Waiting-for-Superman-Toolkit_2011

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

© Institute for a Competitive Workforce, 2010

Cover photos from Waiting for “Superman” presented by Paramount Vantage, Participant Media in association with Walden Media.

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 1

2 4 10 14 16 18 20

Introduction Great Teachers and Leaders More Innovation Better Data Conclusion Appendix – Questions to Ask Your Local Schools: A Checklist Endnotes

Table of Contents

2 • Introduction

Introduction

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 3

The Problem In business today, no competition is tougher than the global race for talent and workers. Yet the United States lags woefully behind in educating and preparing its citizens for the jobs of the 21st century. Consider the following: • McKinsey & Company research estimates that achievement gaps are imposing the equivalent of a permanent national recession on our country. These gaps exist between poor and minority students and their peers, between students in different parts of the country, and between the United States and the rest of the world.1 • In America, a high school student drops out every 26 seconds. 1.3 million students (approximately 30%) did not graduate.2 • Among 34 developed countries, the United States ranks 25th in math, 17th in science. and 14th in reading.3 • By the year 2020, 123 million American jobs will be high-skill, high-wage, but only 50 million Americans will be qualified to fill them.4 This isn’t a problem that affects only “other people’s children” or America’s inner cities or rural communities.

It affects all of us—in every town, city, and state— because it threatens our nation’s continued prosperity and global competitiveness, and it’s a direct assault on our cherished values of equal opportunity and the American dream.

The problem isn’t new. But it wasn’t until the federal No Child Left Behind Act (the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) generated consistent annual, public data about the achievement of all students in all schools that more people began to understand the extent of the challenge. Successfully addressing it will require widescale, strategic reforms to the way schools operate and to “business as usual.”

The Business Role Traditionally, we in the business community, like most other partners, have taken something of a “Clark Kent” approach to helping our students and schools. We’ve been supportive and encouraging by mentoring children, sponsoring special events and field trips, donating supplies, and funding scholarships. These are all worthwhile activities that should be continued—but they’re not enough.

With the looming shortage of well-educated and skilled workers and serious threats to our nation’s competitiveness, it’s time to start asking for a return on our investment and asking school leaders tough questions about how and why things are done—much as we do in our successful business ventures.

This toolkit will show you how you can take a “Superman” approach to spurring effective education reform in your community in three key areas: great teachers and leaders, more innovation, and better data.

4 • Great Teachers and Leaders

Great Teachers and Leaders As any businessperson knows, the ability to hire and retain the best people is key to running an effective organization.

This is equally true in our schools. Common sense affirms what studies have shown: Teachers have the biggest impact on student achievement among all school-related factors. Teachers’ effectiveness—or lack thereof—helps determine the course of a student’s future. Having effective teachers three years in a row enabled students to outperform by 50 percentage points peers who started at the same score, one-well known study showed5—which could mean the difference between going to an Ivy League college and not graduating from high school.6

that “In order for students to have high-quality learning gains year after year, whole schools must be high-functioning led by effective principals with effective teachers across the school. This is especially vital for turnaround schools, where studies find no examples of success without effective principal leadership.”7 Strong leaders create a culture of success in their schools and set high standards for students and teachers.

It comes as no surprise that strong school leadership is another critical factor to student success. Research shows

Here is a look at the challenges that exist and ways you can take meaningful action.

But as one report noted, “Public schools are failing to strategically manage and grow their most important resource: people.”8

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 5

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Effective Teachers Recruiting, hiring, and retaining top talent Unfortunately, our nation’s teacher recruitment, management, and retention practices are not designed around the goal of maximizing teacher effectiveness.

In large measure, this is because they are driven by ineffective, inefficient, and inflexible state laws and local collective bargaining agreements.

– Davis Guggenheim, Waiting for “Superman”

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The National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—the two primary teacher unions—exert enormous influence over school boards, state legislatures, and other elected officials. The NEA spent more than any other organization in the 2007–08 election cycle, even outspending other union peers by a large margin.9 Both unions spend additional millions to support a vast array of advocacy groups, coalitions, community organizations, and charities that support a host of causes deemed in their interests—some not even related to education. And as one analyst noted, “More than any other single national entity, NEA is a driving force supporting attempts to raise state taxes, and defeating tax cut or limitation measures. The relative success of the national teachers unions in ballot initiative campaigns and legislative battles can greatly affect a state’s bottom line.”10 In addition, former NEA leaders admit that the union protects the narrow interests of its members and blocks uncomfortable changes—and that children’s learning is a secondary goal.11

“The one thing those who work in the trenches know is that you can’t have a great school without great teachers.… Look past all the noise and the debate, and it’s easy to see: Nothing will change without them.”

What does all this mean for teacher policies?

It means that— • Tenure—essentially lifetime job protection—is awarded to teachers in 43 states in three years or less, and in 47 states it’s nearly automatic. Only four states consider evidence in the process—and student learning isn’t the main criterion.12

• Teachers in most districts are hired, evaluated, and compensated as if they were interchangeable—and about 99% are rated satisfactory.13 • The process of firing a bad teacher is so costly and time-consuming that most principals don’t even attempt it.14 • When budgets are tight, layoffs are determined based on seniority—not effectiveness in the classroom.15 • In most districts, principals cannot choose the teachers they want or pay their best performers more.

Take Action What would Clark Kent do?

• Donate supplies to teachers’ classrooms • Provide employee volunteer hours to tutor local students Some of these aren’t bad ideas, but they aren’t game changers.

So, what would Superman do?

• Support an analysis of your state’s laws affecting teachers to determine which policies are outdated, ineffective, or hamstringing local leaders.

Do Your Homework Read “Invisible Ink in Teacher Contracts” to learn about the types of harmful provisions that appear in state laws and how they got there. http:// educationnext.org/invisible-ink-in-teacher-contracts • Push for school districts and state leaders to evaluate schools of education and other organizations that train educators by measuring the impact of their graduates on students’ academic achievement.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to Louisiana: Since 2005 the state has been evaluating its teacher preparation programs and the effects teacher graduates have on improving student achievement. http://regents.louisiana.gov/index.cfm? md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=113 Happening Now The National Council on Teacher Quality is undertaking a state-by-state, school-by-school analysis of the quality of education schools. Watch for the results on education schools in your area. www.nctq.org

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 7

• Encourage high-quality alternative route programs to recruit top talent to the classroom, such as second-career professionals who are experts in high-need fields like math and science.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to IBM: Through the company’s Transition to Teaching program, IBM provides financial and other supports to its most experienced employees for them to become fully accredited teachers in their local community. www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/news/ transition_to_teaching.shtml Look to the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE): ABCTE is a rigorous, innovative alternative certification program accepted in ten states. www.abcte.org Look to Teach for America and The New Teacher Project: These two organizations are known for attracting high-quality talent to underserved classrooms. www.teachforamerica.org and www.tntp.org • Lend your expertise when it comes to compensation structures, attracting top talent, and rewarding high performers. The private sector has decades of experience in human resource management and performance evaluations that can benefit schools.

Ask the Right Questions16 • Does the district reward its most effective teachers with higher pay and other rewards? If not, why not?

• Does the district provide tuition reimbursement and incentives for master’s degrees? How could this money be better spent?

• How does the district try to attract high-quality applicants to the district? To hard-to-staff schools?

• How do principals hold teachers accountable for their performance? Do they give a range of teacher ratings within each school, or are principals giving all teachers roughly the same rating?

• How long does it take to remove an ineffective teacher from the classroom? How often does this happen?

• Do principals award tenure only to the best teachers, or is the process nearly automatic?

• Is the district posting vacancies and processing applications in a timely manner to increase the likelihood of being able to hire the best applicants?

• Push for your district to implement a performance pay system.

Happening Now The federal Teacher Incentive Fund is spurring new approaches to teacher and principal compensation reform in districts around the country. http://www2. ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/index.html The Teacher Advancement Program, operating in certain schools and districts across the country, is an integrated system that provides teachers with opportunities for career advancement, professional growth, instructionally focused accountability, and competitive compensation. www.tapsystem.org

Effective Leaders Adopting sound management principles Successful businesses use well-documented management and leadership practices that result in lean, accountable, flexible, high-achieving organizations. Yet these practices are often absent in school management. State and districts are not held accountable for their academic outcomes relative to their expenditures, nor are principals consistently given the authority to make the decisions for which they are held accountable, from allocating school budgets to hiring new teachers. And too often, principals are unprepared and not well supported in leading today’s schools, where they must manage everything from school bus schedules to accountability data.17

Take Action What would Clark Kent do?

• Support local bond drives to provide more dollars for schools without demanding reforms in exchange • Hold a “principal for a day” event for area CEOs to learn about the inner workings of a school Some of these aren’t bad ideas, but they aren’t game changers.

So, what would Superman do?

• Work to increase the caliber of leadership in local schools.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel New Leaders for New Schools recruits high-quality applicants in select cities across the country. www.nlns.org The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems operates two executive development programs: the Broad Superintendents Academy and the Broad Residency in Urban Education. www.broadcenter.org The George W. Bush Institute has launched the Alliance to Reform Education Leadership with the goal of certifying “by 2020 at least half of U.S. public school principals around a set of radically improved standards for leadership competency.” www.georgewbushcenter.com/the-building-design/ education-leadership • Work to increase the authority principals have over budgets and personnel decisions.

Ask the Right Questions18 • How much authority do principals have in selecting who works in their schools? In managing their budgets?

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 9

• Can principals ever refuse the assignment of a teacher, or does HR usually place teachers into schools without the principal’s approval?

• How hard is it for a principal to remove a teacher who isn’t performing well after receiving additional help?

• What kind of training do you offer to help aspiring and current principals effectively lead schools?

• Start a school board PAC to identify and support reform-minded members.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to Atlanta: The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce created an EduPAC to recruit, screen, and endorse school board candidates. In the past 16 years, more than 80% of EduPAC-endorsed candidates have been elected. www.edupacatlanta.org • Get tough with candidates and elected officials.

Make their positions or track record on education reform public, and demand reforms in exchange for your support. Call candidates, conduct town hall forums and invite the press, write op-eds, and call your local newspaper reporters who work on education issues.

Ask the Right Questions • Should the education system be responsive first and foremost to the needs of children or adults?

What if their interests are in conflict?

• How would you ensure that school funding is spent only on effective activities?

• How would you make decisions based on data?

• Do you believe that public schools should be held accountable for the achievement of all students?

• Do you believe teachers should be evaluated based on their impact in increasing student achievement?

• Do you support performance pay to reward teachers and principals who increase student achievement?

• Would you expand options for students and families, such as charter schools, virtual schools, early college high schools, and other options?

• Support your state’s education reform advocacy organization—and fund the creation of one if it doesn’t yet exist. Groups like EdVoice (California), ConnCAN (Connecticut), and Foundation for Florida’s Future (Florida) have been highly effective in challenging—and changing—the education status quo.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel The Policy Innovators in Education or “PIE” Network connects and supports nonpartisan, state-level reform advocacy groups in 18 states that are committed to closing the achievement gap, helping all students graduate college- and career-ready, increasing teacher effectiveness and school accountability, advancing education options, and improving the transparency, equity, and productivity of education funding streams. The PIE Network released “Rabble Rousers Revisited,” a guide to creating state education reform advocacy organizations. www.pie-network.org

10 • More Innovation

More Innovation The world is rapidly changing. New technologies emerge constantly, bringing with them the demand for new skills. People are plugged in around the clock, trading information and ideas with friends and colleagues around the world in the blink of an eye. And yet our schools largely operate the way they always have—with students assigned to their neighborhood schools and one teacher in front of one class, largely left to his or her own devices.

Here is a look at the challenges that exist and ways you can take meaningful action.

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 11

{ “Either the kids are getting stupider every year, or something is wrong in the education system.”

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– Geoffrey Canada, Education Reformer and founder of Harlem’s Children Zone, Waiting for “Superman”

Innovative Educational Practices, Models, and Choices Other industries are changing, adapting, and harnessing the power of new technologies, but our education system resists change. As the national Leaders and Laggards report put it,19 “Our school system needs far-reaching innovation.

It is archaic and broken, a relic of a time when high school graduates could expect to live prosperous lives, when steel and auto factories formed the backbone of the American economy, and when laptop computers and the Internet were the preserve of science fiction writers. And while the challenges are many—inflexible regulations, excessive bureaucracy, a dearth of fresh thinking—the bottom line is that most education institutions simply lack the tools, incentives, and opportunities to reinvent themselves in profoundly more effective ways.”

Unfortunately, too many of our school leaders are prevented from innovating because of restrictive union contracts and laws that prevent change and innovation.

Principals and superintendents are bound by collective bargaining agreements that specify down to the minute the length of the school day and limit the responsibilities teachers can take on, and by state laws that determine the number of school days per year and the credentials teachers must possess. Public charter schools have more freedom to experiment with different ways of managing people, time, and resources. But many traditional schools and education groups view charter schools as a threat—and have thrown up obstacles to their growth and success, such as caps on the number of schools that can open, unequal funding and access to facilities, and more.

Take Action What would Clark Kent do?

• Give every teacher and student a laptop computer • “Adopt-a-School” in your local community and appear at fundraisers Some of these aren’t bad ideas, but they aren’t game changers.

So, what would Superman do?

• Help connect people who have good ideas with those who can fund them. It’s not just a lack of resources but also a lack of networks, mentoring, and straightforward ways to identify potential funders or investors that deters potential entrepreneurs. The business community excels in this arena and can provide assistance and connections.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to the NewSchools Venture Fund: Cofounded by venture capitalists, high-tech executives, and consultants from McKinsey and Accenture, this San Francisco-based organization offers funding to new providers while tapping its own network to give strategic planning, financial modeling, and fundraising assistance to promising models. www.newschools.org • Push for stronger and fairer charter school laws that promote the expansion of high-quality, accountable options for families, without arbitrary caps on their growth or other counterproductive regulations.

Do Your Homework Read about the features of the model charter school law and how your state charter law ranks developed by the National Association for Public Charter Schools. www.publiccharters.org/charterlaws

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 13

• Share your expertise with local charter schools—or help start one. The business community can share skills and expertise that are vital to managing schools well, including data analysis, financial planning, human resource management, legal counsel, performance management, real estate development, strategic planning, and technical expertise.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and Textron: These two organizations and others in the business community worked collaboratively to create a new charter school in Rhode Island and provide job internships to students.

The Textron/Chamber of Commerce Academy, a public charter school serving more than 250 students in the region, provides regular coursework alongside work at local businesses to develop strong work skills and habits and prepare students for entry into the world beyond high school. www.chamberschool.com/index.htm • Support high-quality, flexible online learning options.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to Florida: The Florida Virtual School is a nationally recognized, award-winning e-learning model that serves public, private, and home-schooled students in grades K–12 all over the world. Students go online to access Advanced Placement courses not available in their local schools, for credit recovery, scheduling conflicts, and more. www.flvs.net • Get educated on the issues and contribute to the discussion. Politicians often need backing when advocating for reform in our public schools— and the business community can provide both the research and the defense.

Do Your Homework Read Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Innovation to learn about innovative solutions states are currently implementing, and see how your state stacks up. www.uschamber.com/reportcard No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to the Florida Chamber: No voice has been louder than the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s when it comes to evaluating legislation before their state legislature. While it hasn’t won every fight, it is making progress and providing much-needed coverage to those willing to cast the often unpopular vote for reform. www.flchamber.org/Talent.asp Ask the Right Questions • Does our state prohibit or set caps on the number of charter schools that may open? If so, why?

• Are high-quality charter schools available in our area? If not, why not?

• Do local students have access to online learning and other education options?

• What are the barriers to innovation in our local schools?

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14 • Better Data

“It should be simple, a teacher in a schoolhouse filling their students with knowledge and sending them on their way. … But we’ve made it complicated.”

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Davis Guggenheim, Waiting for “Superman”

Better Data

Successful companies—whether small businesses or Fortune 500 companies—share at least one thing in common: a relentless focus on mission-critical information. They closely monitor their operations, mine the most important data, look for inefficiencies, and develop a strategy for improvement.

But this approach—while more common today than it was before the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)—is not standard procedure in many schools and districts.

Here is a look at the challenges that exist and ways you can take meaningful action.

Using Data to Make Better Decisions Improving data quality and application

According to the Data Quality Campaign, “NCLB completely unlocked the transparent power of data across the country. The disaggregation of student

results provided the public a new and more detailed view of schools; it also spurred the creation of state data systems.”20 In recent years, states have made significant progress in developing longitudinal data systems that track student achievement over time to help improve practice and inform policy questions— but few states capitalize on the opportunity they present.21 Few states track how high school graduates perform in college or the workplace, and most have varying definitions of key data points across schools, districts, and states, making reliable data collection and analysis difficult. Most states and districts do not do a good job of communicating timely, clear information about student performance to school leaders, teachers, parents, and the public, and many do not coordinate data with other key players such as early childhood and postsecondary institutions.22 In addition, many educators lack an understanding of how to interpret and use data to improve student performance.

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 15

Take Action

What would Clark Kent do?

• Donate computers and software to schools (which often aren’t compatible with existing systems) • Sponsor award ceremonies, field trips, and college tours Some of these aren’t bad ideas, but they aren’t game changers.

Ask the Right Questions23 • Does your state provide all stakeholders with timely access to the information they need while protecting student privacy?

• Does your state’s data system create reports that include longitudinal statistics on school systems and groups of students to guide school-, district-, and state-level improvement efforts?

• Does your state promote strategies to raise awareness of available data and ensure that all key stakeholders, including state policymakers, know how to access, analyze, and use the information?

• Does your state link its K–12 data systems with early learning, postsecondary education, workforce, social services, and other critical agencies?

• Has your state created stable, sustained support for robust state longitudinal data systems and developed a governance structure to guide data collection, sharing, and use?

• How does your district support teachers and school leaders in using data to improve student performance?

• Learn how schools in your community are performing.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel Look to GreatSchools: This organization is a leading source of clear, easy-to-understand information on school, district, and state performance, including student achievement, parent ratings and reviews, and more. www.greatschools.org

So, what would Superman do?

• Insist on greater transparency and better use of data in informing policy and practice.

Many states and districts collect data, but do not make them available—or decipherable—to parents, educators, policymakers, and others in a timely manner, thus diminishing vital opportunities to improve efficiency and outcomes for students, schools, and tax dollars.

Look to the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE): MBAE launched the “KnowYourSchoolsMA.org” website to help educate citizens, parents, and government officials on the data being collected and what they actually mean in terms of student achievement. http://knowyourschoolsma.org

16 • Conclusion

Conclusion

The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 17

{ “It takes a lot of outrage and a lot of good examples to say ‘Yes, we can do this.’”

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– Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, in Waiting for “Superman”

Change of this magnitude is neither easy nor without risk. But it’s necessary. It’s time for us in the business community to move beyond “playing it safe” in our approach to education reform. It’s time to get serious about realigning our resources and holding schools, districts, and leaders at all levels accountable.

This isn’t to say we can’t work together to make real change, but we can’t do it at the expense of getting real results. Too many children’s lives—and our nation’s future—hang in the balance.

If we are here 50 years from now WAITING around for Superman to appear, then he’s going to have a lot more to fix than our broken education system.

18 • Appendix

u o Y k s A o t s n o i t s e Qu t s i l k c e h AC DIX

APPEN

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Great L

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The “Superman” Approach: A Business Leader’s Guide to Effective Education Reform • 19

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20 • Endnotes

ENDNOTES 1. McKinsey & Company, The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools, April 2009.

13. D. Weisberg, The Widget Effect; Our National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Differences in Teacher Effectiveness, The New Teacher Project, 2009.

2. Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, Diplomas Count 2010, June 2010.

14. J. Song, “Firing Tenured Teachers Can Be a Costly and Torturous Task,” Los Angeles Times, 2009,

3. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, PISA 2009: Results: What Students Know and Can Do, 2010.

4. Edward E. Gordon, Winning the Global Talent Showdown:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teachers32009may03,0,679507.story 15. Barbara Martinez, “Teacher Seniority Rules Challenged,” The

How Businesses and Communities Can Partner to Rebuild the

Wall Street Journal, 2010, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100

Jobs Pipeline, April 2009.

01424052748703315004575073561669221720.html

5. W. Sanders and J. Rivers, Cumulative and Residual Effects of

16. National Council on Teacher Quality, Teacher Quality Checklist

Teachers on Future Students Academic Achievement, 1996,

for School Districts, http://www.nctq.org/tr3/docs/nctq_

http://www.mccsc.edu/~curriculum/cumulative%20and%20

teacher_quality_checklist.pdf

residual%20effects%20of%20teachers.pdf 17. The Wallace Foundation, The Principal Story Conversation 6. E. Starzyk and S. Stephens, “Darling-Hammond says pressure is mounting to reform teacher training,” Cleveland Plain Dealer,

Guide; Leadership Matters: A Call to Action, 2009, www.wallacefoundation.org/principalstory

2008, http://ed.stanford.edu/suse/faculty/displayFacultyNews. php?tablename=notify1&id=817

18. National Council on Teacher Quality, Teacher Quality Checklist for School Districts, http://www.nctq.org/tr3/docs/nctq_

7. New Leaders for New Schools, Principal Effectiveness: A

teacher_quality_checklist.pdf

New Principalship to Drive Student Achievement, Teacher Effectiveness, and School Turnarounds, 2009.

19. Center for American Progress, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Frederick M. Hess, Leaders and Laggards: A State-

8. Andrew Rotherham, “Achieving Teacher and Principal Excellence: A Guide Book for Donors,” http://www.

by-State Report Card on Educational Innovation, November 2009.

philanthropyroundtable.org/files/TeacherExcellence.pdf 20. Data Quality Campaign, “Statement by Aimee Rogstad 9. Mike Antonucci, “The Long Reach of Teachers Unions,” Education Next, Fall 2010.

10. Ibid.

Guidera, Executive Director of the Data Quality Campaign Before the Commission on No Child Left Behind,” April 2010.

21. Data Quality Campaign, 2009–10 Survey Results, 2010, http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey/states

11. Association of American Educators Foundation, Powerful Failure: How the National Education Association fails to use its influence for education, 2010.

12. National Council on Teacher Quality, 2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2009.

22. Data Quality Campaign, 10 State Actions to Ensure Effective Data Use, http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey/actions 23. Ibid.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce National Chamber Foundation 1615 H Street, NW • Washington, DC 20062 www.uschamber.com/ncf www.uschamber.com/icw 01/2011