research specialist

California Department Of Education

Most of my days were spent meeting with my staff and managing programs and projects associated with my office's responsibilities. We provided day-to-day leadership for multiple projects for California educators as well as multiple groups throughout the nation. 

My co-workers and I provided a systems approach to leadership and integrated our various projects so as to provide the strongest support for our colleagues. I learned the value of collaboration and how essential good communication is to be successful.

The most difficult part of my job was managing the political aspect of various organizations who all had their own considerations related to education. The most enjoyable part of my job was meeting and developing relationships with local and national leaders who were also dedicated to supporting our students' success.



There are pockets of sane, managerial Units within the Department of Education. Good luck finding them as an outside applicant. As the former president of the local district labor council, I was called upon to represent many employees throughout the Department. There is a newly elected administration, so I hesitate to criticize the current leadership team. They have been responsive so far, but they have only been in office for two months. The last administration did nothing to improve the negative culture within the department, and they were fully aware of the problem areas. They left the bad “leaders” in place, and actually increased their numbers through their ill-researched recruitment processes. Because of their reliance on a corrupt vetting team, we are ladened wth an uneducated, untrained, managerial group. Ninety-nine percent of them should be replaced.

This was a fantastic charter school thriving to succeed in their progress.  Certainly, there was a lot of moving parts that required attention and the principal and vice principal were a great team doing their best to bring this charter school up to speed.  They both had the background skills to fit the requirements and somehow the struggle may have been with outside sources.  Overall, they both seemed to be looking out for the school's best interests and success. 

Typical work is to review, edit, correct items such as contracts, grant applications, create correspondence for upper management signature, train support staff. Provide administrative support to administrator. Work with upper management to provide receptionist front desk coverage by answering switchboard. Directing calls to appropriate individuals. Most rewarding job opportunity I have ever had.

I was a mentor teacher who worked at my own preschool supervising and mentoring the local college Child Development Students. These students came 6-10 hours/week to work as a student teacher for the semester. This job helped me to earn extra money each semester on top of my work salary.

Great program. The whole exposing the students to a variety of jobs and assessments that assist in helping the students understand how they learn and expose the to various jobs that the may have never considered before.The best most wonderful students to work with.

Staff are wonderful and fun to be with.  Managers need to learn better people skills. As with most state government, managers often let their title get to their ego and treat staff as if they were less than.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good team work
Promotional ladder is unfair 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Bureaucracy and internal rules hamper creativity

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Fair but demanding at times, confusing

A typical day at work differs depending on your position. I was regularly scheduling meetings, preparing for meeting, prepping paperwork for staff members, etc. It was nice knowing what to expect every day. However, not all managers in the division were competent.

In my near fifty years of working life, this is the worst environment I have tried to endure. I hear someone cry in this office every single day. Management is not equipped to supervise human beings.

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