TEACH California Website

Transcription

1 TEACH California Website The TEACH California website, was established in 24 to help in addressing the continuing teacher shortage in California. The Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) Leadership Project, funded by the California Department of Education (CDE), is focused on delivering information resources to potential teachers via the convenient interface of teachcalifornia.org. TEACH California is part of California s special education teacher recruitment effort, funded by the five-year State Personnel Development Grant (), offering additional information and materials to bolster teacher recruitment in all areas, particularly special education, math and science. It has been administrated by CalSTAT (California Services for Technical Assistance and Training) and operated by the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) since it was established in March, 24. Starting in Year 4 of (July 211 to June 212), SCOE will take full control of the TEACH California website. After five years of operation, the website has seen nearly 2.7 million visits, from nearly 1.5 million visitors, generating over 8.6 million page views, and continues to be a resource attracting an average of approximately 1, visits per day. TEACHCalifornia.org Activity Summary Website Visits Unique Visitors Visitors who made one visit Visitors who made two vists Visitors who made 3+ visits Pages Viewed Prior to 1,769, 98, 776, 13, 11, 5,66, Year , 169, 146, 14, 9, 1,171, Year , 167, 145, 12, 1, 1,32, Year , 172, 148, 13, 12, 1,52, Total 2,68, 1,488, 1,215, 142, 132, 8,635, Visits, visitors making three or more visits in the same month, and page views have all increased during the, while the overall number of unique visitors has been more consistent, year to year. Change in Activity from Baseline (Year 1) Website Visits Unique Visitors Visitors who made one visit Visitors who made two vists Visitors who made 3+ visits Pages Viewed Year 1 to Year 2 N % + 47, 17% - 2, -1% - 1, - 2, + 1, + 131, -1% -14% 11% 11% Year 1 to Year 3 N % + 42, 15% + 3, 2% + 2, - 1, + 3, + 331, TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 1 1% -8% 29% 28% The has a specific, explicit goal of a 1% increase in visitors from the baseline of Year 1. This target continues to not be met, even while other measures of traffic increase substantially. Strategies to find new sources of visitors may help meet the target.

2 Website Usage A visit is a series of actions that begins when a visitor views the first page of the website, and ends when the visitors leaves the site. A single visit can be brief and cursory or extended and meaningful. A visitor is someone who may visit the website one or many times. Unique visitors are tracked on a monthly basis, so an individual who visits several times over the course of the year may be counted as multiple unique visitors. 6, 5, 4, SIG Visits and Unique Visitors to the TEACH California Website by Month April 24 (when the website was launched) to June 211 Visits SIG 2 Year 1 274k visits 169k visitors Year 2 321k visits 167k visitors Year 3 316k visits 172k visitors 3, 2, Visitors 1, The number of visits and visitors are both more modest under the than they were when funded under the s predecessor grants (State Improvement Grants SIG and SIG2). A seasonal cycle when visits and visitors both swelled in the spring and declined in the winter (perhaps following the school cycle, with graduates contemplating post-graduate degrees and looking for jobs as the spring semester concluded) appears to have diminished. While it appeared that the number of visits was trending upward in Year 2 from a all-time low in Year 1, they seem to have stabilized in Year 3. The trendline for visits has remained relatively constant during the entire, hovering between 11, and 17, unique visitors per month. TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 2

3 The TEACH California website includes a number of pages offering different content. The following chart summarizes the most-accessed pages at teachcalifornia.org. The entry page of the website was the highest-traffic page with almost 352,253 visits so far since July 28 (122,873 visits in Year 3), and is excluded from the chart. Ten Most-visited Pages of the TEACH California Website Visits per Page by Year, July 28 to June 211 Understand the Requiements: Index Find a Teaching Job Understanding the Requirements: For Secondary (Single Subject) Distinguished Teachers Understanding the Requirements: For Elementary (Multiple Subject) Understanding the Requirements: For Special Education High-Need Subject Areas Make and Follow Your Plan Answers to Common Questions Year 1 (28-9) Year 2 (29-1) Year 3 (21-11) Contact Us 5, 1, 15, 2, 25, 3, 35, 4, Visits The Understanding the Requirements pages are among the most popular resources offered by the TEACH California website, describing what is needed to earn various teaching credentials. Single-subject credentials were most popular, followed by multiple-subject credentials (interest in this page is declining slightly), and special education credentials (in which interest is increasing). The Find a Teaching Job was also very popular, and offers both advice and links to resources for teachers seeking a position. Two new pages were introduced in Year 1 that were among the ten most-visited pages, both of which received more visits in Year 3 than in Year 2. These were the Distinguished Teachers page (which includes brief descriptions of real teachers and their messages to future or new teachers) and the High-Need Subject Areas page (which draws particular focus to special education, mathematics, and science). There has been declining interest in the Make and Follow Your Plan page, from 15,188 visits in Year 1 to 1,93 visits in Year 3. TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 3

4 Make and Follow Your Plan The Make and Follow Your Plan page helps potential teachers who may be confused by all the different teaching requirements by helping them create a personal plan and checklist to obtain the necessary education, credentials, and supports to become a teacher. It also allows visitors to register, creating an account that allows them to build and revisit a personalized checklist tailored around the potential teacher and his or her individual career goals. While visits to the main Make and Follow Your Plan page have been declining since Year 1 (though still nearly 11, in Year 3), the number of users registering for the first time has increased considerably. This coincides with an increase in the mailing of outreach materials (such as recruitment pamphlets and bookmarks) starting in December 21 and peaking with the distribution of 11, bookmarks in May 211. As was noted on page one, the number of unique visitors accessing the TEACH California website has decreased, other measures of traffic have increased, especially the number of visitors making three or more visits in a month. New features like the Make and Follow Your Plan registration and checklist may be driving this trend Year new users Newly Registered Make And Follow Your Plan Users by Month January 29 (when the feature was launched) to September 211 Year 2 79 new users Year 3 1,682 new users Best Month: March new users Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Starting with January 211, the number of registrations per month surged from a relatively steady trend of between 4 and 1 per month, peaking with 257 new users in March. TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 4

5 Registered Users by Type 3,278 respondents, January 29 to September 211 Career Changer 1,9 users, 31% Undergraduate Student 443 users, 13% Community College Student 472 users, 14% Paraeducator 85 users, 3% Other 645 users, 2% Administrator 15 users, < 1% K-12 Student 31 users, 1% Graduate Student 578 users, 18% 46% registered users described themselves as college students, including 13% who were working on an undergraduate degree. Career changers and paraeducators were another large block of registered users. Registered Users by Credential Goal 4,122 respondents, January 29 to September 211 Multiple Subject (Elementary) 1,479 users, 36% Single Subject (Secondary) 1,792 users, 43% Administrative Services 9 users, 2% Education Specialist 473 users, 12% Speech-Language Pathology Services 39 users, 1% Adult Education and Career Technical Education (VocEd) 74 users, 2% Pupil Personnel 157 users, 4% Clinical Rehabilitative Services 18 users, < 1% Most users registered with a goal of seeking a teaching credential, either single subject (43%) or multiple subject (36%). Because users create checklists tailored to their unique situation, data was available on the highly detailed pathways of users. Of the 35 unique pathways generated, the ones most common were: College Graduate Planning an Elementary School Teaching Career (389 users) College Student Planning an Elementary School Teaching Career (31 users) Changing Careers, Single-subject (256 users) Credential/License from Another State (176 users) TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 5

6 Visitor Survey A survey greets visitors to the TEACH California website in a pop-up window on the Welcome page. The survey asks visitors eight short questions to collect demographic information and about their interest in teaching. Because many web browsers are configured to disable pop-up windows, many visitors will not have an opportunity to respond to the survey; however, collected responses may be representative. TEACH California Visitors by Age 13,288* respondents, July 28 to June Years Old 5,224 respondents, 4% Under 25 Years Old 3,436 respondents, 26% TEACH California Visitors by Gender 13,288* respondents, July 28 to June 211 Male 3,593 respondents, 28% *176 respondents didn t indicate their age Years Old 2,522 respondents, 19% Over 45 Years Old 1,93 respondents, 15% *382 respondents didn t indicate their gender Female 9,313 respondents, 72% Caucasian/White 7,464 respondents, 58% TEACH California Visitors by Ethnicity 13,288 respondents, July 28 to June 211 Middle Eastern 115 respondents, 1% Hispanic/Latino 2,39 respondents, 16% Filipino/Pacific Islander 336 respondents, 3% Asian 912 respondents, 7% 377 respondents didn t indicate their ethnicity Alaskan Native/American Indian 116 respondents, 1% African American 179 respondents, 8% Other 841 respondents, 6% While 4% of survey respondents were between the ages of 25 and 35, over a third were older visitors, potentially representing career-changers rather than students. 72% of visitors described themselves as female, which is consistent with the gender characteristic of teachers currently working. According to the DataQuest staffing report for 29-1 (the most recent available), 73% of California teachers are female. Visitors to TEACH California website are slightly more diverse than teachers currently working (visitors were 58% white compared with 69% of California teachers). All other groups were a bit more represented in the survey than in schools today. TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 6

7 Visitors were also asked to describe their career background. Responses indicate that many TEACH California visitors are mature professionals interested in teaching. Over a third of visitors were career changers, 36% with a college degree and 4% without. Out-of-state (12%) and out-of-country (4%) teachers were another key block of visitors, perhaps contemplating a moving to California. One in four visitors were currently students, led by college students 17%. Who Are You N % Career changer with a college degree 4,588 36% College student 2,236 17% Out-of state teacher 1,526 12% Credentialed teacher 881 7% Community college student 823 6% Other 755 6% Career changer without a college degree 571 4% Out-of country teacher 541 4% High school student 25 2% Paraeducator 244 2% Intern teacher 222 2% Out-of country 139 1% Counselor/Advisor 92 1% Middle school student 43 <1% Are you thinking of becoming a teacher? 13,288 respondents, July 28 to June 211 Yes 1,918 respondents 82% No 178 respondents 1% Not Applicable 2,192 respondents 17% Are you taking steps to become a teacher? 13,288 respondents, July 28 to June 211 Yes 7,44 respondents 53% No 3,311 respondents 25% Not Applicable 2,933 respondents 22% What type of teacher are you thinking of becoming? 13,288* respondents, July 28 to June 211 Elementary Teacher 3,52 respondents, 28% Undecided 1,689 respondents, 13% Speech-Language Pathologist 96 respondents, 1% *643 respondents didn t respond to this question Special Education 1,596 respondents, 13% Middle School Teacher 792 respondents, 6% Science Teacher 1,49 respondents, 8% High School Teacher 2,584 respondents, 21% Math Teacher 1,319 respondents, 1% TEACH California visitors are overwhelmingly considering becoming teachers, with 82%. (N/A responses may indicate a respondent is already teaching). 53% are already taking steps to become a teacher, leaving 25% who have not yet started. 31% of visitors indicated an explicit interest in one of TEACH California s targeted subject areas: special education, speech-language pathology, science, or math. TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 7

8 As seeking new visitors to the TEACH California website is a goal, it is helpful to know how visitors are currently becoming aware of the website. Internet Search Engine 5,64 respondents, 46% Where did you hear about TEACH California? 13,288* respondents, July 28 to June 211 Teacher 677 respondents, 6% Brochure 317 respondents, 3% California Teacher Preparation Program 287 respondents, 3% CalTeach Website 992 respondents, 8% CDE Website 77 respondents, 6% *1,196 respondents didn t respond to this question College or University 1,131 respondents, 9% EdJoin.org 519 respondents, 4% ctc.ca.gov 618 respondents, 5% CSU Website 958 respondents, 8% Counselor 219 respondents, 2% Internet search engines were cited by 46% of survey respondents. Comparing this with webtracking data summarized on page 1, these are liking to be overwhelmingly coming from Google. Student-oriented responses totalled 28%, including College of University (9%), CSU Website (8%), Teacher (6%), California Teacher Preparedness Program (3%), and Counselor (2%). Other partners in teacher recruitment totalled 23%, including CalTeach website (8%), CDE website (6%), Commission on Teacher Credentialling (ctc.ca.gov, 5%) and EdJoin.org (a project of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, 4%). While nearly 1, brochures referencing TEACH California, brochures were cited by only 3% of respondents. It is possible, however, that other responses involved brochures, such as a teacher or counselor handing out brochures. TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 8

9 Outreach Materials TEACH California also offers a number of materials for educators and prospective teachers to order or download, with a distribution of nearly 2, over the first three years of the. Most of the materials are brochures, which are regularly revised to remain current, but other materials include a poster, video, and charts. These materials are regularly shipped to college, junior college, and sometimes high school career centers. People seeking these materials, either in their capacity as an educator or as a prospective teacher, can also order physical copies delivered in the mail through an interactive form on the website, as well as download them electronically as an Adobe PDF file. There is also a video CD which can only be ordered as a physical copy, and there are also two Excel spreadsheets (xls) and one PowerPoint file (ppt) which can only be downloaded. The table below presents the distribution totals in both formats. Outreach Materials Distributed by TEACH California Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Mail PDF Mail PDF Mail PDF Total Become a Special Educator 7,991 4,655 4,525 13,788 2,23 16,259 49,421 Teach Math 9, ,944 11,646 5,84 12,254 44,295 Paraeducator 6,497 1,247 2,585 4, ,225 22,948 Teach Science 9, ,947 3,93 2,445 4,29 24,975 Bookmarks 5,524 15,765 1,498 22,787 Service Learning 7, ,733 2,37 1, ,687 Steps to Become a Teacher Chart (xls) n/a 5,557 n/a 6,277 n/a 1,162 12,996 Poster , ,493 CD Guide ,141 1,552 One Child at a Time (CD) 16 n/a 293 n/a 174 n/a 483 Financial Aid Program Chart (xls) n/a n/a n/a TEACH California Web Site Tour (ppt) Total n/a 4,352 13,649 n/a 26,67 43,762 n/a 27,922 46,13 198,458 The special educator (Become a Special Educator) and math teacher (Teach Math) recruitment brochures are the most-distributed materials offered by TEACH California, with each being shipped or downloaded roughly twice as much as other materials. About half-as-many recruitment brochures for science teachers and paraeducators have been distributed as for special education and math teachers, as well as bookmarks thanks to a large increase in the number mailed in Year 3. The TEACH California Web Site Tour PowerPoint showed no downloads in the last three years. This seems unlikely, though not impossible, and could indicate a problem involving the WebTrends software that monitors the TEACH California website. TEACH California Website Summary Report, September 211 Page 9

10 Referred Visits from Other Websites Web-tracking software also collected statistics on how visitors to the TEACH California website arrived, either directly or referred by another website. 6% of visits came directly to teachcalifornia.org, as when a visitors types in the url directly or accesses a bookmark. However, 126,179 visits started when a visitor clicked a link to teachcalifornia.org on another website. Those referring websites addresses were recorded, as this information is sometimes used to inform marketing decisions. Visits to the TEACH California Website Originating at Other Domains 126,179 Referred Visits from July 21 to June 211 Google 81,972 referrals, 65% Other Search Engines 11,949 referrals, 1% Domains Referring Fewer than 1 Visits 7,98 referrals, 6% College or University 6,297 referrals, 5% California Gov Website (ca.gov) 6,78 referrals, 5% Public School Domains 1,135 referrals, 1% calstateteach.net 4,53 referrals, 4% Other Education-related Org 4,337 referrals, 3% Other Referrers 1,199 referrals, 1% Search engines were the source of 3 out of 4 referred visits, led by Google (65% from Google alone, and another 1% from others, such as Yahoo and Bing). Search engines serving users in South Korea and China were also referrers. California government websites made the next most referrals, with 5%. Multiple state-maintained websites share the ca.gov domain, including the CDE. Other Education-related referrers were led by ecollege.com (1,412 referrals) and teachingtips.com (1,29 referrals). Other commercial websites were led by jobstar.org (795 referrals) and Facebook (198 referrals). This document was developed for CalSTAT by the Evaluation Team of Cheryl Li Walter, PhD, and Alan Wood. CalSTAT (California Services for Technical Assistance and Training), at Napa County Office of Education, is a special project of the California Department of Education, Special Education Division. Visit CalSTAT at California Department of Education, Special Education Division s special project, California Services for Technical Assistance and Training (CalSTAT) is funded through a contract with the Napa County Office of Education. CalSTAT is partially funded from federal funds, State Grants #H27A8116A. Additional federal funds are provided from a federal competitively awarded State Personnel Development Grant to California (#H323A711) provided from the U.S. Department of Education Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education act (IDEA). This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U.S. Department of Education.