Teacher Preparation Program Accountability :
California

Analysis of California's policies

California's approval process for its traditional and alternate route teacher preparation programs does not hold programs accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce.

Most importantly, California does not collect value-added data that connect student achievement gains to teacher preparation programs.

The state also fails to collect other objective, meaningful data to measure the performance of teacher preparation programs, and it does not apply any transparent, measurable criteria for conferring program approval. 

Further, in the past three years, only one program in the state has been identified as low performing—an additional indicator that programs lack accountability.

Finally, California's website does not include a report card that allows the public to review and compare program performance.

Citation

Accreditation http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/program-accred.html Title II State Reports https://title2.ed.gov http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/new-program-submission.html

Recommendations for California

Collect data that connect student achievement gains to teacher preparation programs.
To ensure that programs are producing effective classroom teachers, California should consider academic achievement gains of students taught by the programs' graduates, averaged over the first three years of teaching.

Gather other meaningful data that reflect program performance.
In addition to knowing whether programs are producing effective teachers, other objective, meaningful data can also indicate whether programs are appropriately screening applicants and whether they are delivering essential academic and professional knowledge. California should gather data such as the following: average raw scores of graduates on licensing tests, including basic skills, subject matter and professional knowledge tests; satisfaction ratings by school principals and teacher supervisors of programs' student teachers, using a standardized form to permit program comparison; evaluation results from the first and/or second year of teaching; and five-year retention rates of graduates in the teaching profession.

Establish the minimum standard of performance for each category of data.
Programs should be held accountable for meeting these standards, with articulated consequences for failing to do so, including loss of program approval after appropriate due process. 

Publish an annual report card on the state's website.
To inform the public with meaningful, readily understandable indicators of how well programs are doing, California should present all the data it collects on individual teacher preparation programs.  

State response to our analysis

California recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state added that the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) is an independent agency responsible for teacher licensure, and the California Department of Education has no authority or jurisdiction over teacher preparation or credentialing, and it does not collect, analyze or disseminate teacher data. 

In March 2006, the state, in cooperation with the CTC, was given authorization to begin the development of a California teacher data system, identified as the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Educational System (CALTIDES). Unfortunately, recent state budget action has eliminated the CALTIDES system, so there is no current or projected time frame for either agency to collect these data.