Understanding how California’s public school teachers progress into and through the teaching workforce helps education leaders know whether the state’s overall teacher development system is producing the teachers that students need and to what extent efforts intended to strengthen the workforce are functioning as planned and producing desired outcomes.

Key to that understanding is having linked, longitudinal data that would enable systems to track teacher candidates, individually and collectively, over time, from when they enter and then complete a preparation program, to when they first take a position in a K–12 school on through their continued work as teachers

This knowledge brief is part of a continuing series, produced by the CA Analysis for Learning & Engagement (CALE) project, designed to inform California education leaders about new research findings on key state policy topics. It summarizes recent findings on improving the access to, and the use of, teacher workforce data in California, and focuses on the importance of instituting a statewide teacher data system that allows for the tracking of individual teachers and groups of teachers over time, from their preparation through their credentialing, induction, placement, and retention on the job.

This brief is part of a continuing series designed to inform California education leaders about new research findings on key state policy topics.

Other Briefs in the Series