The California Department of Education released data for the first time last week regarding statewide teacher assignment monitoring via Zoom and an online downloadable link. The data shows that Lake County fell under the state average in terms of its dropout rate and graduation rate while also maintaining a high chronic absenteeism rate.
The information is broken down by county, district and school and illustrates how teacher credentialing aligns with teaching assignments by subject and number of students. Enrollment, absenteeism, graduations and drop out data was also included, all together allowing California to meet the reporting requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
“While this first ever baseline data set shows that a vast majority of teaching assignments are properly filled, there is more work to be done to hire, train, and retain teachers, especially in light of the national teacher shortage,” said State Board of Education President Linda Darling Hammond. Recent statewide initiatives including the $500 million Golden State Teacher Grants, the $350 million investment in Teacher Residency programs, and the $1.5 billion Educator Effectiveness Block Grant are all geared toward recruiting and retaining more teachers. Darling Hammond added “There is no question that well-qualified teachers are among the most important contributors to a student’s educational experience.”
This data took several years to compile as two departments, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the California Department of Education, had to merge their own data systems together into one system that was transparent and comprehensible for parents while also meeting federal requirements under the ESSA Act.
This data is mostly dated from 2016-2017 with some statistics from last year (2021-2022) and only includes that of students attending California Public Schools, excluding charter schools, private schools and home schooling. Overall, during the 2021-2022 School year, Lake County had 470 total teaching full time equivalent and came in at 69 percent “clear” indicating a fully credentialed staff taught. 4.9 percent “out of field” where the teacher administering assignments was not credentialed for that class, 7.4 percent “interns” and 10.8 percent “ineffective” meaning staff is teaching without proper permit or credential.
Compared to the statewide averages of 83.1 percent “clear”, 4.4 percent “out of field”, 1.5 percent “intern” and 4.1 percent “ineffective”. Data from 2016-2017 shows that Lake County held a 2.2 percent dropout rate which was slightly under the statewide average of 2.4 percent and a graduation rate of 28.5 percent which was also under the state average of 46.8 percent. From 2021-2022 Lake County had a chronic absenteeism rate of 28 percent which is about double the statewide average of 14.3 percent and a total enrollment of 9,926 students.
According to Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg, there is “tremendous room for improvement” in Lake County. The 10.8 percent “ineffective” is the targeted area reflecting on the historical problem with teacher recruitment, especially in small counties like Lake. Falkenberg explained how Lake County lacks teacher credential programs forcing those seeking to become teachers out of town to areas that offer them, often leading to gaining a position near where they attended school. There was an option in the past offered by Dominican University in Ukiah but they have closed, leaving no local options at all.
The most recent census states the California average of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher is 34.7 percent while Lake County has an average of 16.7 percent. Falkenberg aims to focus on recruiting that 16.7 percent that already lives here into new, local credentialing programs created by the Lake County Office of Education. Between Lake and Mendocino Counties 55 teachers have completed the program leading to the graduation of three cohorts of students with the teaching program. California is required to provide a qualified teaching force and Falkenberg strives to meet this requirement and hire more credentialed staff during the current hiring period.
