NCTAF estimates the cost of teacher turnover across the country at
$7.3 billion annually, including the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training new teachers (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future)
$7.3 Billion
The Need
Our singular focus is on preparing outstanding educators for urban classrooms. SDTA students are fueled by a passion for excellence,
an intense commitment to K-12 student success, and a fierce dedication to transforming the lives of San Diego’s children and communities.
Because they are most problematic in high-need schools, teacher shortages become not just an educational issue, but also an equity issue.
American Institutes for Research
Our Model
Grow from Within
We remove barriers to entry by providing a flexible, low-cost model that allows aspiring teachers to graduate debt-free, ensuring that they will be able to focus on their K-12 students and their own professional growth without having to worry about crippling student debt. Studies have indicated that a significant number of students who begin their post-secondary education intending to become teachers, leave before even entering the classroom because they worry about debt burdens and are lured by prospective careers in higher paying fields. By eliminating the debt burden, providing a flexible blended learning model that allows students to work and attend to family obligations while in the program, and offering coursework and clinical experiences that allow candidates to immediately witness the relevance and potential impact of their work in education, SDTA reduces barriers to entry and provides incentives for pursuing teaching as a career.
Inadequacies in Teacher Prep
Our current teacher preparation programs are not able to consistently attract and prepare the teachers our schools demand and our students deserve. Most teacher education programs in California are designed as fifth year programs. They require an additional year of tuition and fees and often adhere to a rigid schedule, making them inaccessible for many aspiring educators, particularly first generation students and candidates from historically under-represented communities. In addition, university-based teacher education programs have long been criticized for prioritizing theory over practice and graduating teachers who are not adequately prepared for the realities of the classroom. Although there have been significant efforts in recent years to address this concern, both at the policy level and at the local university level, institutional obstacles continue to make it difficult to fully integrate theory and practice and embed teacher candidate learning in the K-12 classroom.
Limited Diversity
Our student body has become increasingly diverse, but our teacher workforce remains overwhelmingly white and female. Nationally, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, students of color make up more than 45% of the K-12 population, whereas teachers of color make up only 17.5% of the educator workforce. 1 in 4 students speaks a language other than English at home but only 1 in 8 teachers are bilingual. In California, students of color make up 76% of the K-12 population, whereas teachers of color make up only 35% of the educator workforce, according to the California Department of Education. This diversity gap poses a significant concern. Research consistently demonstrates that students of color do better on a variety of academic outcomes when they are taught by teachers of color. And all students benefit when taught by educators from diverse backgrounds who can serve as role models, reduce stereotypes, and help students prepare for success in an increasingly diverse society.
Teacher Shortages
California is facing a severe teacher shortage. With growing K-12 student enrollments, more need for specialized teachers, and a significant portion of the teaching workforce beginning to retire, we have seen an increased demand for teachers in recent years. According to a report by the Learning Policy Institute, teacher hires across the state were up 25% in 2015-16 from the previous year. But that same report indicates that the supply of teachers has declined precipitously, with enrollment in traditional teacher preparation programs down by more than 70% over the past decade. The gap between demand and supply has meant that districts across the state have scrambled to find teachers for classrooms. Increasingly, classrooms have been staffed by under-prepared teachers.
According to data from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, more than 7,700 teachers were working with provisional or substandard permits in 2014-15, nearly twice the number from two years earlier. That same year, EdJoin, the statewide education job portal, listed more than 3,900 open teaching positions in mid-October, two months into the school year. San Diego Unified was forced to open school that year with nearly 100 teaching positions unfilled. This past year, many districts came up with creative ways to staff classrooms by recruiting internationally, poaching from other states, and offering signing bonuses. But these solutions are costly and there is no evidence that they will yield long-term solutions to a teacher shortage that is projected to continue into the foreseeable future.
Recruiting Challenges
High Turnover in Urban Schools
Teacher shortages have a particularly hard-hitting impact on urban schools, with the least prepared teachers disproportionally placed in schools serving the highest needs students. According to 2016 report by the Learning Policy Institute, the proportion of uncredentialed teachers in in high-minority schools in California is more than twice the proportion found in low-minority schools. Urban schools are also far more likely to have high turnover, losing an average of 20% of their faculty every year. This constant churn of teaching staff in urban schools has a direct impact on student achievement and limits opportunities for meaningful school improvement. Additionally, teacher turnover drains scarce resources from our highest needs schools, costing an estimated $18,000 per teacher or $7.3 billion annually nationwide, according to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
San Diego Teacher Academy works in partnership with our schools and urban communities to identify and empower outstanding candidates from within our local neighborhoods to become exceptional classroom teachers. The model is designed to create transformative lifelong educators who commit to the long-term success of our urban schools and communities.
We work with teachers, principals, and community leaders to identify and recruit a diverse cohort of candidates from within San Diego neighborhoods. Research nationally has shown that teachers generally prefer to work near where they grew up and attended high school, and that graduates of programs designed to prepare “locally grown” urban educators tend to be more diverse and have higher retention rates. SDTA works with district leaders to select candidates from within our urban communities who demonstrate a strong commitment to K-12 student success, a passion for excellence in education, and the cultural competencies needed to be effective in San Diego’s diverse classrooms.
We provide an integrated, residency-based approach to teacher education. Our model is informed by best practice research showing that strong clinical preparation and early career mentoring are key factors in successfully preparing candidates for early classroom success and long-term retention in urban schools. SDTA places candidates in K-12 classrooms from Day One, gradually increasing their responsibilities as candidates demonstrate readiness for classroom leadership. We provide mentorship and support with individualized coaching from expert educators who guide candidates through every step of their journey. And we offer a BA degree curriculum is grounded in real-world classrooms and employs a competency based model that requires mastery of core teaching competencies. Integrated together, these components ensure that candidates graduate prepared to successfully respond to the challenges and opportunities in our urban classrooms.
76%
Diversity Gap
35%
Students of color in California’s K-12 schools
Teachers of color in California’s K-12 schools