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With a growing number of states investing in community schools strategies, systems are seeking ways to support quality implementation across multiple school sites. Certification has emerged as a route to bring structure, consistency, and capacity-building to community schools implementation.
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High-quality, transformational community schools are intentionally structured to promote nurturing relationships among and between educators, community partners, families, and students. Together, they develop school conditions in which students are affirmed, feel a sense of belonging, and can be successful.
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The conventional wisdom has long been that teachers stop improving after a few years on the job. But decades of research show that teachers continue to improve as they gain additional experience, especially in environments that support professional learning and collaboration.
Linda Darling-HammondMaria E. HylerSteve WojcikiewiczJoy Rushing
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New approaches to teacher preparation center on whole-child education and decades of research on how people learn and develop. These emerging principles reimagine educator training to foster strong relationships, rich learning, and supports that help all students thrive.
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California State University, Bakersfield, operates a consortium of seven teacher residency programs, each partnering with one or more local education agencies. Researchers examined the Kern Urban Teacher Residency and the Teacher Residency for Rural Education to understand how residency models can be modified to meet the needs of both large urban and small rural districts.
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The decisions states make regarding what their assessments look like and what kind of information they produce inevitably shape instruction and students’ learning experiences. Many state leaders are considering how to create instructionally relevant assessments with a positive instructional impact.
Victoria WangMelanie Leung-GagnéHanna MelnickShaakira ParkerMarjorie Wechsler
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California is expanding universal prekindergarten (UPK) to all 4-year-olds and eligible 3-year-olds. Survey data show that local educational agencies have expanded UPK quickly; however, they continue to face challenges related to UPK facilities, staffing, developmentally appropriate practices, resources, and funding, making continued state investment and targeted support critical for success.
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Students have more positive and productive math learning experiences in classrooms that provide them with supportive relationships, a strong sense of belonging within the classroom and broader math community, and a firm conviction in their capacity to grow their mathematical abilities through experience and practice.
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Teacher residencies offer an approach to address teacher shortages while improving teacher preparation. Through robust financial and educational support, residencies attract diverse candidates who stay in teaching. Five effective California programs yield policy recommendations, including strategies for designing and funding sustainable, affordable programs that support candidates.
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Claremont Graduate University’s residency program, which offers 100% online coursework, is built around a social justice approach and a classroom framework that centers relationships and interactions between and among students and teachers. Program participants have diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds and include a high proportion of first-generation college graduates.