The California Department of Education (CDE) invites county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, professional organizations, and private schools statewide to participate in the California Teachers of the Year Program for 2009. This program highlights educational innovation, student learning, and the rewards of teaching. Further, the program attracts public attention to the positive aspects of our educational system. Teacher quality -- recruitment as well as retention -- is high on every educational agenda in the state.
In 1972, California began recognizing outstanding teachers. Thirty-two years later, this endeavor provides an arena for fostering the highly qualified teacher standard emphasized in the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The program results in the annual selection of five teachers who reflect the diversity of our teachers and students. The process pays tribute to California's teaching force, the complexity of challenges that confront our schools, and the need to promote collaboration and teamwork to meet those challenges. While finding "the five best" teachers out of 300,000-plus may be next to impossible, the program strives to find five "of the best to represent the best." Please help to identify and honor our state's exemplary and highly qualified teachers who represent our students and schools.
The overall purpose of the California Teachers of the Year Program is to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of our state's outstanding teachers. In doing so, the program brings deserved recognition to the 300,000 California members of the teaching profession.
The program's goals are to:
- Identify and honor exemplary and highly qualified teachers throughout California within a structure of local, regional, and statewide recognition activities.
- Select five teachers to serve as California Teachers of the Year for 2009 who will effectively represent the state's teachers, motivate and inspire other educators, and champion the positive contributions of the teaching profession.
- Focus public attention on the positive accomplishments of California teachers and students.
- Identify one teacher for competition in the National Teacher of the Year Program.
- Making the application process accessible to all teachers in the state.
- Encouraging the participation of teachers in local and county selection processes who reflect the rich diversity of their students.
- Increasing the participation of small or underrepresented counties.
