California Teaching Fellows Foundation (CTTF)

MGT 110 Case for Spring, 2024

What is the CTFF?

The California Teaching Fellows Foundation (CTFF) serves as an incubator and pipeline for developing knowledgeable,

experienced, and diverse future teachers and leaders throughout the state of California. Currently, CTFF operates in the six

counties of Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, and Tulare, with over 600 locations and approximately 3,100

employees. This makes CTFF one of the largest employers in the Central Valley.

What Does CTFF Do?

CTFF supports the Valley’s K-12 educational system by providing staff and expertise to run after-school programs and other

state-mandated and funded initiatives that local school districts may lack the manpower, expertise, or resources to administer.

For example, CTFF manages programs like after-school campus clubs and initiatives for special needs students across the

Valley. To staff these programs, CTFF employs many Fresno State and other college students intending to become teachers

upon graduation, offering them valuable experience and career opportunities.

In essence, CTFF serves as a resource for local schools by enabling them to serve their student populations more efficiently

without the need to hire additional staff. Additionally, CTFF acts as a “pipeline” or “feeder” of new employees for school

districts, allowing them to hire individuals with whom they are already familiar, contributing to efforts to diversify their

teaching staffs and reduce the risks associated with hiring unfamiliar candidates.

How the CTTF has Grown.

The Teaching Fellows program originated through the vision and hard work of dedicated faculty from Fresno State’s Kremen

School of Education and Human Development. They recognized the need to provide pre-service work experience to

undergraduate college students pursuing a career in education. The original Teaching Fellows formula included on-site

experience, ongoing professional development, and personalized tutoring—all principles that continue to guide the program

today.

In 2006, CTFF officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Over the last 20 years, the program has expanded to

include not only future teachers but also community members who share the same principles of making an impact in the lives

of youth. CTFF’s mission extends along the CA 99 Highway, with visible impact reaching as far north as Sacramento County

and as far south as Kings County.

Despite CTFF’s growth and evolution over the last few decades, one thing remains unchanged—CTFF is committed to

providing the next generation of teachers and leaders who deliver exceptional educational programs throughout the state of

California. Today, they take pride in setting the standard for best practices in Expanded Learning programs and professional

development.

Issues for the MGT 110 Case

Like many organizations that grow quickly, CTFF has experienced “growing pains” that need to be addressed to keep them on

their current trajectory of success. As a result, students should not think of the role of their team as “how we are going to save

CTFF”, but rather to “offer some recommendations as to some proven ideas that can help CTFF navigate their growth as

efficiently as possible so that they can continue to serve the needs of students and schools in the Valley”. This brings us to the

issues that CTFF has asked us to consider.

1. Retention strategies for line staff. Currently, there is a single headquarters (in Fresno) where the administration is

housed. This is where the CEO, the HR people, and the support staff are located. In addition to their headquarters,

CTTF has employees at over 600 locations (mainly schools) across the Valley. Retention of the people in

headquarters has not been particularly problematic, but the retention of the people in the 600 schools is higher than

CTTF desires and this causes a heavy need to constantly be hiring, training, and to making sure that new staff is “up

to speed” with what is going on at their specific site.

CTTF does not (and should not) view all turnover as equal. In other words, having an employee who is a college

student be “hired away” by a school district as a full-time teacher is considered a very desirable outcome for everyone

involved. Having a qualified, enthusiastic staff member leave because of a lack of fit (i.e., they find out they don’t like

working with kids) or for other reasons (there are many possible), is not desirable and causes considerable expense

and can potentially threaten program quality if it gets too high. So, retention is the problem your group is meant to

address. Consider retention very broadly and do not think there is a simple “silver bullet” issue to this problem for

CTTF.

2. CTTF has recently developed a new business line which focuses on special needs programs that schools are now

required to provide under California law. These programs are designed to service students with a variety of special

needs (i.e., reading, math, speech, and developmental issues) and are an attempt by the state to make sure that these

students get the help they need to become as successful as they can be in their academic careers.

While these programs have developed, CTTF has not actively begun marketing these programs to school districts in

their delivery area. Presently, there is so much business for their existing services that these new programs just haven’t

received the sales and marketing attention that they need to be adopted by Valley schools. The goal of your team is to

develop a basic marketing strategy to market these new programs to the schools.

General Guidelines

To address these challenges effectively in your presentation, consider the following guidelines:

1. Incorporate Relevant Examples: Draw inspiration from successful cases that have addressed similar issues. In other
words, benchmark whenever possible!

2. Apply Course Concepts: Utilize theories such as motivation research, power, influence and communication research,
and any other content areas that you find relevant from the class to support your recommendations.

3. Blend Academic and Popular Sources: Bolster your suggestions with both scholarly sources (journals, books) and
credible popular press outlets (e.g., Fortune, Wall Street Journal) for real-world support and examples. Do not rely on
individual blogs (especially from unknown people or sources) or similar materials as they do not fit the type of
“evidence” that MGT 110 is built upon. If you wish, consider reaching out to our very own research librarian, Hiromi
Kubo ([email protected]), for help finding reputable sources at the Fresno State Library.

Your team’s presentation should encompass solutions for both challenges, presenting well-researched and thoughtful

recommendations that align with these principles. This will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the issues at hand

and showcase strategic problem-solving skills.