Welcome to the TQ Update, a quarterly newsletter dedicated to providing information and resources on teacher quality related issues.
Teaching Quality Policy Center News
The ECS Teaching Quality Policy
Center welcomes Researcher JENNIFER
AZORDEGAN whose work will focus
primarily on tracking states' design
and implementation of teaching quality
policies related to the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001.
/html/contactStaff.asp?staffID=116
ECS has developed a set of specific
"decision points" for use in determining
state compliance with federal NO CHILD
LEFT BEHIND requirements. To view the
decision points relative to teacher quality
and all other NCLB requirements, see
/clearinghouse/44/28/4428.pdf
Back to top.New Center Publications
“Eight Questions on Teacher Preparation:
What Does the Research Say?" offers an
objective analysis of what 92 research
studies say about TEACHER PREPARATION.
The full report will be available on
July 10 and is the first in a series of
four to be released by ECS. For more information,
contact Michael Allen at mallen@ecs.org.
Back to top.Upcoming Center Meetings/Events
The 10th Amendment, world-renowned
businesses and business leaders, and
Sesame Street's Grover all will be
part of The 2003 NATIONAL FORUM ON
EDUCATION POLICY. The Forum takes
place July 13-16 in Denver.
/html/meetingsEvents/NF2003/NF2003_main.htm
The July 13 ECS/American Association
of Colleges for Teacher Education
Conference: BUILDING PARTENERSHIPS
THAT CREATE QUALITY TEACHERS, will
provide an opportunity for policymakers,
deans from teacher education colleges,
representatives from community colleges
and others to explore initiatives and
issues related to teacher education.
This meeting is by invitation only.
/html/meetingsEvents/NF2003/nf2003_sessions.asp?limit=date&thedate=07/13/03
On July 16 the ECS Teaching Quality
Policy Center is hosting a TQ Mini-Summit
which will work to produce an inventory
of major current and planned teacher quality
initiatives and key organizational contacts.
All organizations attending the invitational
meeting and others are invited to complete
and return the TEACHING QUALITY INVENTORY.
/clearinghouse/45/85/4585.pdf
Back to top.Related ECS Activities
The ECS CENTER FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
POLICY recently sponsored a national
summit examining policy options for
community colleges to help address
the current shortages of high quality
teachers. For more information on this
project, click here:
/clearinghour/45/84/4584.pdf
ECS recently hosted the STATE LEADER FORUM
ON EDUCATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY to help states
improve the design of their accountability
systems to support teaching, learning and
system-wide enhancements consistent with
the No Child Left Behind Act. Participants
will convene twice more over the next year.
For an overview of this project click here:
/clearinghour/45/83/4583.pdf
Back to top.What States Are Doing
In COLORADO, the Denver Public Schools
and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association
have developed a draft recommendation
for a PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE plan that
would overhaul compensation in the Denver
Public Schools. The plan incorporates
four elements that reward teachers based
on: 1) student academic performance;
2) commitment to continued professional
development; 3) performance in an
evaluation; and 4) willingness to work
in hard-to-staff schools.
http://denverpfp.org/DraftRecommendation_5-6-03.pdf
NORTH CAROLINA has been granted
permission to waive implementation
of the federal highly qualified
teacher standard for at least one
year.
http://newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/2599761p-2412418c.html
The NEW YORK City Department of Education
recently announced two new programs
to recruit teachers for the city's
public schools, including:
* The Call Back to Teaching Program
* The Excelsior Teacher Initiative (ETI).
The Call Back to Teaching Program seeks to
attract 300 experienced teachers back into
public school classrooms, while ETI seeks
to recruit 500 math, science and special
education teachers to high need schools.
http://www.nycenet.edu/press/02-03/n61_03.htm, http://www.nycenet.edu/offices/dhr/opportunities/callback/, http://www.excelsiorteacherinitiative.org/programoverview.php
Back to top.Good Reads
Two new Education Next articles examine
TEACHER PAY issues. “Low Pay, Low Quality,"
by Peter Temin argues that the market
for teaching has failed in part due to the
continued reliance on an obsolete view of
the pool of potential teachers. The second
article, “Comparable Worth" by Richard
Vedder, claims that higher pay is
necessary to lure high quality applicants
away from more lucrative alternatives
http://www.educationnext.org/20033/7.html
The National Education Association has
produced a guidebook offering a
series of recommended strategies to
ATTRACT and RETAIN QUALIFIED TEACHERS.
http://www.nea.org/teachershortage/images/rrg-full.pdf
A new Learning First Alliance report,
“Beyond Islands of Excellence: What
Districts Can Do to Improve Instruction
and Achievement in All Schools," looks at
five high poverty districts making strides
in improving student achievement. The report
also discusses new approaches to PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT used in the districts.
http://www.learningfirst.org/bie/bie.html
According to a Public Agenda TEACHER
SURVEY, more than three in four
teachers believe they are “scapegoats for
all the problems facing education."
Teachers also see unions and tenure as
necessary protections against school
politics and unfounded accusations by
parents and students.
http://www.publicagenda.org/pdfstore/PDFs/stand_by_me.pdf
The Milken Family Foundation's Teacher
Advancement Program (TAP) has launched a
TEACHER QUALITY NEWSLETTER, What's On TAP,
which will examine teacher quality issues,
offer solutions for education reform and
update readers on the progress and of the
Teacher Advancement Program.
http://www.mff.org/tap/pdf/whatsontap.pdf
According to a report released by the
MINNESOTA Office of Educational
Accountability, the number of teachers
working in the state in areas
for which they are not licensed has
quadrupled over the past three years.
http://education.umn.edu/oea/II/Reports/2002Yearbook/2002yrbk.pdf
Back to top.Other Useful Web Sites
The U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND
THE WORKFORCE Web site contains links to
recently completed action on the Title II
bill, “Ready to Teach Act 2003." The bill,
which provides teacher quality enhancement
grants for states, was favorably reported
to the full House by voice vote.
http://edworkforce.house.gov/markups/108th/fc/hr2211/610main.htm
Back to top.International Focus
A recent publication by the European
Agency for Development in SPECIAL NEEDS
EDUCATION examines teachers and special
needs education, including:
* Inclusion and teacher support
* Initial special education teacher training
* Supplementary special needs training.
http://www.european-agency.org/publications/agency_publications/SNE_europe/downloads/ThematicPublication_English.doc
EURYDICE, the information network of
education in Europe, provides a
comprehensive database (Eurybase)
on education systems in Europe,
including:
* Information on teachers and teaching staff
* Evaluation of teaching system.
http://www.eurydice.org/Eurybase/frameset_eurybase.html
Back to top.
Teaching quality is part of the Teaching Quality and Leadership Institute. The mission of the Institute is to provide resources to help state policymakers shape education policy on finding, keeping and developing highly effective teachers and education leaders. |
TEACHING QUALITY
To read more about Teaching Quality,
visit the ECS Issue Site on Teaching
Quality. |
