Teacher Quality Data
Since the Williams lawsuit was filed in 2000, Public Advocates has pressed state leaders to create a comprehensive data system to track teacher quality, assignments, and vacancies. In 2019, students and families won a major victory with the passage of AB 1219, which established the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS). The new system, known as Teacher Assignment Monitoring Outcomes (TAMO) was launched in 2022 and provides local and statewide data that can be used to identify the scope and impact of teacher vacancies and misassignments, in order to remedy inequities in access to quality teaching that impact low-income students and students of color. Find out if your classes are taught by the right teachers.
With the release of TAMO data, the State Board of Education (SBE) and the California Department of Education (CDE) will be able to establish objective criteria for a Teacher Quality Indicator on the California School Dashboard as mandated by the Legislature last year. The indicator will identify the extent to which teachers are appropriately assigned and fully credentialed at the school level. Public Advocates is serving on CDE’s Ad Hoc Task Force to develop this teacher quality indicator on the dashboard by the end of 2023. The dashboard which will assess school and district performance relative to statewide performance to measure access and equity to full prepare teachers.
Attracting and Retaining A Diverse Fully Prepared Educator Workforce
California is not just the most populous state, but one of the most diverse states in the nation. Unfortunately our teachers do not reflect the student communities they teach. Research shows that students derive both social-emotional and academic benefits from a diverse educator workforce. Public advocates, alongside our partners, Californians for Justice and Ed Trust-West, developed a community-informed educator diversity road map. Read our recommendations.
Earlier Teacher Quality Campaigns and Resources:
- The Partnership for Future of Learning Teaching Profession Playbook: Building a Strong and Diverse Teaching Profession offers a comprehensive set of strategies that work together to recruit, prepare, develop, and retain high-quality teachers and bring greater racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity to the profession
- State Advocacy – Making sure there are fully prepared teachers for low-income students and English Language Learners
- Federal Advocacy – Promoting teacher quality and education equity at the national level.
- School Accountability Report Cards (SARC) – Monitoring school’s reporting on enrollment, learning conditions and academic performance.
- Historic Cases – (Renee v Duncan; CFJ v CCTC; AMAE v. CA)
