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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Supporting the achievement of all students requires a strong commitment to equity, ensuring a stable high-quality educator workforce, providing access to professional development, and a focus on deeper learning and social and emotional learning. Seven California school districts provide examples of successful approaches to this work.
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Equitable and empowering educational opportunities are increasingly important to the survival and success of individuals, economies, and societies, but today, U.S. public schools are the most inequitably funded of any in the industrialized world. Some states, however, have had some success addressing those inequities. Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and North Carolina have substantially improved learning opportunities and there are lessons to be learned from their efforts.
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High quality principals are essential to students' educational opportunities and outcomes, but principal turnover is an ongoing problem in the United States. A 2017 survey of public school principals found that approximately 18% had left their position since the previous year. In high poverty schools, the turnover rate was 21%. This brief includes insights, experiences, and expertise from school leaders on the challenges associated with being a school principal and strategies to address those challenges.
Linda Darling-HammondJeannie OakesSteve WojcikiewiczMaria E. HylerRoneeta GuhaAnne PodolskyTara KiniChanna Cook-HarveyCharmaine MercerAkeelah Harrell
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Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning summarizes a recent book of the same name that describes the work of pioneering teacher education programs to prepare their graduates to create personalized, inquiry-based learning for all students. They provide examples for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers interested in making preparation for deeper learning the standard for today's teachers. The programs are also profiled separately in individual briefs which provide more detail.
Anne PodolskyLinda Darling-HammondChristopher Dosssean reardon
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This brief analyzes scores of students in 435 school districts scores on California’s new assessments in English language arts and math. From this group, 156 “positive outlier” districts of significant size—where White, African American, and Hispanic students achieve at higher than predicted levels relative to their socioeconomic status—were identified. What in-school factors made the most difference in student achievement?
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Most racial and ethnic segregation—and most financial inequities—in American public schools occur between, not within, school districts. Solving these problems often requires interdistrict solutions. Some regions are crossing boundaries and finding effecting ways to promote school diversity, equity, and access; examples include Boston, Hartford, and Omaha.