Michael W. Kirst discusses the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the CA overhaul of accountability based on local control of education policy. The federal law requires multiple measures for accountability, including some with state choice. Databases for English learners will change significantly. Federal requirements for teacher evaluation will be deregulated significantly. State assessments are all over the place and will be hard to summarize. California is building an integrated federal/state/local accountability system that includes 23 metrics, primarily for local use in Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP) that focus on improving budget strategy. Longitudinal data bases from the past will be difficult to integrate with these policy shifts.

Over the past two decades, charter schools emerged as part of school reform efforts, providing parental choice in education. However, research highlights that despite their intended autonomy and innovation, charter schools have often failed to offer sustainable working conditions for teachers. A new study, focusing on a Los Angeles charter school organization, delves into teachers' experiences leading to unionization in 2005, aiming to understand why choice-based environments pushed educators towards collective action. Teachers described a vibrant yet exhausting professional setting, lacking job security and facing longer working hours compared to district teachers. Despite initial collaboration with school leaders, teachers felt unheard about their working conditions, prompting unionization discussions. Over 60% of teachers voted for a union, desiring sustainable working conditions and a voice in decision-making. However, the governing board resisted, perceiving the union as an impediment to their flexibility. The study emphasizes the struggle of charter school teachers for equitable working conditions and the significance of their collective actions in achieving sustainability. This research remains pertinent in understanding charter school challenges, as highlighted by recent unionization attempts and legal disputes in Los Angeles charter schools.

Researchers exploring the role of school counseling site supervisors in California have discovered gaps in their training and practices. Despite a state requirement for these supervisors to hold credentials as school counselors, there are no established standards or guidelines for their preparation or practice in this role. Out of 220 practicing school counselor site supervisors surveyed, a notable 41% felt unprepared by their counselor education programs for their supervisory role. Furthermore, a significant majority received inadequate training during their graduate programs, with only a small percentage participating in dedicated courses or workshops on supervision. A news study highlights a lack of ongoing supervision for these supervisors, with most indicating a strong interest in receiving proper training, particularly through handbooks, workshops, and conferences. The research underscores the necessity for counselor education programs to take the lead in developing appropriate supervision models, advocating for clearer standards, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders to address this critical need in school counseling.

Researchers consider the transformative changes in teacher evaluation systems following the Race to the Top initiative, emphasizing the adoption of multiple performance measures such as value-added measures and classroom observations. While the majority of states and districts underwent revisions, California notably abstained from statewide reforms. Despite the spotlight on using student test scores, most teachers' ratings primarily stem from classroom observations, especially those teaching non-tested subjects. Initially lacking evidence, recent studies, notably the Excellence in Teaching Project in Chicago Public Schools, reveal that in-depth teacher evaluations focusing on classroom interactions can enhance teaching practices and, consequently, student outcomes. However, these advancements require substantial time commitments from observers, typically principals, and teachers, coupled with comprehensive training and ongoing support. Crucially, while these evaluations demonstrated positive impacts overall, schools facing lower performance and higher poverty witnessed less progress, underscoring the necessity for added resources and support. As California deliberates its evaluation system revisions, researchers urge policymakers to prioritize resources and support for comprehensive teacher evaluations, recognizing their pivotal role in fostering student achievement.

Researchers conducted an experiment to determine if incentives could improve low-income students' attendance in tutoring programs provided through Supplemental Education Services (SEdS). Three groups of 5th-8th graders were formed: one offered a $100 reward for regular attendance, another receiving certificates of recognition, and a control group without incentives. Surprisingly, the monetary reward didn't increase attendance, while the certificate group attended 40% more sessions than the control. This contrasts with past studies showing monetary incentives for improved test scores as ineffective, suggesting that mere rewards may not enhance skills without additional support. The certificate approach proved cost-effective, costing $9 per student versus $100 for the monetary incentive. However, wider implementation's effectiveness might diminish due to students' varied perceptions of recognition's value, related to existing academic achievements or repeated rewards. The study's success suggests non-monetary incentives are effective and inexpensive. Policymakers and educators seeking to boost student participation in underutilized programs should consider these findings, emphasizing nuanced research into varying incentives' effectiveness and cost-efficiency to motivate student engagement. Despite these promising results, a comprehensive solution requires a deeper understanding of how different incentives affect diverse student populations and their sustained impact over time.

Schools face the dual responsibility of educating children and providing health services to over a million students in California with special health care needs (SHCN). These students are at higher risk of academic struggles and absenteeism. However, schools often lack awareness of these students’ conditions, neglecting their unique health needs. The absence of specific regulations leaves decisions about health services and staffing to individual districts. Alarmingly, 57% of districts in 2013 had no school nurses, while those with nurses had ratios far exceeding recommended levels. In the absence of nurses, unlicensed staff handle critical health procedures. The lack of state guidance and dedicated funding exacerbates these challenges. To address this, California should mandate systematic identification and care for students with SHCN, track health emergencies, monitor attendance and educational outcomes, and ensure standardized training for all staff delivering health services. These steps could safeguard the health and academic success of all students, aligning with the proven link between health and academic performance.

A new study delves into teacher perceptions of financial incentives within the context of the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) program, examining how rewards influence teacher behaviors and participation. It explores data from a TIF-supported program offering rewards for various achievements. Research shows diverse reactions among teachers based on payout sizes, valuing fairness, linkages to effort, and performance. Larger awards elicited more positive responses and influenced ongoing participation. However, the findings imply these incentives might draw high-performing teachers, raising questions about their impact on reshaping the teacher workforce. Teachers emphasized the importance of fair, linked-to-performance payouts to sustain their engagement in the program. The study highlights crucial design elements for incentive programs, advocating for attainable maximum awards, fairness considerations, credible performance measures, transparent eligibility criteria, and clear payout rules. It urges further research using representative data to comprehend teachers' responses to different incentive combinations over time, essential for refining educator incentive programs.

Educational institutions are increasingly revamping teacher evaluations, integrating student performance measures and classroom observations. LAUSD’s shift in evaluation systems and Vergara v. California’s ruling against certain teacher employment statutes spotlight this transformation. However, research across six urban districts reveals shifts in the role of value-added measures in decision making. Principals find value-added data problematic due to its infrequency, complexity, and limited applicability to teachers in untested subjects. Instead, they value the transparency, timeliness, and specificity of teacher observation systems, which provide comprehensive insights into teaching practices for all educators. While acknowledging differences between value-added and observation systems, research also emphasizes the advantages of teacher observation systems in informing timely and specific decisions. Despite concerns about observation systems’ time-intensive nature and the recent legal implications, these frameworks offer enhanced transparency and actionable feedback, potentially compensating for the limitations of value-added measures. Overall, the rise of observation systems signifies a positive step in leveraging data for informed human capital decisions in education.

The shortage of women in STEM fields has sparked considerable attention due to its impact on the STEM workforce. Despite being the majority in colleges, women remain a minority among STEM degree holders, leading researchers to focus on their underrepresentation in these critical fields. The prevailing literature primarily examines the influence of college faculty gender on STEM outcomes, neglecting the crucial pre-college setting's role in shaping students' STEM choices. This NSF-funded study, using data from North Carolina public schools and universities, delves into the impact of the gender composition of high school math and science teachers on students' decisions to pursue STEM majors in college. Findings indicate a notable positive effect of a higher proportion of female math and science teachers on the likelihood of female students declaring and graduating with STEM degrees, particularly among those with strong math skills. This influence doesn't extend to male students, suggesting that schools with more female STEM teachers positively disrupt stereotypes, making STEM fields more appealing specifically to high-skilled young women without significantly affecting their male counterparts. The research highlights the significance of early educational opportunities challenging gender stereotypes in math and science, potentially cultivating a larger cohort of women pursuing STEM careers and challenging outdated perceptions about STEM being unsuitable for women.

Addressing the academic achievement gap among minority and low socioeconomic status students, especially in majority-minority states like California and Texas, has gained attention regarding language variety as a potential factor. A study reviewed by Educational Policy presents recommendations for state policymakers based on a Texas Legislature-commissioned study. This study urges recognizing students who speak language varieties other than standard English as Standard English Learners (SELs), highlighting their unique educational needs. The expert panel offers five key recommendations: enhancing educators’ understanding of language diversity, teaching strategies for students to acquire standard English, integrating language variety into curricula, and fostering a tolerant environment among stakeholders. The study emphasizes the necessity of increasing teacher capacity to identify and support SELs in classrooms, proposing considerations and strategies for states or local education agencies (LEAs) to design effective programs and policies. The report advocates for legislative and administrative actions to equip teachers for specialized instruction to meet the needs of SELs and ensure policy success.

Research suggests that the school environment significantly influences teachers' career choices, effectiveness, and student outcomes. A study, using data from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools over ten years, explores how the school context impacts teachers' improvement over time. It finds that teachers in more supportive environments exhibit greater growth in effectiveness compared to those in less supportive schools, revealing considerable variation among teachers' improvement rates. The research identifies differences between schools in the average rate of teacher enhancement over a decade. By examining the impact of the professional environment, as indicated by teacher survey responses on dimensions like order, collaboration, leadership, development, trust, and evaluation, the study concludes that teachers in schools rated higher in these aspects display a 38% higher improvement after ten years compared to those in lower-rated schools, a substantial portion of the typical ten-year growth. These findings challenge conventional beliefs about teacher effectiveness and highlight the pivotal role of the organizational context in fostering or limiting teacher development, advocating for nurturing supportive school cultures and ongoing teacher learning to elevate the overall quality of the U.S. teaching force.

The influx of mid-career entrants into teaching has drawn attention due to its potential to address teacher shortages and diversify the workforce. However, recent research reveals that while mid-career entrants constitute a significant portion of new teachers, their impact on filling vacancies in subjects like secondary math and science remains limited. These entrants tend to join elementary rather than secondary classrooms, challenging assumptions about their subject preferences. Although they increase gender and racial diversity, they have not significantly altered the overall demographic makeup of the teacher workforce. Recruiting more mid-career entrants alone won't substantially diversify teaching; specific efforts targeting men and minority groups are necessary. Schools must adapt induction programs to support these entrants effectively, acknowledging their prior expertise but possibly requiring additional assistance with teaching practicalities, especially if they've entered through fast-track programs with limited classroom experience. Leveraging the professional skills of mid-career entrants, such as technological expertise or community networking, could benefit schools and encourage these entrants to remain in teaching longer-term.

Teacher evaluation, driven by philanthropic support and federal mandates, heavily incorporates classroom observations in most states, where they carry significant weight—contributing to dismissals in 22 states and the District of Columbia. Despite their prevalence, educators disagree on observation protocols, frequency, announcement practices, and assessment tools. Many states opt for standards-based observations, recently endorsed through research like the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) study, albeit these assessments were primarily designed to gauge instructional standards rather than predict student outcomes, displaying weak correlations with achievement. The concern over these observations lies in their demanding nature, with numerous scoring criteria and estimated costs of $3 billion annually for nationwide implementation. Calls for innovation in observations, aiming for speed and efficacy, sparked validation studies for the Rapid Assessment of Teacher Effectiveness (RATE). In seven experiments, RATE outperformed benchmarks, accurately identifying effective teachers in just 20 minutes of a lesson using a concise rubric after minimal training. It showcased higher reliability and effectiveness compared to instruments reviewed in the MET study, potentially offering cost-effective, efficient evaluations and early support for struggling teachers, benefitting student learning.

In the US, ongoing concerns surround schools' struggles to close educational gaps, especially among English learners (ELs), often overlooked in subjects like science and math. Academic fluency in one's native language, as proposed by Jim Cummins, a prominent figure in bilingual education, is considered vital for acquiring proficiency in a second language across subjects. Recent research examined the link between state education policies emphasizing bilingualism and science achievement among Latino ELs in eight states. Using NAEP data from 2000 and 2005, the study assessed state policies on language acquisition alongside science scores. States with stronger bilingual emphasis showed notably higher science achievement among fourth-grade Latino ELs in 2005, with even moderate support for bilingualism demonstrating benefits. Conversely, shifts towards English immersion in California, Arizona, and Nevada correlated with lower science scores by 2005 among fourth graders. Eighth graders' scores in 2005 and both grade levels in 2000 didn't display this pattern, indicating potential benefits of moderately supportive bilingual policies for smoother integration into science education for ELs.