Teacher Quality Matters Ed Trust West Biennial Conference April 35, 2006

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Teacher Quality MattersEd Trust West Biennial
Conference April 3-5, 2006
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First, the most important statement
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Good Teachers Matter Most

• The latest research confirms what we first
• reported in Good Teaching Matters that
• effective teachers are hugely importantthe
• single biggest factor in student learning.

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Teachers can literally make or break a
childs learning. Consider.
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Students Who Start 3rd Grade at About the Same
Level of Math Achievement
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
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Finish 5th Grade Math at Dramatically Different
Levels Depending on the Quality of Their Teachers
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
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Students Who Start 3rd Grade at About the Same
Level of Reading Achievement
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
8
Finish 5th Grade at Dramatically Different
Levels Depending on the Quality of Their Teachers
Source Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash
Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on
Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
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Depending on the teacher, children can
sink or soar academically. Consider.
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Students Assigned to Effective Teachers
Dramatically Outperformed Students Assigned to
Ineffective Teachers
Source William L. Sanders and June C. Rivers,
Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on
Future Students Academic Achievement, University
of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment
Center, 1996.
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Every year, thousands of children head to school
already behind.
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Sadly, rather than organizing our educational
system to ameliorate this problem, we organize it
to exacerbate the problem.
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How?

• By giving students who arrive with less,
• less in school, too.

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Some of these lesses are a result of choices
that policymakers make.
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But some of these lesses are a function of
choices that we educators make.
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Choices we make about what to expect of whom
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Students in Poor Schools Receive As for Work
That Would Earn Cs in Affluent Schools
Source Prospects (ABT Associates, 1993), in
Prospects Final Report on Student Outcomes,
PES, DOE, 1997.
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Choices we make about what to teach whom
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Fewer Latino students are enrolledin Algebra 2
Source CCSSO, State Indicators of Science and
Mathematics Education, 2001
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And choices we make about Whoteaches whom
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Nationally
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Poor and Minority Students Get More
Inexperienced Teachers
High poverty Low poverty
High minority Low minority
Teachers with 3 or fewer years of experience.
High and low refer to top and bottom
quartiles.
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
Monitoring Quality An Indicators Report,
December 2000.
23
More Classes in High-Poverty, High-Minority
Schools Taught By Out-of-Field Teachers
High minority Low minority
High poverty Low poverty
Teachers lacking a college major or minor in the
field. Data for secondary-level core academic
classes. Source Richard M. Ingersoll, University
of Pennsylvania. Original analysis for the Ed
Trust of 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey.
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Math and Science Classes of Mostly Minority
Students Are More Often Taught by Mis-assigned
Teachers
Source Jeannie Oakes. Multiplying Inequalities
The Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking
on Opportunities to Learn Mathematics and
Science (Rand 1990)
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State-Level Data
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Illinois Teacher Quality Index

• School Level Teacher Characteristics
• of Teachers with Emergency/Provisional
  Certification
• of Teachers from More/Most Selective Colleges
• of Teachers with
• of Teachers Failing Basic Skills Test on First
  Attempt
• School Average of Teachers ACT Composite and
  English Scores

School Teacher Quality Index (TQI)
Source Illinois Education Research Council State
2002-2003 Teacher Service Records and Teacher
Certification Information System, ACT Inc,
Barrons Guide, Common Core of Data (NCES)
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Composition of the School Teacher Quality Index

• Component Weight
• of Teachers with Emergency/Provisional
  Certification -0.577
• of Teachers from More/Most Selective Colleges
  0.520
• of Teachers with
• of Teachers Failing Basic Skills Test on First
  Attempt -0.691
• Teachers Average ACT Composite 0.861
• Teachers Average ACT English Scores 0.859
• The TQI is designed to have a mean of 0.0 and a
  standard deviation of 1.0

• The TQI reflects teachers own academic
  performance

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Distribution of School TQI by School Percent
Minority

• Very high percent minority schools are likely to
  have very low school TQIs.
• There is little difference in TQI distribution
  below the highest minority quartile (i.e. below
  about 60 minority).

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Distribution of School TQI by School Percent
Free or Reduced Lunch

• TQI distribution is strongly related to school
  poverty levels.
• The differences continue across all four poverty
  quartiles.

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Distribution of School TQI by School Achievement
High School
Elementary/Middle School

• TQI is strongly related to school performance

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College Readiness by School TQI and Highest Math
Course for the Illinois Class of 2002

• College readiness is strongly related to
  math-taking pattern, AND to the school TQI
  quartile in which the courses are taken.
• Taking higher-level math courses in TQI schools
  beyond the lowest quartile provides a greater
  readiness boost.

All Students
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In California
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Minority Students Get Higher Percentage of
Underprepared Teachers

• On average, 10 of teachers at predominantly
  minority schools were underprepared while only 3
  of teachers at low minority schools were
  underprepared.

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Greater percentage of intern teachers assigned to
high minority schools

• 53 of all interns are teaching in schools with
  91-100 minority students compared to only 3 of
  interns in schools with lowest minority student
  population

Percent of Minority Students
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Minority Students Have More Underprepared Math
Science Teachers

• High minority schools have four times as many
  underprepared math and science teachers as
  low-minority schools.

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Special Ed Teachers in High Minority Schools
More Likely to be Underprepared

• 22 of special education teachers in high
  minority schools were underprepared compared with
  6 in schools serving few minority students.

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What are the odds?
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Not good for kids in low-achieving schools.

• 1 out of every 5 teachers in the lowest achieving
  schools were underprepared or novice or both.
• 1 in 10 teachers in the highest achieving schools.

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Lowest Achieving Schools Get More Under-prepared
and Intern Teachers

• An average of 10 of teachers at schools in
  lowest achievement quartile were underprepared
  compared to average of 2 in highest performing
  schools
• 58 of interns teach in schools that fall in the
  lowest achievement quartile on the API
• Only 6 teach in the highest achievement
  quartile.

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Todays California sixth graders who attended a
lowest-achievement-quartile elementary school
have had

• A 40 chance of being taught by one
  under-prepared teacher
• AND
• A 30 chance of having more than one
  under-prepared teacher

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While their peers in the highest-achievement
quartile have had

• A 20 chance of being taught by a under-prepared
  teacher
• AND
• A 2 chance of having more than one
  under-prepared teacher

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Who gets under-prepared teachers?

• Their peers in the
• highest achieving
• schools had
• A 20 chance of being taught by an underprepared
  teacher
• AND
• A 2 chance of having more than one underprepared
  teacher

• 6th graders in the lowest
• achieving elementary schools had
• A 40 chance of being taught by one underprepared
  teacher
• AND
• A 30 chance of having more than one

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Lower Pass Rates Equal More Underprepared
Novice Teachers

• 26 of teachers in schools with lowest passing
  rates on math portion of CAHSEE were
  underprepared and/or novice compared to only 14
  of teachers at highest passing schools.

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A Tale of Two Schools

• Locke High School
• Los Angeles Unified
• 99 Latino African American
• 66 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 440

• Granada Hills High School
• Los Angeles Unified
• 32 Latino African American
• 27 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 773

Source CA Department of Education, 2003-04 data
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• The average teacher at Locke High School gets
  paid an estimated 8,034 less every year than his
  counterpart at Granada Hills High School.
• If Locke spent as much as Granada Hills on
  teacher salaries for its 119 teachers, the school
  budget would increase by nearly a million dollars
  (956,056) every year.

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A Tale of Two Schools

• Mission High School
• San Francisco Unified
• 67 Latino African American
• 75 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 518

• Washington High School
• San Francisco Unified
• 13 Latino African American
• 37 of students receive free or reduced price
  lunch
• Academic Performance Index 760

Source CA Department of Education, 2003-04 data
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• The average teacher at Mission High School gets
  paid an estimated 9,901 less every year than his
  counterpart at Washington High School.
• If Mission spent as much as Washington on teacher
  salaries for its 57 teachers, the school budget
  would increase by 564,357 every year.

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By whatever measures of quality we
use,low-income, minority, and low-performing
students are cheated out of access to high
quality teachers.
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Results are devastating.

• Kids who come in a little behind, leave a lot
  behind.

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2005 NAEP Grade 8 ReadingAll Students, Nation
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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2005 NAEP Grade 8 Readingby Race/Ethnicity,
Nation
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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2005 NAEP Grade 8 Readingby Family Income, Nation
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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2005 NAEP Grade 8 MathAll Students, Nation
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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2005 NAEP Grade 8 Mathby Race/Ethnicity, Nation
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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2005 NAEP Grade 8 Mathby Family Income, Nation
Source National Center for Education
Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer,
http//nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Ensuring equitable distribution of teacher
quality is not only the right thing to do, but
its also the law.
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• NCLB REQUIREMENT-
• Each State plan shall describesteps that the
  State educational agency will take to ensure that
  poor and minority children are not taught at
  higher rates than other children by
  inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field
  teachers, and the measures that the State
  educational agency will use to evaluate and
  publicly report the progress of the State
  educational agency with respect to such steps.1
• 1ESEA Section 1111(b)(8) similar provision for
  districts at Section 1112(h).

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Recent USDOE Guidelines March 21, 2006

• March 8 States submit 2004-2005 HQT data
• March 8-May 12 USDOE reviews data determines
  if state is on track to meet HQT deadline (100
  HQT by 2004-2005) or is making good faith
  effort.
• USDOE says likely most states will have to submit
  revised plan to meet HQT by 2006-2007
• May 15 USDOE notifies states
• July 7, 2006 Revised state plans due
• Source Letter to Chief State School Officers
  from Asst. Secretary Henry Johnson, USDOE, March
  21, 2006

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USDOE Requirement 6

• The revised plan must include a copy of the
  States written equity plan for ensuring poor
  or minority children are not taught by
  inexperienced, unqualified, or out of field
  teachers at higher rates than other children.

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USDOE Requirement 6

• Evidence Required for Equity Plan
• Does plan identify where inequities in assignment
  exist?
• Does the plan delineate strategies for addressing
  inequities in teacher assignment?
• Does the plan provide evidence for the probable
  success of the strategies?
• Does the plan indicate SEA will monitor equitable
  teacher assignments when it monitors LEAs? How
  will this be done?

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So, what can we do?
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Many educators have concluded that we cant do
much.
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What We Hear Some Educators Say

• Theyre poor
• Their parents dont care
• They come to schools without breakfast
• Not enough books
• Not enough time
• Not enough parents . . .

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But if they are right, why are low-income
students and students of color performing so high
in some schools?
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Centennial Place Elementary SchoolAtlanta,
Georgia

• 92 African American
• 64 Low-Income
• Performed in the top 2 of Georgia schools in 4th
  grade reading in 2003
• Performed in top 7 of Georgia schools in 4th
  grade math in 2003

Source Georgia Department of Education,
http//www.doe.k12.ga.us Dispelling
the Myth Online, http//www.edtrust.org
School Information Partnership,
http//www.schoolresults.org
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High Achievement at Centennial Place2004 Reading
Composite
Source Georgia Department of Education,
http//www.doe.k12.ga.us
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Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High Elmont, New
York

• 75 African American
• 12 Latino
• 11 Asian/Pacific Islander/American Ind.
• 3 White
• 24 Low-Income

Source http//emsc33.nysed.gov/repcrd2004/cir/280
252070002.pdf
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Elmont MemorialHigh Achievement in Mathematics
Source http//emsc33.nysed.gov/repcrd2004/overvie
w-analysis/280252070002.pdf
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Elmont Memorial High Achievement in English
Source http//emsc33.nysed.gov/repcrd2004/overvie
w-analysis/280252070002.pdf
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University Park High SchoolWorcester, MA

• Grades 7-12
• 70 poverty
• 50 ELL
• Most students enter at least two grade levels
  behind.

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University Park Results 2004

• 100 of 10th graders passed MA high school exit
  exam on first attempt.
• 87 passed at advanced or proficient level.
• Fifth most successful school in the state,
  surpassing many schools serving high income
  students.

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What if we changed current distribution patterns?
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• By our estimates from Texas schools, having an
  above average teacher for five years running can
  completely close the average gap between
  low-income students and others.

Source Hanushek Rivkin, 2004.
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How can we ensure equity in access to teacher
quality?
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Learning from Others
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Principals and Teacher Leaders in High Impact
Schools

• Work hard to attract and hold good teachers
• Build a culture that honors those who teach
  students who are behind
• Use data, rather than adult preferences, in
  matching teachers to students.

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Principals Advice

• The most skillful teachers need to be with the
  most reluctant learners. We have begun to do this
  but this is not for the faint-hearted.
• We must match teacher assignments using
  student needs and teacher talent.

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District Initiatives

• Pioneering Policies in Tennessee North
  Carolina,

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The Benwood Initiative Hamilton County, TN

• In 1999, nine of Hamilton County schools listed
  on the states worst performer list
• Superintendent Jesse Register pledged
• If I dont have the folks on board to close the
  gap, Ill get the folks.

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The Benwood InitiativeSuperintendents Strategy

• Used the data to examine results.
• Reassigned 55 low-performing teachers to other
  schools that committed to accepting them.
• Formed a partnership with local foundation
  Benwood.
• Provided incentives for high-performing teachers
  to move to 9 Benwood schools
• Capacity building

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The Benwood InitiativeIncentives for
High-Performing Teachers

• Teachers who consistently show the highest
  value-added gains guaranteed an extra 5,000 per
  year in salary for three years
• Housing benefits
• Free, on-site, urban teaching MA degree
• Extensive support training

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Results of Benwood Initiative

• Student achievement in the nine
• Benwood schools is out-performing
• state averagesin some schools by as
• much as 30.

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Charlotte-Mecklenburg

• This much is clear We simply cannot and will
  not close the achievement gap if we dont address
  the teacher gap head on.
• --Dr. James L. Pughsley, Superintendent of CMS,
• Feb. 28, 2005

Source Closing Techer Gap Key to Increasing
Student Achievement in High Poverty Schools by
Dr. James L. Pughsley, Feb. 28, 2005 in From the
States, Center for American Progress.
http//www.americanprogress.org/site
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Addressing the Teacher Gap

• 10-20 cap at high poverty schools on the number
  of beginning and uncertified teachers
• Monetary incentives (signing bonuses, low-cost
  loans, retirement benefits)
• State of emergency provision
• Allows quality teachers to seek voluntary
  transfers into high-need schools
• Enables administrators to assign high-performing
  teachers to designated schools for three years,
  with eligibility for 10,000 bonuses for each of
  the three years
• Concentrating efforts on effective principal
  leadership

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VirginiaEvidence of Inequitable Access

• On average, 20 of classes in high
• poverty schools, and 12 of classes
• in low-poverty schools are taught by non-
• qualified teachers.

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Virginia Impact of Inequitable Access

• For every one point increase in the percentage of
  classes taught by highly qualified teachers,
  there is a three to six point increase in high
  school SOL pass rates, and a three to five point
  increase in core subject pass rates for 8th
  grade.
• For every 400 students, a one point increase in
  the percentage of highly qualified teachers is
  associated with 9 to 20 more children passing
  their 8th grade writing test.

Source May 2004 VA Education Adequacy Study as
reported on Virginias Department of Education
website, Incentive Program to Attract and Retain
Teachers in VAs Hard to Staff Schools. URL
http//www.pen.k12.va.us/VOE/Instruction/OCP/hard-
to-staff.html
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A Pilot Program to Address the Problem

• 2 participating school districts that have
  difficulty hiring and retaining high-quality
  teachers
• Focused especially in middle schools and high
  schools
• Three-pronged strategy recruitment, retention,
  capacity building

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Virginia Recruitment

• One-time hiring incentive of 15,000 to effective
  teachers who move to hard-to-staff middle or high
  schools in the targeted districts
• Teachers must commit to teach there for at least
  3 years
• Training offered to teachers in year 1
• Support network for teachers in year 2

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Virginia Retention and Capacity Building

• Highly-qualified teachers already teaching
  receive 3,000 annual bonuses
• Highly-qualified teachers receive 500 for
  training and professional development

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These strategies are by no means the only ones.
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Some Strategies to Ensure Equitable Access
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Actionable Areas

• Transparency
• Contract Provisions
• Value-Added
• Inexperienced Teachers
• Inexperienced Teachers
• Compensation
• Funding
• Budgeting
• Recognition for Teachers
• Leadership
• Higher Education Reform
• Promoting Efficacy in HNS
• National Board
• Data Systems

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Transparency

• Add to school report cards data on actual teacher
  average salary
• Add to school report cards data on the of
  inexperience teachers (less than 2 years)
• Require an annual report on the distribution of
  teacher talent, and state/district progress (in
  compliance with NCLB equity provisions)

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Contract Provisions

• Re-examine contracts with a focus on getting most
  talented teachers in HNS
• States support districts that invite outside
  contract analysis
• Move up hiring timelines
• Consider earlier hiring timelines for high-needs
  schools (the draft strategy)
• Allow principals/teachers in HNS to select
  teachers of their own choosing, and protect those
  teachers from being bumped

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Value-Added

• Move aggressively to put VA system in place
  (state and district level)
• Incentives, rewards for high VA teachers in high
  poverty and intervention with low VA teachers
• Balance VA across schools
• Learn from high VA teachers (study them,
  professional development coaches)
• Launch a study of your high VA teachers

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Inexperienced Teachers

• Cap the number/percent of novice teachers in HNS
• Prioritize induction for novice teachers in HNS
• Give novice teachers a lighter teaching load in
  HNSfrees them up to observe master teachers

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Compensation

• Implement existing programs (e.g., Teacher
  Advancement Program)
• Revise salary schedule to recognize challenging
  schools and teacher impact
• Extra pay for effective teachers in high-needs
  schools (over time, continued)

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Funding

• Go after federal money for innovative teacher
  incentives (Teacher Incentive Fund)
• Go after local money (foundations, partners) for
  innovation

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Budgeting

• Districts should use weighted student formulas
  and require debiting of actual salaries, not
  average.
• Transparency in spending on teacher salaries.

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Recognition

• Honor and celebrate strong teachers who teach in
  high needs schools (e.g., inviting teachers to
  serve on advisory committees, mayoral reception,
  listening to them)

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Leadership

• Major investment in preparing principals for HNS
  (e.g., knowing how to promote success in student
  learning, knowing how to hire strong teachers)
• Reward Nationally-Board Certified Teachers who
  teach in HNS

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Higher Education Reform

• Ensure teacher prep programs focus on the power
  of teachers in HNS to turn students
• Study school organization, instructional
  practices of effective HNS
• Set goals for graduates in HNS
• Collect and report quantity data (e.g., how many
  teachers go to HNS? How many stay?)
• Collect and report quality data (e.g.,
  value-added data on graduates)

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Promoting Efficacy in HNS

• Provide additional subject specialists / coaches
  in HNS
• Smaller student loads for teachers in HNS
• More collaborative time
• Schedules aligned (e.g., so teachers can
  collaborate with same-subject and cross-subject
  teachers)

104
National Board

• Extra pay for NBCTs in HNS
• Support teachers in HNS to go through the process
  of NBC and provide incentives so they stay

105
Data Systems

• Construct data systems that can answer
  distribution and efficacy questions
• Statesfund system development
• Identify models of data systems that work

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Will you summon the courage to make changes to
ensure equity in access to quality teachers?
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We are happy to help.The Education
Trustwww.edtrust.org

• Heather Peske
• 202.293.1217 ext 314
• hpeske_at_edtrust.org