Photo: Andrew Reed/EdSource
Photo: Andrew Reed/EdSourceIn another sign of the changing of the guard in the leadership of education policy in California, former Stanford professor and leading researcher Linda Darling-Hammond was selected to be president of California’s State Board of Education by fellow board members on Thursday, a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom named her to the post.
Before being selected president, she was sworn in as a board member by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond who is a non-voting member of the board with the official title of executive secretary. Thurmond was elected to his statewide position last November.
“As California enters this new era under a new governor, we are at a significant juncture in education,” said Darling-Hammond, who is also the founding president of the Learning Policy Institute, a research and policy institute in Palo Alto. “The state has made substantial progress in recent years and has a considerable distance still to travel to provide equitable and empowering education for all of its children.”
Ilene Straus, a former educator in the Beverly Hills Unified School District, was re-elected vice-president to the board which meets approximately every two months.
Before being named to the board, Darling-Hammond had served for six years as chair of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. She was appointed to that position by former Gov. Jerry Brown. Newsom has yet to name a replacement to that post, which like the president of the State Board, is essentially an unpaid position.
“Linda Darling-Hammond is one of the most respected education leaders in the nation and we are so fortunate that she calls California home,” said Thurmond. “We have work to do, and with her at the helm I am confident that we will move the needle forward to work toward improving the public education system in an equitable way for all of our six million students,”
Darling-Hammond succeeds the former president Michael Kirst, another Stanford professor emeritus who served on the board for an unprecedented 16 years — during Brown’s four terms as governor beginning in the 1970s and then from 2011 on when Brown was elected governor again. Because California governors can no longer serve for more than two terms, it is unlikely that Kirst’s longevity on the board will ever be matched.
It is too early to tell what impact Darling-Hammond will have on the board and on policy making in the state in general. In brief comments to EdSource last month, she said both Brown and Kirst had “laid a strong foundation for a new approach to 21st century learning.” She said she was interested in “continuing that very strong trajectory,” while “taking it to the next level.”
Kirst said last month that Darling-Hammond’s expertise in teaching and learning will bring an important perspective to the board. “She brings new strengths in a state where we have to strengthen instruction for such a diverse student body,” he said.
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Judithanne Gollette 4 years ago4 years ago
I am in total disagreement with taking away the RICA! In fact, more teacher prep focusing on reading is needed. We know that one out of every five students in our classrooms have dyslexia and it is because of a lack of knowledge of how to teach students with dyslexia and severe reading deficits that many of our students with average and above average IQs are warehoused in an Special Day Class classroom. These students … Read More
I am in total disagreement with taking away the RICA!
In fact, more teacher prep focusing on reading is needed. We know that one out of every five students in our classrooms have dyslexia and it is because of a lack of knowledge of how to teach students with dyslexia and severe reading deficits that many of our students with average and above average IQs are warehoused in an Special Day Class classroom. These students develop a negative mindset and wear, as a badge of shame, the negative label of Special Education.
We must increase our knowledge how to teach and not make it easier to get a credential. Our students deserve more than a quick certificate. I am a mother and wife of individuals with dyslexia, a sister to Steve born with Down syndrome, an Education Specialist with four different teaching credentials and three Masters, a mentor for new and emerging teachers along with being an Ed.D in Higher Education student. But, most of all, I am an advocate for the removal of negative labels and stigmas that our students are attached to for life. We need more education, not less! If more teachers understood sensory-based instruction, such as Orton-Gillingham, then we would have more students included with ability and less students isolated in Special Day Class. We can do better!
Cindy Hallman 4 years ago4 years ago
The RICA might be difficult to pass for some new teachers. Could it be that they were not effectively taught how to teach reading in their college courses? We must have primary teachers with the ability to analyze the weaknesses in their students and plan lessons that specifically use strategies to overcome the weaknesses in their non-readers. I worry if we take the test away, we will go further away from teaching … Read More
The RICA might be difficult to pass for some new teachers. Could it be that they were not effectively taught how to teach reading in their college courses? We must have primary teachers with the ability to analyze the weaknesses in their students and plan lessons that specifically use strategies to overcome the weaknesses in their non-readers.
I worry if we take the test away, we will go further away from teaching all students to read. Fidelity to ELA programs does not create readers, but leaves many students not able to crack the code to reading independently. Teaching reading requires differentiation for all students to become life-long readers.
Gloria Allen 4 years ago4 years ago
Linda Darling Hammond, you are the leadership that the State of California needs. I admire your knowledge and forward thinking for our diverse student population. You will do an excellent job.
Michelle Jones 4 years ago4 years ago
I just watched your TED talk on standardized test. I trust and agree with your research! The RICA that new teachers must take is a roadblock to the profession. Where do you stand on this topic?
Duncan Pat Pritchett 4 years ago4 years ago
Such an excellent choice!!!
Eva 4 years ago4 years ago
Keep charter schools out of public education Congratulations!!
Anes 4 years ago4 years ago
Congrats Ms.Darling-Hammond. I hope there will be changes in the teacher testing department (RICA) that hinders many teachers to apply for their credential and pay student loans and feed their families. With the SAT scandal, it leaves me wondering if RICA test is just put there to hinder citizens from doing what they like (teach kids) and better their tomorrow. It breaks my heart to see how the teaching business has been made … Read More
Congrats Ms.Darling-Hammond. I hope there will be changes in the teacher testing department (RICA) that hinders many teachers to apply for their credential and pay student loans and feed their families. With the SAT scandal, it leaves me wondering if RICA test is just put there to hinder citizens from doing what they like (teach kids) and better their tomorrow. It breaks my heart to see how the teaching business has been made a money making business at the cost of those are called to teach and kids cramped in classes. Please do something for the sake of tomorrow’s leaders (children).