Title: Teaching for Equity and Excellence: What it Will Really Take to Leave No Child Behind
1Teaching for Equity and Excellence What it Will
Really Take to Leave No Child Behind
2A Changing Economy Makes Education More Important
3The Consequences of Under-Education
- A high school dropout in 2000 has less than a 50
chance of getting a job 20-25 of students in
the U.S. dropout of school - That job will earn less than ½ of what the same
job earned 20 years ago - Wages are increasing only for those with at least
a college education - Lack of education is ever more strongly
correlated with welfare dependency and
incarceration
4Education vs. Incarceration?
- Over the last decade, prison enrollments tripled,
with largest increases for high school dropouts - Funding for jails increased 600 while funding
for schools increased 25 - More than 50 of inmates are functionally
illiterate - 40 of adjudicated juvenile offenders have
learning disabilities never identified in school - Graduation rates are going down for the first
time in our history
5Sources of Inequality
- The achievement gap has widened in the 1990s.
Nationwide, schools serving minority and
low-income students have - Lower funding levels
- Larger class sizes
- Less well-qualified teachers
- Fewer college preparatory or AP courses
- Larger school sizes
- Fewer computers, books, supplies
- Less access to information technologies
6Equitable Achievement Depends on Curriculum and
Teaching
Holding SES constant, minority and white students
who have equally well-qualified teachers and
comparable curriculum perform comparably in
reading and mathematics. .
7Influence of Teacher Qualifications on Student
AchievementGains in Math Achievement from 3rd to
5th Grade Due to
8Access to Qualified Teachers Strongly Influences
Achievement
- Recent studies in CA, TX, NY, SC have found
that, after controlling for SES, students scores
and pass rates on state examinations in reading
and math are significantly related to the
proportion of fully certified teachers in their
schools (Fuller, 1998 2000 Fetler, 1999 Goe,
2002 Pastor, 2003 NYC BOE, 2002
Darling-Hammond, 2003). - A 1 increase in teacher quality (as measured by
NTE scores) was related to a 3-5 decrease in
student fail rates on North Carolinas state
examinations (Strauss Sawyer, 1986)
9Strauss Sawyer concluded
- Of the inputs which are potentially
policy-controllable, our analysis indicates quite
clearly that improving the quality of teachers in
the classroom will do more for students who are
most educationally at risk, those prone to fail,
than reducing the class size or improving the
capital stock by any reasonable margin which
would be available to policy makers (Strauss
Sawyer, 1986, p. 47).
10Teacher Education Boosts Student Achievement
11Schools that Support Powerful Learning for all
Students Teachers
- Small learning communities (300-500)
- Personalization - Students see fewer teachers and
teachers see fewer students over a longer period
of time - Collective curriculum planning, teaming, peer
coaching - Continuous professional development as part of
teachers work - Performance based assessments of learning
12Poor and Minority Children Get the Least
Qualified Teachers
13NCLB requirements for Highly Qualified Teachers
Are Important
- Teachers must be fully certified and have subject
matter competence - BUT
- Standards for subject matter are confusing for
elementary and middle school teachers - Alternative Route teachers are considered highly
qualified before they are trained - Alternate Routes vary widely in quality
- Some have encouraged states to reduce standards
for certification requirements to minimize or
avoid teacher education
14Evidence about Alternative Routes to Certification
- Short-term programs have had lower rated recruits
and higher attrition rates (NH, MINT, NY Teaching
Fellows, some CA internships) as well as lower
effectiveness (Dallas AC) than traditional
programs - Programs that include strong clinical support and
intensive coursework get comparable results in
terms of ratings, retention, and effectiveness
(Miller, McKenna, McKenna)
15Evidence about Teacher EducationStudies have
found higher achievement in math and science for
students whose teachers
- Had more methods courses as well as greater
content courses (up to a threshold) in their
field (Begle, 1979 Monk, 1994) - Had a major and were fully certified in their
fields (Goldhaber Brewer, 1999) - Had a major or minor and received teacher
education or professional development in working
with diverse learners, using hands-on methods,
using strategies that focus on higher-order
thinking skills (Wenglinsky, 2000)
16What Kind of Teacher Knowledge Matters for
Literacy? Correlates of Reading Achievement on
4th Grade NAEP
- Students do better when their teachers
- Are fully certified and better educated
- Have more preparation in literature-based and
integrated strategies for teaching reading - Use texts including trade books, magazines,
newspapers, not basal readers or reading kits - Assess reading through extended writing, not
multiple choice tests (NAEP, 1994) - Have stronger preservice preparation to teach
reading (IRA, 2003)
17How Preparation Matters
- I could maybe have done a bad job at a
suburban high school. I stood to do an awful job
at a (city) school where you needed to have
special skills. I just didnt ever know I needed
them before I went in. I felt like, OK, I did
the workshops I know science and I care about
these kids You know, I had the motivation to
help, but I didnt have the skill. Its sort of
like wanting to fix someones car and not having
any idea how to fix a car. I wasnt equipped to
deal with it, and I had no idea. - - A 1996 Teach for America recruit who left in
the first year
18Teacher Preparation and Mentoring Reduce Attrition
19Differences between NCTAF and the Market Approach
- Professional accountability Hold systems and
teachers accountable for getting using
knowledge about what works - Ensure access to subject matter and teaching
knowledge - Ensure standards before and after hiring through
licensing, induction, evaluation, professional
development
- Market accountability Let almost anyone teach,
then fire teachers close schools that do poorly - Rely on verbal ability, (sometimes content
knowledge), instincts about teaching - Look for evidence of success after hiring based
on student test scores
20The Unregulated Market Experiment California is
an early test
- Few bars to hiring unprepared teachers
- 50,000 uncredentialed teachers almost exclusively
in low-income communities - 10 times more underprepared teachers in
high-minority schools. - Inequalities are increasing.
- High attrition rates for uncertified teachers
(60-70 gone within 3 years) - Significantly lower achievement in reading and
mathematics for students taught by underqualified
teachers, controlling for poverty
21The Realities of School Recruitment Support
- Many districts do not or cannot hire qualified
applicants for teaching positions even when they
are available. Critical problems include - Unequal pay, and working conditions across
districts - Preferences for low-paid personnel when funds are
short - Cumbersome screening processes delays in
hiring - Obstacles to teacher recruitment and mobility
information, salary caps, pension portability - Lack of licensing reciprocity among states.
- Districts that have the least well-prepared
teachers are least able to offer preparation and
professional development. The rich get richer,
the poor get poorer.
22Can we provide qualified teachers for every
child?
- There are 3-5 times as many credentialed teachers
in the US as there are jobs - Most shortages are a function of high attrition,
unequal resources, and poor distribution rather
than an overall shortage of qualified teachers - Many states districts have surpluses in most
fields. - Districts and states have solved shortages with
targeted policies that boost supply and stem
attrition.
23Districts that Have Solved Shortages (San Diego,
New Haven, NYC)
- Recruit aggressively and hire qualified teachers
early - Set competitive salaries
- Provide mentoring
- Ensure good working conditions, materials,
administrative supports
24Policy can Improve Teacher Quality The
Connecticut Case
- Over 14 years Connecticut
- Increased and equalized salaries for qualified
teachers - Raised licensing standards improved teacher
education - Provided scholarships for preparation in shortage
fields - Ensured mentoring for new teachers
- Invested in widespread professional development,
e.g. Reading Recovery - Gave extra aid to high-need districts
25Student Achievement In Reading, 1994-1998
26 Differences in State Policies
- In the 1990s, high-scoring states had
- The best qualified teachers (full certification
plus a major in the field taught) - The fewest teachers out-of-field or on emergency
credentials - Student assessments that are standards-based and
performance-oriented, and that are used for
improvement not for school or student sanctions
(avoiding unintended consequences for student
teacher attrition)
27Since 1994, Average Teacher Qualifications Have
Improved
- More teachers have content preparation (major or
minor) for the fields they teach. - More new teachers have had more extensive
preparation - More new teachers have had induction support
- More teachers have had professional development
opportunities of greater length - But more teachers are entering low-income schools
without this preparation
28More teachers have a background in their main
teaching field
29But disparities in teacher preparation remainby
school location
30By student race and income
31More new teachers experience induction programs
32But,some states are providing less help to
beginning teachers
33More teachers have experienced extensive
professional development
34But there are large differences in Professional
Development opportunities across states (2000)
35No Child Left Behind What Needs to Happen?
- Change accountability provisions to focus on
sensible measures of student progress - Stand Firm on Teacher Quality Insist that that
states define qualified teachers as those who are
well and fully prepared - Insist that Washington provide greater incentives
for teacher training rather than lowering
standards - Address the bimodal distribution of qualified
teachers with funding reforms - Allocate resources to emphasize quality teachers
and quality teaching
36Strategies for Recruiting High Quality Teachers
for All Students
- For the cost of 1 of our recent tax cut or 1
week of current U.S. costs in Iraq, we could fill
all of the nations high need positions by - Underwriting high-quality teacher preparation
through service scholarships for fully certified
teachers who are prepared to teach in shortage
fields and locations. 35,000-50,000 scholarships
annually at 15,000-20,000 each for undergraduate
or graduate level training would fill high-need
positions (700 million annually over 5 years). - Enhancing reciprocity with common standards and
assessments - For the cost of another 3 days of Iraq
investments we could provide 3,000 for every new
teacher over the next 5 years to support
mentoring that enables retention.
37The Future We Need
- Those who can, do. Those who understand, teach.
- Those who can, teach.
- Those who cant go into a less significant line
of work.