developing the fundamentals.

The Teacher Training Academy offers accelerated learning and multi-level support for district staff members preparing for a career in teaching.

Effective schools research has clearly pointed to teacher preparation, both pre- and post-service, as a critical factor in the efficacy of school reform. With the onset of class size reduction, districts throughout the state of California have hired thousands of new teachers, many without teaching experience or credentials.

Of the 276,000 teachers currently teaching in California public schools, 38,000 -- or 12 percent -- are teaching on emergency credentials or subject-area waivers. In Los Angeles County, 21 percent of teachers are on waivers or emergency credentials. In the Lancaster School District, approximately 15 percent of the teaching staff are not fully credentialed.

The Lancaster School District has acted upon research indicators and the needs of new and inexperienced teachers by developing a multi-level teacher training support system. The district has coined this critical element of its accelerated learning environment for staff the Teacher Training Academy. It is the result of collaboration between district administrators, teachers and paraeducators in partnership with Antelope Valley College and California State University, Bakersfield.

The academy targets teacher professional development needs, and provides the foundation of a career ladder for classified instructional staff preparing for a career in teaching. Paraeducators may complete a four-year bachelor's degree program offered by CSU Bakersfield. In addition to a university degree, the program provides a preliminary multiple-subject teaching credential at the conclusion of a four-year program equivalent. The candidate could then begin teaching in the district while participating in a two-year intern program for completion of credential requirements.

First or second career degreed candidates with no formal teacher training or experience will complete the training academy within two years, becoming fully credentialed and competent in professional teacher standards. The program also targets the needs of first and second year credentialed teachers and veteran teachers desiring advanced training.

The Teacher Training Academy consists of the following four teaching support models, as well as a strong menu of staff development opportunities.

The pre-intern program

The pre-intern program is available to teachers who begin teaching with CBEST and emergency permits but have not completed credential or subject matter competency requirements (MSAT, PRAXIS, coursework). They must have completed some subject coursework prior to their pre-intern status. To enroll in the program, their emergency permit is converted to a pre-intern certificate.

The pre-intern is partnered with a peer coach chosen by a site selection committee. Pre-interns and peer coaches collaborate for two hours per week, focusing on planning lessons, classroom management, site and district expectations and communicating effectively with parents.

With support from peer coaches, pre-interns teach in their own classrooms while pursuing subject-matter competency. They are engaged in preparation for subject-matter exams while completing 40 hours of survival pedagogy offered by the district and our university cosponsor. Pre-interns are also expected to complete an additional 15 hours of coursework for CLAD endorsement.

The pre-intern certificate is valid for 12 months. To renew the certificate, the state requires that subject-matter exams be taken in pursuit of the credential needed. Pre-interns exit the program when subject-matter competence has been met either through university coursework to supplement the bachelor's degree or by achieving a passing score on appropriate exams.

Intern program

Upon completion of subject-matter competency, teachers matriculate to the intern program, where they teach in their own classrooms on an intern credential. They are supported by district mentors and university associates from CSU Bakersfield. During the course of the program, which takes about two years, interns complete university coursework for a multiple-subject, single subject or special education credential. Credential and degree candidates attend classes locally at a CSU Bakersfield facility on the Antelope Valley College campus.

BTSA: Beginning Teacher Support & Assessment

The BTSA program begins where formal university teacher preparation ends. The program, a grant from the California Department of Education, supports district probationary teachers in the first or second year of their first California teaching credential. These teachers are partnered with veteran teachers called BTSA support providers who are selected by a district committee.

The program helps teachers refine their teaching practices by focusing on effective pedagogy. Teachers may participate over the two-year period that normally spans their probationary status in the district. Participants are novice credentialed teachers, or more experienced teachers from out of state.

During the program, participants complete a series of training events known as the California Formative Assessment and Support System for Teachers. These events focus primarily on the California Standards for the Teaching Profession, instructional strategies and the classroom planning process.

Veteran teachers in this program, called support providers, undergo extensive training that is research-based and designed to specifically address the unique needs of newly credentialed teachers.

Support providers and BTSA teachers work together in a partnership that fosters trust through confidentiality, professional growth and reflective practice. Monthly workshops are designed to allow for networking among participants as well as focus on instructional practices and elements of the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.

BTSA Year One

First-year BTSA participants look in depth at effective teaching practices. Through research, visitations and observations, teachers self assess their proficiency in designing/maintaining an effective learning environment using instructional practices that promote learning, designing lessons that integrate standards across curriculum areas, making the best use of site, district and community resources, and adopting the CFASST process of plan, teach, reflect, apply.

BTSA Year Two

The focus for Year Two participants is on understanding the learner. Targets for the second-year program include a close look at linking learning styles, learning goals and assessment; curriculum planning; communication with parents; student diversity and differentiation of instruction.

As research shows, teacher quality is enhanced as teachers build their skills in understanding the needs of a diverse group of learners. Only teachers who are both knowledgeable in their content areas and extremely skillful in a wide range of teaching methods can respond appropriately to diverse student needs and enable them to meet challenging learning goals.

Both Year One and Year Two participants develop an Individual Induction Plan that articulates their personal goals for professional development. BTSA funding supports the teacher in meeting these goals through additional instructional materials, conferences, teacher resources such as state frameworks and Harry Wong's "First Days of School," and sponsorship of seminars with consultant Rick Morris for classroom management strategies. In-kind PAR funding is used for stipends for support providers.

Peer Assistance and Review (PAR)

The district Peer Assistance and Review program provides oversight and vision for the entire Teacher Training Academy. Ongoing budget support is generated from state PAR dollars, and the joint review panel provides both budget direction and development of the teacher support system. This requires a strong partnership and commitment from both district and teachers' association leadership.

Participation by teachers in the PAR program can be voluntary or directed by a performance improvement evaluation. This program is available to all probationary and tenured credentialed teachers. Probationary teachers subject to possible non-reelection are referred to a Teachers' Assistance Panel for a program improvement plan, and tenured teachers with unsatisfactory evaluations to a Certificated Work Improvement Program. Other staff may participate on a voluntary basis.

Participating teachers are partnered with a consulting teacher who meets with them weekly to monitor a professional development coursework/inservice plan and to provide direct assistance in classroom management and program planning.

Staff development opportunities

The Teacher Training Academy finds its strength not only from the support services of dedicated veteran teachers but from a strong cadre of certificated staff who provide carefully designed staff development programs throughout the school year. Teachers and administrators, as well as a few professional trainers, present a multi-strand menu of courses concentrating on development of fundamental teacher competencies.

With the California Standards for the Teaching Profession as the core strand, courses are designed to address classroom management, differentiation of instruction, math skill development (all strands), language arts skill development (reading, writing, listening, speaking, literature), cultural proficiency, technology, GATE instruction, CLAD certification, special education, Spanish, learning styles and personal development.

These are the areas of concentration that will support a large group of new teachers and help veteran teachers support state content frameworks and district standards. As science and social studies are developed, course offerings will be extended as they are developed with CDE direction.

Presenter's Academy

A district Presenter's Academy has been implemented to ensure that all staff development programs are on target and support district curriculum and instruction direction. Presenters attend 18 hours of training, which prepares them to infuse district staff development strands into their particular offering. Along with the six Standards for the Teaching Profession, presenters learn to include the following district strands: formative assessment, state frameworks, use of technology, grade-level standards, classroom management, brain research, cooperative learning, English language development, differentiation of instruction and presentation skills.

Participants in the Presenter's Academy are truly the experts. They are well prepared to reinforce and develop a broad range of competencies identified in district staff development goals. The Presenter's Academy has given them the support to provide confident instruction and leadership to their colleagues.

One teacher's reaction to the Presenter's Academy says it all: "The Presenter's Academy is one of the most exciting educational adventures I've traveled. We have been given the keys and the guidance for creating successful staff development presentations."

Conclusion

By the year 2004, 200,000 new teachers will be needed in the state of California. Annually, California will need twice the number of teachers currently in teacher education programs. The Lancaster School District Teacher Training Academy is an innovative attempt to develop a strong teaching staff from the human resources within the Antelope Valley.

Over the next 10 years, California school districts will be competing to attract thousands of teachers to the profession. School districts will need to play a major part in developing this projected work force.

The overriding goal of teacher training in the Lancaster School District is to provide a caring, competent and qualified teacher for every child. The academy concept capitalizes on veteran teacher expertise and develops teacher leadership opportunities through comprehensive professional development. The partnerships between veteran and novice staff contribute to a proficiency model of teacher development, promoting a collaborative culture that values the norms of continuous inquiry, ongoing assessment, reflection and creative problem-solving.

ACADEMY STRUCTURE

The Teacher Training Academy is multi-leveled, designed to support teachers at all points in their professional career development. It is supported in partnership with the Teachers' Association of Lancaster under the direction of a joint review panel. This panel consists of three teachers chosen by the Teachers' Association and two district-level administrators representing the human resources services division and the curriculum and instruction department. The review panel provides oversight for budget and program development.

The academy offers four teaching support models:

* pre-intern program,

* intern program,

* BTSA program, and

* Peer Assistance and Review.

The menu of staff development opportunities includes multi-strand courses that help develop teacher competencies. A Presenter's Academy helps ensure that programs support the district's curriculum and instructional direction.

RECRUITING TEACHERS IN RURAL AREAS

Attracting teachers is difficult for almost everyone, but rural areas have it especially hard. In fact, attracting and keeping quality teachers -- particularly in math, science and special education -- is the main problem in rural districts, according to the American Association of School Administrators.

"The principal reason teachers leave rural areas is isolation -- social, cultural and professional," writes Timothy Collins in the ERIC Digest article, "Attracting and Retaining Teachers in Rural Areas." Although research on rural recruitment and retention "appears thin," Collins cited one study of teacher mobility that found teachers leave communities because of "geographic isolation, weather, distance from larger communities and family and inadequate shopping."

Collins said the "ideal" rural teacher is certified to teach more than one subject or grade level, can teach students with a wide range of abilities in the same classroom, is prepared to supervise extracurricular activities and can adjust to the community.

In order to recruit such teachers, "administrators must target candidates with rural backgrounds or with personal characteristics or educational experiences that predispose them to live in rural areas." Collins says selling points for rural schools include fewer discipline problems, less red tape, more personal contact, greater chance for leadership, individualized instruction, more student and parent participation and greater impact on decision making.

"Most rural teachers were raised close to where they now teach," said Collins. "Various `grow your own' strategies offer incentives to local residents with potential to become teachers, such as assisting them in obtaining the needed education and training."

Collins believes that "the degree to which a rural teacher becomes involved in community educational and cultural programs influences his or her decision to remain; therefore, retention requires a coordinated school-community effort" to help new rural teachers "overcome feelings of isolation, acquire a sense of community security and develop professional competence." Principals should provide opportunities to interact with colleagues and parents and provide quality inservice programs.

Steve Gocke is superintendent of the Lancaster School District in north Los Angeles County. Denise Trentham is the district's BTSA coordinator.