Efforts to Improve Teacher Qualifications and Functioning
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Range of Developments Developments with respect to implementation of NCLB teacher-quality goals have included the following:34 ●● The federal government has been distributing millions of dollars for activities such as devising and implementing alternative certification programs for teachers and administrators, establishing teacher merit-pay programs, providing bonus pay for teaching in high-need subjects and high-poverty schools, testing teachers in their subjects, and forming a Teacher Assistance Corps to help states carry out their quality-improvement initiatives. ●● In 2006, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings issued a report on teacher quality in which she provided data on state efforts to comply with NCLB. She acknowledged that states had approached but not been able to meet the goal of providing a highly qualified teacher in every classroom, and that minimum scores for passing tests to obtain a teacher’s certificate in most states were low. The situation appears not to have changed very much in the intervening years. ●● Much controversy has arisen regarding state progress toward ensuring highly qualified teachers in all classrooms. For example, although many states have reported that more than 90 percent of courses are taught by highly qualified teachers, some observers have cited various data indicating that numerous teachers teaching science, math, and other specialty subjects were working “out-of-field,” that is, teaching in areas where they had not demonstrated competency. These observers have concluded that either the state data were incorrect or criteria for defining “highly qualified” had been set very low, or both. Many organizations and individuals have expressed impatience and/or skepticism regarding NCLB implementation regarding teacher quality. For example, the Education Trust has criticized the federal government for doing little to ensure that teachers in urban schools are becoming truly qualified to raise the achievement of low-income students and minority students. Observers also point out that many rural districts face insuperable difficulties in meeting NCLB requirements for highly qualified teachers. To address these and related issues, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (that is, the federal government’s economic stimulus plan) required that states must stipulate they are making progress toward appointing experienced teachers to difficult schools before being eligible to receive part of the Recovery Act’s $5 billion in educational incentive grants. By 2009, more than 95 percent of teachers were highly qualified, as classified by the standards in their states. In addition, about half the states were funding induction and/or mentoring programs for new teachers. But it should be kept in mind that the meaning of “highly qualified” and the scope and effectiveness of supports for new teachers vary widely between and within states. In addition, most analysts believe that major problems still generally exist with respect to providing highly qualified teachers in high-poverty urban districts and in certain teaching areas such as special education and instruction for English language learners.
1-7b Evaluating Current and Future Teachers Based on Student Achievement Despite the lack of consensus regarding the status and influence of NCLB and HOUSSE, nearly all state governments have initiated activities to improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers. Most states have stiffened entrance and exit requirements for teacher education, and/or expanded testing of new teachers. And, as described next, states and the federal government are participating in the Excellent Educators for All
Mary M. Kennedy, “Sorting Out Teacher Quality,” Phi Delta Kappan (September 2008), pp. 59–63; and “The Highly Qualified Teacher Limbo,” July 29, 2014, posting by Ecology of Education, available at www.ecologyofeducation.net/wsite.
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