals common threads, including rethinking structures and relationships in schools, collaboration, professional learning, leadership development, and continual improvement.

The teaching profession requires continuous learning and California's Instructional Leadership Corps was developed to address that need. The ILC is changing the paradigm for teacher learning by tapping the expertise and experience of local teachers, principals, and superintendents who have the training and support to lead ongoing professional development to peers in their own districts and in other schools and districts in their regions.

A hallmark of deeper learning is students’ ability to apply their knowledge to new situations and complex problems. Big Picture Learning has successfully instantiated, sustained, and spread deeper learning practices in ways that advance equity in schools across the nation. This deep look into its systems and structures reveals how the network and its leaders have consistently been responsive to communities and local conditions, which allows network-affiliated schools to take on a distinct character while maintaining fidelity to Big Picture Learning's deeper learning focus.