The Distribution of Emergency Permit Teachers in California

Abstract

There is a significant negative relationship between the percentage of teachers on emergency permits and student achievement at the school level in California schools, after controlling for other student and school characteristics. Generally, the more emergency permit teachers there are in a school, the lower the school's achievement. This phenomenon is examined in the context of other contributors to student achievement such as socio-economic status and school size. The effects of teacher distribution and school selection as contributing factors are considered. In addition, policy and legislative initiatives related to emergency permit teachers that have been recently debated in California will be discussed. Finally, a set of initiatives is proposed that attempt to decrease the need for emergency permit teachers and ensure that those that must be hired due to shortage conditions have the support they need to become credentialed teachers.

Personnel Preparation in the Area of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Reexamination Based on Teacher Perceptions

“…Predicated on the fact that quality teaching and student achievement are directly correlated (Carlson et al, 2002;Darling-Hammond, Holtzman, Gatlin, & Vasquez-Heilig, 2005;Goe, 2002;National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2005), the U.S. Department of Education (2005b) stressed that ensuring teachers are of the highest quality is a national priority. Institutions of higher education depend heavily on teacher competencies to ensure that teachers are well prepared to teach students with EBD (Nougart, Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 2005).…”

The Assessment of Mathematics and Science Teacher Quality

“…Reviews of research indicate links between teachers' subject preparation and effectiveness, although these results are not always clear (Darling-Hammond, 2000;Darling-Hammond & Youngs, 2002;Rice, 2003;Wilson & Floden, 2003;Wilson et al, 2001). Results of studies examining the relationship between teachers holding subject specific degrees and student achievement vary, although mathematics results are generally positive (Chaney, 1995;Goldhaber & Brewer, 1997a, 2000Rowan, Chiang, & Miller, 1997). Similarly, studies measuring teachers' subject knowledge using undergraduate or graduate coursework in the subject generally show a positive relationship with students' mathematics achievement (Chaney, 1995;Monk, 1994;Monk & King, 1994).…”

“…However, a college major does not illuminate specific knowledge gained through such training or account for variations in programs among colleges and universities. The use of certification status is also common (Darling-Hammond, 2000;Goe, 2002;Goldhaber & Brewer, 2000). Yet states set their own certification criteria, and therefore, the skills and knowledge represented by a teacher's certification varies from state to state.…”

Teacher-Candidates' Perceptions of School Climate: A Mixed Methods Investigation

“…More specifically, the aim of this paper was to determine the effect of the practicum experience on teacher candidates' beliefs about school culture. The findings may induce preservice education faculty and teacher induction providers to evaluate the pedagogical causes that illuminate and implicate the tensions within teacher candidates' expectations of school culture and their observed realities.Preparing teacher candidates to be competent practitioners is an endemic mandate for faculties of education across North America, and its import is well documented in the literature (Darling-Hammond, Holtzman, Gatlin, & Heilig, 2005; see also Betts, Ruebin, & Dannenberg, 2000;Goe, 2002;Goldhaber & Brewer, 2000;Russell & McPherson, 2001;Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2001). Equally prolific is the emerging need to retain highly qualified novice teachers practicing in disadvantaged urban centers (Darling-Hammond et al, 2005;Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003; National Commission on Teaching and America 's Future, 2003) and in school cultures that resign novice teachers to feelings of powerlessness, isolation from colleagues, and minimal professional interaction (Calabrese & Fisher, 1988;Newberry, 1977; Rosenholtz & Kyle, 1984).…”