BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1765
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: May 25, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 20, 2040
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Teacher leaders.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to
convene an advisory panel of stakeholders with expertise in
the field of teacher leadership to explore the recognition of
leadership roles within a teaching career pathway.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing
(CTC) to establish professional standards, assessments, and
examinations for entry and advancement in the education
profession. (Education Code � 44225 et seq.)
Existing law requires state and local agencies to submit
reports required or requested by law in printed form to both
the Legislative Counsel and the Secretary of the Senate and
in electronic form to the Chief Clerk of the Assembly. Each
report is required to include a one-page summary of the
contents of the report. State agencies that submit reports
must also provide an electronic copy of the summary directly
to each member of the appropriate house or houses of the
Legislature. (Government Code � 9795)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Requires the CTC to convene an advisory panel of
stakeholders with expertise in the field of teacher
leadership to explore the recognition of leadership
roles within the teaching career pathway.
2) Requires the panel to consider various roles of teacher
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leaders in today's public schools such as master
teachers, mentors, induction support providers and
fieldwork supervisors, instructional leaders, department
chairs, curriculum coordinators, peer coaches, literacy
or mathematics coordinators, assessment coordinators,
and accreditation coordinators. Requires the panel to
consider other issues relating to teacher leadership
including but not limited to the role of teacher leaders
in today's public schools, how recognition of teacher
leaders can promote retention, the implications for the
formal preparation of teacher leaders, the application
of adult learning theories to improve instruction of
teacher peers, the nexus of recognition of teacher
leaders with the national board certification process,
and the feasibility of teacher leader career ladders, as
specified.
3) Requires the panel to include, but not be limited to
representatives from:
a) Teachers who are performing school leadership
duties.
b) Teacher and administrator organizations.
c) The Superintendent.
d) Commission-approved teacher preparation
programs.
e) School boards and school districts.
f) Other organizations deemed appropriate by the
Commission.
4) Requires the Commission to consider findings of the
advisory panel and report to the Governor within one
year of implementation of the panel.
5) Specifies the report shall be submitted pursuant to
Section 9795 of the Government Code and makes the report
requirement inoperative on January 1, 2017, as
specified.
6) Requires the Commission to use private funds to support
the advisory panel on teacher leadership and
specifically prohibits General Fund moneys from being
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used for purposes of the panel. Further specifies that
AB 1765 shall not be implemented unless the Commission
certifies that it has received private funding to
complete the work of the advisory panel on teacher
leadership.
7) Makes findings and declarations about changes in the
teaching profession and the need for teachers who can
serve as leaders while remaining involved in pupil
instruction.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author's office,
many of California's most experienced and talented
teachers find they must leave the classroom in order to
advance in their profession. Studies by the University
of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center X have
concluded that many experienced and talented teachers
choose to diversify their educational careers by
becoming school administrators, which removes them
altogether from the classroom and their students.
Creating a teacher leader career pathway could help
schools retain their most effective teachers. Eleven
states have implemented or are currently creating
pathways for educators to become recognized as teacher
leaders with additional mentor responsibilities.
The stated purpose of AB 1765 is to bring together
stakeholders with expertise in the field of teacher
leadership to explore the idea of defining a
professional growth pathway with a focus on leadership
opportunities that will allow good teachers to remain
connected to the classroom. While the Commission could
conceivably convene an advisory committee without
legislation, this bill establishes a framework that will
guide the panel's work.
2) The role of teacher leaders . California's current
two-tier credentialing system established by SB 2042
(Alpert, Chapter 548, Statutes of 1998), provides for a
"learning to teach continuum" in which teachers, in
sequential order, acquire and demonstrate subject matter
competency, complete a teacher preparation program
focused on subject-specific pedagogy that includes
intensive field experience and meeting specified
teaching performance expectations, followed by the
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completion of a two-year induction program that
culminates with the professional "clear" credential.
The learning to teach continuum and much of the professional
development that occurs within a local education agency
(LEA) relies heavily on the participation of experienced
teachers who serve as teacher leaders. The use of
experienced teachers as peer developers and supporters
is critical in the success of both traditional and
intern credential training programs as it is in
induction programs for new teachers such as the
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program.
Schools increasingly rely on effective and experienced
teachers to serve as master teachers, mentors,
department chairs, instructional leaders, peer coaches,
literacy or math coordinators, assessment coordinators,
and on occasion, accreditation coordinators. Although
teachers are often provided stipends and/or release time
to enable them to devote adequate time to these roles,
with few exceptions, there is no formal preparation or
certificate recognition for these roles. Teachers who
serve in these roles often find they are unable to
advance in their career unless they move into the
administrative services career pathway.
According to the CTC, various state and national policy
leaders have begun to look at ways to recognize teachers
who serve in key leadership roles:
a) A 2008 report published by the Center for the
Future of Teaching and Learning noted that teacher
professional growth should include differentiated
career opportunities and called for the role of
teacher to be evolutionary with specialized domains
of expertise.
b) The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has
developed model teacher leader standards in
collaboration with education entities and
institutions (including the CTC). These standards
are the centerpiece of a peer-to-peer network under
the egis of The Teacher Leadership Exploratory
Consortium.
c) The California-based Bay Area New Millennium
Initiative recommends various strategies for
improving teaching quality, including the creation
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of new career lattices that offer opportunities for
teachers to lead and spread their expertise to
inform instructional and school policy innovations.
The Commission has monitored developments in teacher
leadership at the national level for the past few years
and has considered various "information" agenda items on
the subject since 2010. The Commission's staff seems
well-poised to facilitate the study this bill would
require.
3) Prior efforts . This bill is substantially similar to AB
2040 (Brownley, 2010), which would have also required
the Commission to convene a panel to explore the
recognition of teacher leaders and report on its
findings to the Governor and the Legislature. The bill
was passed by this Committee on an 8-0 vote and
subsequently vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The
veto message read:
The objective sought by this bill can be
accomplished without statutory authority.
Therefore, this bill is unnecessary.
Furthermore, I question whether this bill would
result in meaningful reform since it does not
embrace rigorous, measurable teacher performance
evaluations that include improved student
achievement, along with other factors to ensure
that highly effective teachers earn the elevated
status as a teacher leader.
In 2010, the Commission determined that the cost of the
study in AB 2040 was minor absorbable and could be
funded within the Commission's budget. The Commission
is not in a similar fiscal position today. The
Commission is experiencing a severely constrained budget
and is facing position reductions of which the majority
would come from the division that would take the lead on
this work. The use of private funds to support the
advisory panel will make it easier for the Commission to
move California forward on Teacher Leadership.
SUPPORT
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California School Boards Association
Public Advocates
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Kenneth M. Young
OPPOSITION
None received.