Congress' Vote on 'Highly Qualified'
Last month, Congress passed legislation defining "highly qualified" to include teachers pursuing their credential through an alternative route to certification program. The legislation comes on the heels of a September ruling by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversing the designation of "highly qualified" for teachers going through our programs, following the controversial lawsuit by the advocacy group Public Advocates. 

The California Teacher Corps has actively participated in the national dialogue surrounding this legislation. Read the Teacher Corps' position and response here:

• Alternate Route, Same Destination: All Highly Qualified Teachers, TOP-Ed, Tuesday, January 4, 2011
•  Congress Applies Temporary Fix to 'Highly Qualified' Teacher Issue, Cabinet Report, Monday, January 3, 2011
•  Court Continues to Mull "Highly Qualified" Teacher Designation, Cabinet Report, Monday, December 6, 2010

California Teacher Corps Placing More Diverse Teaching Workforce in the Classroom

California Teacher Corps' efforts to recruit more under-represented minorities into the teaching profession also garnered significant media attention last month.  The Teacher Corps shared with the press that in the 2009-10 school year, nearly 50 percent of teachers placed in the classroom from the Teacher Corps programs were under-represented minorities. Read coverage here:

• Teacher Corps Recruits, Tri-City Voice Newspaper, Tuesday, December 7, 2010
• Alternative Certification Program Supports Under-represented Minorities, Sing Tao Daily, Saturday, December 11, 2010
• Minority Teachers: Hard to Get and Hard to Keep, Miller-McCune, Sunday, December 5, 2010 
• Más Maestros Hispanos, La Opinion, Wednesday, December 1, 2010
   

Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning Annual Report
 

In December, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL) released its annual report on the status of the teaching profession in California, warning of a shrinking and stretched teaching workforce in the midst of a fiscal crisis.

Read CFTL's report: "California's Teaching Force 2010: Key Issues and Trends"
 

While it was not the report's main focus this year, it also highlighted the number of "underprepared" teachers in California classrooms, and a disproportionate number of intern teachers in low-performing schools. Read the Teacher Corps' response in the following article: Annual Report on Teaching Profession Shows Strains of Recession, Cabinet Report, Tuesday, December 14, 2010

'On Teaching' for Our Teachers

A new section geared toward our member teachers

A favorite engagement strategy for enhancing learning in the classroom is Think-Pair-Share. This strategy was developed by Lyman (1981). Immediately following a teacher presentation or assigned textbook reading, the teacher asks a question related to, describing, or interpreting something. After giving the students a few minutes to think of an answer, they are asked to turn to a partner, i.e. pair and share their response. Once partner sharing has taken place, the teacher asks the entire class for volunteers who might want to share an answer. 
 

There are many variations of this active learning technique.  A variation for accountability is Think-Write-Pair-Share.  In this scenario, students listen while the teacher poses a question, problem, concept or a task. As indicated above, the students are given quiet time to respond to the question in writing.  Students are then cued to pair with a neighbor and discuss their responses, noting similarities and differences. 
 

It is important to give students enough time to share their answers and how they arrived at the answers with their classmates. The personal interaction motivates students and engages the entire class.  Quiet students are also able to answer the questions or complete the task with a partner instead of having to stand in front of the entire class. When the right component is added, everyone is accountable for an answer prior to sharing.  Research has verified that student engagement enhances learning (Archer & Gleason, 1999).
 

Submitted by Belinda Dunnick Karge, Ph.D., CSU Fullerton.

Happy New Year!  I hope that 2011 is off to a healthy, happy, and productive start.

Last year was a great year for the California Teacher Corps, and ended on an extremely high note.  In late December, Congress passed legislation designating teachers that are pursuing their credential through an alternative certification program as 'highly qualified.' The legislation reaffirms the validity of multiple pathways into the classroom for prospective teachers, and on a national level illustrates the urgent need for our teachers. The dialogue about this recent legislation will carry long into 2011, and we will continue to serve as your advocate in this conversation.

In fact, Public Advocates, the advocacy group that brought the lawsuit that ultimately led to the reversal of 'highly qualified' for our teachers in September, will be joining us at our February conference. John Affeldt, Lead Attorney for Public Advocates, will join Cyndy Stephens, Former President of the National Association for Alternative Certification, to share opposing viewpoints on alternative pathways. We hope you can be part of this important conversation! If you have not registered for the conference, please visit our website to so do.  

The conference is also an opportunity to share best practices, discuss the challenges we face, and be inspired by each other - all things that will be essential to alternative route to certification programs in California in the future. 

Lastly, we would like welcome our new student-members to the California Teacher Corps.

I look forward to seeing you next month!

Catherine