Teacher Quality

Education Program

Teacher Quality

Research
Recruitment and Compensation
Preparation
Licensure and Certification
Induction
Professional Development

OVERVIEW

Research increasingly continues to demonstrate the important influence of teacher quality on student performance, and state policymakers are beginning to reexamine policies that affect the state teaching corps. State legislatures across the country have revamped teacher preparation and licensure requirements to ensure that they are performance-based; have established recruitment programs that provide scholarships, forgivable loans or signing bonuses; and have funded additional professional development opportunities for teachers. With high expectations for students to reach standards, policymakers are requiring the same attention to standards for teachers. Qualified and competent teachers in classrooms across the state are important to successful implementation of other education policy reforms such as standards and accountability, technology investments and class size reduction.

This emphasis on teacher quality is an important extension of state efforts to increase student achievement. Recent studies in Tennessee, Boston, and Texas confirm that students taught by the most qualified and effective teachers achieve at higher levels. However, these new, higher standards create a double challenge for states of increasing both the quality of teachers and the overall number necessary to staff classrooms in the face of impending teacher shortages. The United States Department of Education projects we will need over 2.2 million teachers over the next ten years and currently, many schools and districts are facing shortages in particular subject and regional areas.

Burgeoning enrollments are one reason there's such a need for more teachers. Last fall, a record 53 million students entered the nation's public and private K-12 classrooms and this level is expected to remain steady. Western states, including California, Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico expect to have double-digit increases in enrollment. Although local school districts-through collective bargaining agreements and partnerships with teacher preparation programs-have traditionally been responsible for recruitment and compensation decisions, states are playing a larger role as shifts in the demographics of teachers and students make replenishing the teacher corps more difficult.

Another problem is that teachers are getting older. Almost half of all teachers are 45 years old or older, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. While these figures illustrate a teaching force with vast experience-nearly one-third of teachers have been in classrooms for more than 20 years-they also point to the fact that nearly one-half of current teachers will retire during the next decade. The impact of an aging teaching pool will affect some states more than others. In Iowa, 40 percent of the teaching staff will retire in the next 10 years. That state is not alone. About 30 percent of the teachers in 20 states have more than 20 years of classroom experience; these states are predominately in the central and northeast regions of the country.

The retirement issue is compounded by the difficulty in getting those trained to teach into classrooms and then keeping them there. Only about 60 percent of those prepared to teach actually do so. And of these, it is estimated that 30 percent to 50 percent leave teaching within their first five years. The numbers are even more striking in Clark County, Nevada where more than half of new teachers leave after their first year. Surveys show that working conditions have the greatest affect on whether or not they stay. Teachers leave because they are dissatisfied with administrative support, student behavior, the school atmosphere and a lack of autonomy.

Without an adequate supply of qualified educators, schools and districts have hired teachers who have yet to meet state licensure requirements. Recent studies show that these teachers disproportionately teach in low performing schools and schools with low-income students. In 1999, 16 percent of teachers in California schools with the greatest number of students receiving free or reduced lunch did not have appropriate credentials; this compares to just 4 percent of teachers in schools serving wealthier children. To find and to keep good teachers is especially critical, however, if states and local districts are to meet rigorous education goals aimed at raising student achievement levels.

Considerable discussion has focused on possible approaches states can take to address the quality of teaching. On one hand, some advocate a free market solution. Most state laws regulating the teaching profession would be eliminated and any candidate who could demonstrate proficiencies would be certified to teach. On the other hand, some argue that additional laws need to be enacted to help align the standards and measures for teacher recruitment and professional development. Many of the decisions that affect teachers would be in the hands of the profession itself.

As states continue to discuss teaching quality policies, reaching consensus in several key areas by policymakers and those in the education community will be necessary.

Data gathering and policy evaluation: Local schools and districts tend to have wide latitude in creating teacher recruitment, hiring, compensation, professional development, and evaluation policies. At the state level, little information is usually gathered in these areas, making it difficult for state legislators and other policymakers to assess the effectiveness of current policies and practices. Especially problematic is the lack of data on teacher supply and demand in most states, making it difficult to predict future trends for teacher staffing. The type and amount of data necessary to make informed decisions about policy options should be discussed, and the capacity within state organizations, districts and schools to gather that data should be examined.
Alignment of teaching policies: All teaching policies should work in concert toward the same goal: to ensure a competent and quality teacher in every classroom. Policies regarding teacher recruitment, preparation and evaluation should be examined to determine if they are based on educator and student standards and to assess if current laws work together to create incentives to attract, train and retain the highest quality educators.
Governance: Schools and districts are given great autonomy in most areas of teaching policy. Although this decentralized approach allows districts to design programs that best reflect their teacher and student needs, it can often create inequities in the type and scope of programs that affect teachers across schools and regions. State and local policymakers should discuss what balance of responsibilities will lead to the creation of the most effective teaching and learning environments.

NCSL Activities

Legislative tracking on teacher issues

NCSL has been tracking legislation in the area of teaching quality for several sessions and is a national leader in identifying patterns and trends across the states. In collaboration with the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy (CTP) at the University of Washington, NCSL recently published "Revisiting What States are Doing to Improve the Quality of Teaching: An Update on Patterns and Trends." This working paper updates a similar report issued in 1998. The 50 page report thoroughly details research and enacted legislation that promotes high standards for teaching a learning, attracts, rewards and retains capable people in teaching, improves the initial preparation and induction of teachers, motivates and supports ongoing professional learning, and enhances the school workplace environment. The paper concludes that an increasing number of states are devoting attention to the issue of improving the quality of teaching force as key to improving student achievement. However, many of the enacted policies are created to address a specific problem rather than create a coherent policy strategy that will work to enhance overall teacher quality. Further, the availability of data makes policy planning and evaluation difficult. The report is published in its entirety on the CTP web site.

Title II of the Higher Education Act

NCSL and the National Governor's Association (NGA), with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, are providing states with services and assistance related to Title II of the Higher Education Act. Thirty-one states have received teacher quality enhancement grants. Through this grant, NCSL and NGA will facilitate in-state meetings to allow a neutral forum for legislators, state policymakers, and other education stakeholders can discuss teacher quality issues and potential actions. We will also assist these states in examining data collection issues and analyzing state policies to answer questions about key teacher issues.

NCSL and NGA have written policy briefs on several teaching quality issues as part of the project, including teacher recruitment, licensure reciprocity, pay for performance and professional development. NCSL and NGA held a two-day meeting for over 100 state policymakers and state officials in Atlanta this past February to learn from colleagues in other states and engage in state planning with fellow policymakers. We have provided technical assistance to Alabama, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, Tennessee and Vermont, ranging from testimony on a particular piece of legislation to co-sponsoring large forums for policymakers and practitioners. For more information about this grant, see the NGA web site. To view a matrix of what policy areas the states with Title II grants are working on click here.

Teaching Inventories of Policies and Practices

The emphasis on teaching quality - through revamping preparation and licensure requirements, establishing recruitment programs and signing bonuses, and funding additional professional development opportunities - is an important extension of state efforts to increase student achievement. States, however, have little available data to evaluate the effects of these reforms on current school practice. It is with this in mind that NCSL has worked with individual states to perform inventories of teaching quality and practices.

NCSL, under the auspices of the Alliance for Quality Teaching with the support of the Rose Community Foundation, conducted a comprehensive inventory of teacher policies and practices in the state of Colorado. Using surveys to examine teacher preparation programs, alternative preparation programs and school districts, as well as compiling statewide information from the department of education and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, NCSL examined several issues: policy context and governance, teacher preparation, licensure, recruitment and compensation, and teacher professional and career development. NCSL, with the support of the Donnell-Kay and Rose Community Foundations is currently conducting an inventory of leadership policies and practices, examining programs that effect the training, recruitment, retention and career development of principals. The project is currently underway with results expected to be published in January 2002.

NCSL conducted a similar inventory in Vermont, with the support of Vermont's Title II State Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant. Surveys of school principals, superintendents and teacher preparation programs were used to examine state programs and policies regarding training, licensure, recruitment, compensation and professional development.

NCSL recently published a State Legislative Report highlighting the inventory work of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, "Improving Teacher Quality: Teacher Policy Inventories" This report, as well as hard copies of the both inventories can be ordered. NCSL will continue to work with states interested in gathering data

For more information contact the Education Department @ 303-364-7700.

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