Ensuring a Highly Qualified Teacher for Every Classroom With Support From the Pew Charitable Trusts Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S “If I can’t learn from you…”

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Quality Counts 2003 features: Special theme on recruiting and retaining well-qualified teachers for the students who need them most Analysis of “teacher gap” from federal Schools and Staffing Survey Special analysis of working conditions for teachers in high-poverty and high-minority schools Comparable state-by-state policy data supplemented with a survey of 30 large school districts States graded on standards and accountability, improving teacher quality, school climate, and adequacy and equity of education resources

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S “If I can’t learn from you, who am I supposed to learn from?”

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001 requirements for “highly qualified” teachers By the end of the school year, every teacher in the core content areas must be “highly qualified” in the subjects they teach. Teachers must demonstrate competence in their subjects by having an academic major or its equivalent, or by passing a subject-matter test. Starting this year, states must report on the distribution of highly qualified teachers in high- vs. low-poverty schools. Parents of students in Title I schools must be notified when their children are taught by underqualified teachers.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Quality Counts 2003 found that while states are taking steps to recruit and retain skilled teachers, few efforts are targeted at finding teachers for students who need them most…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Effective teaching: research shows… Effective teachers can get an additional year’s worth of learning out of their students. The effect of having a string of ineffective teachers is cumulative. Higher student achievement is associated with teachers who have better verbal ability, more subject-matter knowledge, and at least a few years of teaching experience.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S The “teacher gap” Do not have majors or even minors in the subjects they teach Are not certified in the subjects they teach Have less than three years’ teaching experience Had no practice teaching before going in front of a classroom Students in high-poverty and high-minority schools are more likely to take classes with teachers who:

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Why a “teacher gap”? The gap is not the result of an overall teacher shortage. Fewer than 1 percent of teachers in the nation are uncertified. However, teachers are “misassigned” to teach subjects for which they are not trained or certified – what’s known as “out of field” teaching. University of Pennsylvania researcher Richard Ingersoll suggests that:

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Tracking the “teacher gap”… U.S. public schools Schools where 15% or fewer students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch Schools where 50% or more students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Working conditions in high- vs. low- poverty schools SOURCE: Education Week analysis of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, Teacher and School Questionnaires, Schools where 15% or fewer students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch Schools where 50% or more students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S What are states doing to address the teacher gap? Licensing standards Reporting Curbing out-of-field teaching Recruitment and retention incentives Support for new teachers Alternative routes

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Licensing requirements 33 states and D.C. require secondary teachers to pass a subject-knowledge test for a beginning-teacher license. 29 states and D.C. require all high school teachers to obtain a major in the subject area they will teach; 3 states require at least a minor in the subject. Only 4 states and D.C. require all middle school teachers to obtain a major in the subject area they will teach; 13 states require at least a minor in the subject.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Reporting 22 states include some kind of teacher-qualification information on report cards. 10 states require report cards to include information on the number or percent of fully licensed/certified teachers. 5 states require report cards to include information on the number or percent of teachers with emergency/provisional licenses. 4 states report teacher-qualification data broken out by high- vs. low-poverty schools.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Efforts to curb out-of-field teaching Only Kentucky bans the practice of allowing teachers to teach subjects for which they are underprepared. 10 states limit the number of teachers in a school or district who can be teaching out of field or impose accreditation penalties for high levels of out-of-field teaching. Only New York has a ban on teaching with emergency licenses in schools identified as low-performing. This ban on emergency licenses will extend statewide in 2003.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S While states are providing some incentives to recruit and retain teachers, few efforts are targeted at finding teachers for students who need them most…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Education assistance

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Housing incentives

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Signing bonuses

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Retention bonuses

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S An Education Week survey of 30 large school districts also finds a lack of targeted incentives to attract and keep skilled teachers in high-need schools…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Attracting Qualified Teachers

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Alternative routes

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S

Ensuring a Highly Qualified Teacher for Every Classroom With Support From the Pew Charitable Trusts Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S “If I can’t learn from you…”

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Quality Counts 2003 grades the states on standards and accountability, teacher quality, school climate, and the adequacy and equity of education resources…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Where states stand on “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001 testing requirements …

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Where states stand on “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001 reporting requirements … 17

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S The “achievement gap” In 8th grade math, the achievement gap between black or Hispanic students and white students – as measured by the proportions scoring at or above “proficient” on NAEP – is 20 percentage points or more in 25 states. Nationally, the largest achievement gaps are on the NAEP 8th grade science exam, on which 40 percent of white students scored at or above “proficient,” compared with only 6 percent of black students and 11 percent of Hispanic students.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S The “graduation gap” New Jersey has the highest overall graduation rate, 87 percent; Florida has the lowest overall graduation rate, 55 percent. Among the states where data were available (30 states and D.C.), in 7 states, 50 percent or fewer of African-American students graduate with a regular diploma. Among the states where data were available (21 states and D.C.), in 8 states, 50 percent or fewer Hispanic students graduate with a regular diploma.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Education Week’s report card on the states For the 7th year, Quality Counts tracks the health of public education systems in the 50 states and, for the second year, the District of Columbia. States averaged a “C” across categories. States earning the highest overall grades include Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Standards and accountability Up from just 1 state in 1999 and 3 states in 2000, 7 states have standards rated “clear, specific, and grounded in content” in all core subjects at the elementary, middle, and high school levels for

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S In , 47 states and the District of Columbia have school report cards, up from 36 in 1999…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S In , 29 states and the District of Columbia rate schools or identify low-performing ones, compared with 19 states in 1999…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S In , 27 states and the District of Columbia provide assistance to schools identified as low- performing, up from 19 states in 1999…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S In , 22 states and the District of Columbia penalize persistently low-performing schools, up from 16 states in 1999…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S In , 17 states reward high-performing or improved schools, up from 14 states in 1999…

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Improving teacher quality 13 states require teachers to demonstrate their performance in the classroom as part of earning a more permanent teaching license. All but one state – Texas – have some kinds of incentives for teachers to obtain National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification. Up from 10 states in 1999, 16 states require and finance induction programs for new teachers. 32 states and D.C. provide professional-development funds to all local districts.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Teacher accountability Just 2 states – Florida and Texas (with a pilot in South Carolina) – require teacher evaluations to be tied to student performance. 24 states publish the passing rates or rankings of teacher education institutions, in addition to federal reporting requirements. 35 states and D.C. report that they identify low- performing teacher- preparation programs. But 23 have not identified a single program. Just 5 states – Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Washington – hold teacher- prep programs accountable for graduates’ performance in the classroom.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S School climate: engagement, parent involvement, school safety, choice and autonomy, class size, school size, and school facilities

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S School climate 8 states survey teachers, parents, and/or students about the climate and conditions in their schools. 11 states include parent-involvement information on school report cards. 20 states include information about class size or pupil-teacher ratios on school report cards.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S School safety 27 states require school-safety information to be included on school report cards, up from 19 states in states and D.C. have enacted bullying- prevention programs or legislation to prevent harassment.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Charter schools 39 states and D.C. allow charter schools. The Center for Education Reform gives an “A” to 6 states and D.C. for the strength of their charter school laws. 2,700 charter schools are operating for the school year.

Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S Resources Nationwide, the average spending per student in 2002 was $7,524 – a 5 percent increase over the previous year. All but 4 states had positive annual rates of change in per-pupil expenditures Wyoming and Delaware are the only two states in which 100 percent of students are in districts where per-pupil spending is at or above the U.S. average. In 2000, the state share of education funding ranged from less than 40 percent in Nebraska and Pennsylvania to a high of almost 98 percent in Hawaii.

Ensuring a Highly Qualified Teacher for Every Classroom With Support From the Pew Charitable Trusts Q U A L I T Y C O U N T S “If I can’t learn from you…”