Getting and Keeping Teacher Quality Where it Counts

The Problem

The National Partnership defines effective teachers as those who make a consistent, positive difference in the achievement of their students. Effective teachers, it asserts, possess a deep understanding of both subject matter and pedagogy, are fully certified, and have several years of teaching experience.

Unfortunately, a disproportionately small number of teachers who fit this definition work in high-poverty schools. Students in these schools, the report asserts, are more likely than students in wealthier schools to be assigned to teachers who lack a major or a minor in their teaching field and have fewer than three years of teaching experience. Schools with a high percentage of minority students have similar problems. Secondary students in schools in which African Americans and Latinos make up 90 percent or more of the population are twice as likely to be taught by teachers who are not certified in the subject they teach as are students in predominantly white schools (Haycock, 2000).

Several factors help create these teaching inequalities. The national shortage of highly qualified teacher applicants-especially in key subject areas such as mathematics, science, and special education-exacerbates the difficulty of attracting teachers in these subjects to high-poverty schools. Cumbersome application processes hinder the ability of some districts to find and hire good teachers in a timely fashion, with job offers being made even after the school year begins. And, when at-risk schools do succeed in hiring teachers, they often have a difficult time keeping them. The report reveals that while the average annual statewide attrition rate in Colorado was 20 percent from 2001 to 2004, the figure was more than 50 percent from 2002 to 2003 in some of the state's urban schools.

Promising Solutions

The National Partnership report identifies a number of state, district, and local initiatives aimed at improving teacher quality in high-poverty schools, specifically in the areas of teacher preparation and licensure, recruitment, and retention. The organization plans to continue to study these initiatives and share its findings through publications, newsletters, and conferences.

Preparation and Licensure. In order to find enough qualified teachers, some school districts are partnering with local universities to create alternative routes to certification. These programs target experienced professionals and fast-track the teacher certification process. As a result, the report finds they often attract a more diverse group of applicants (e.g., older, minority, or male) than those enrolled in more traditional teacher education programs.

ECS Vice President for Policy Studies and Programs Charles Coble notes that schools of education also are doing a better job of preparing teacher candidates to work in needy schools. Some, including the teacher education program at East Carolina State University, have designed programs that place student teachers in high-poverty schools that are successful with poor and minority students. "Student teachers need to be able to see success in order to achieve it themselves," he says.

Recruitment. Using innovative recruiting strategies also has worked for some school districts. Chattanooga, Tennessee, has adopted targeted financial incentives: High-performing teachers in the district receive a $5,000 salary increase and other financial benefits if they agree to work in any one of nine low-performing, urban schools. The program seems to have been successful. The report finds schools identified for this initiative have posted significant academic gains on state tests in both reading and mathematics.

But states and school districts should be sure to have laser-like targets for such incentives, warns Coble. In a study of teacher staffing in North Carolina, Coble's colleagues at ECS found that signing bonuses did not bring the most effective teachers to the lowest performing schools because the criteria for identifying them were too general. "The bonus arrangement that we saw was not sufficiently fine grained," he says. "You want teachers [not only] with some experience but [also] with some real evidence that they are successful."

Retention. Teacher retention becomes an issue the day a new teacher is hired. To address this issue, several states have developed comprehensive programs designed to provide novice teachers with the direction, support, and supervision they need in their first, crucial classroom experience. These programs often include extensive professional development and mentoring. Virginia's Teacher Retention Initiative, for example, specifically targets new teachers in high-needs schools. The National Partnership (2005) found that while such induction programs are labor intensive and expensive, they are "highly effective in keeping quality teachers in the profession." Currently, 15 states require and fund such initiatives.

A growing number of states and districts are experimenting with using financial incentives to retain experienced teachers. Typically, these states tie financial compensation not just to longevity but to evidence of effective teaching, such as certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The National Partnership speculates that in addition to providing financial benefits, these programs might also motivate teachers to make a more long-term commitment to their profession.

Future Initiatives

The National Partnership for Teaching in At-Risk Schools hopes to work with school districts that have been successful in recruiting and retaining effective teachers in high-poverty schools. It also plans to help states and districts that are struggling for ways to staff these schools. "We are looking for collaborators," says Coble. "We want to see what districts have done. We also want to hear from people who want our help."

The group also is planning a number of research studies, including the following:

• A comprehensive review of existing research.

• Evaluations of significant programs and policies.

• New research on the teacher pipeline and how to place more successful teachers in needy schools.

For more information on the National Partnership for Teaching in At-Risk Schools, call 877-322-8700 or e-mail NPTARS@learningpt.org. The full text of Qualified Teachers for At-Risk Schools: A National Imperative is available at http://www.ncrel.org/quality/partnership.htm.

References

Haycock, K. (2000). No more settling for less. Thinking K-16: A Publication of The Education Trust 4(1), 6-12. Retrieved March 21, 2005, from http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/E0A47827-6FA9-4BAD-A157-60ABB852F51A/0/k16_spring2002.pdf

National Partnership for Teaching in At-Risk Schools. (2005). Qualified teachers for at-risk schools: A national imperative. Washington, DC: Author.

The Organizations

The Education Commission of the States, a nationwide, nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating the exchange of information and innovation to improve education through public policy, recently spent four years working with 17 states on issues related to staffing high-poverty schools.

ETS is the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization. It is currently conducting a research analysis to better understand why teachers leave hard-to-staff schools.

Learning Point Associates is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping educators improve student learning by equipping them with research-based strategies that meet their needs and produce results. The organization is currently conducting a study of teacher recruitment in high-need schools in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin