Related Links
This section of the Resource Bank is designed to give you access to web resources on topics related to Educator Effectiveness.
Collective Bargaining
Invisible Ink in Collective Bargaining: Why Key Issues Are Not Addressed
Source/Author: The National Council on Teacher QualityAs a number of big school districts around the country such as San Diego, Broward County, and Philadelphia hammer out new teacher contracts over the next few months, both sides will no doubt bring laundry lists of "must haves" to the bargaining table. The common assumption is that the important action happens when district administrators and union representatives sit down at the bargaining table. Yet the reality is that well before anyone meets to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, many issues will have already been decided.
Drop-in Articles
These drop-in articles are ready for district leadership and principals to e-mail to their staff with important updates around the work being done on standards, assessments and educator effectiveness. To use this resource, download the pre-written article below, copy the text into your e-mail, customize with your name and a personal message, and send! The drop-in articles contain updates on work being done in many areas so if your district doesn't need a detailed update on one particular area, you are more than welcome to shorten or delete content from the pre-written drop-in article.
Evaluation Practices
The Widget Effect
Source/Author: The New Teacher ProjectThe Widget Effect: Our National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Differences in Teacher Effectiveness (2009) describes how our public education system treats teachers as interchangeable parts, not individual professionals, causing schools to ignore both excellence and ineffectiveness.
Retaining Teacher Talent: Convergence and Contradictions in Teachers’ Perceptions of Policy Reform Ideas
Source/Author: The Learning Point Associates and Public AgendaSome educational reformers have proposed dramatic changes to teacher evaluation, compensation, and working conditions in hopes that such changes will ultimately improve student learning. The success of these reforms, however, rests in large part on the support of those who will be most directly affected-teachers. Therefore, policymakers need to recognize the critical importance of including teachers in the debate to bring not only nuance and experience to the conversation but also to build legitimacy for the reforms as they are implemented.
Funding/Budgeting Practices
Close the Hidden Funding Gaps in Our Schools
Source/Author: The Education Trust"Close the Hidden Funding Gaps in Our Schools" shines a light on widespread and unjust district budgeting practices and offers Congress a straightforward legislative path: Fix the so-called comparability provisions of Title I.
HR Practices
Unintended Consequences
Source/Author: The New Teacher ProjectUnintended Consequences: The Case for Reforming the Staffing Rules in Urban Teachers Union Contracts (2005) quantifies the degree to which collectively-bargained teacher transfer and excess rules hamper the ability of schools to make smart hiring decisions
Missed Opportunities
Source/Author: The New Teacher ProjectMissed Opportunities: How We Keep High-Quality Teachers Out of Urban Classrooms (2003) analyzes how a web of policy and process barriers prevent urban school districts from hiring the best new teacher applicants by delaying hiring until well into the summer and early fall.
Bumping HR: Giving Principals More Say Over Staffing
Source/Author: The National Council on Teacher QualityThis paper explores the problems, including this latest, that get in the way of the "ifs" and what districts and state legislatures can do differently to provide greater principal autonomy over school staffing. We tap into the 101 large school districts in NCTQ's TR3 database (www.nctq.org/tr3) to examine state laws, regulations and district policies.
Inequity of Teacher Distribution
Not Prepared for Class: High-Poverty Schools Continue to Have Fewer In-Field Teachers
Source/Author: The Education TrustNearly a decade after federal law was enacted to ensure that low-income students and students of color had a fair shot at being assigned to strong teachers, students in high-poverty schools are still disproportionately taught by out-of-field and rookie teachers.
Who's Teaching Our Children?
Source/Author: The National Council on Teacher QualityHas the elementary and secondary teaching force in the United States changed in recent years? And if so, how? To answer these questions, we recently embarked on a research project to explore trends over the past two decades. We were surprised by what we found. The teaching force has, indeed, been changing - and some of the most dramatic trends appear to be little noticed by researchers, policymakers, and the public.
Fighting for Quality and Equality, Too
Source/Author: The Education TrustThis paper outlines ten steps state policymakers and school district leaders can take now that hold the promise to make a difference in teacher quality and equitable access to the best teachers for low-income students and students of color.
Missing the Mark: An Education Trust Analysis of Teacher-Equity Plans
Source/Author: The Education TrustThis analysis of teacher-equity plans prepared by all 50 states and the District of Columbia finds that most states failed to properly analyze data that would determine whether poor and minority children get more than their fair share of unqualified, inexperienced, and out-of-field teachers.
Collaboration: Closing the Effective Teaching Gap
Source/Author: The Center for Teaching QualityIn this policy brief, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), in partnership with the Teachers Network, offers a powerful perspective on teaching effectiveness and teacher collaboration.
Do Disadvantaged Urban Schools Lose Their Best Teachers?
Source/Author: The Urban InstituteWe investigate teacher quality differences by transition status and school characteristics for teachers in a large urban district in Texas using estimates of teacher contributions to student learning as our measure quality.
Educator Compensation Reform
The Center for Educator Compensation Reform (CECR)
Raising national awareness of effective strategies for performance-based compensation and supporting the
Teacher Incentive Fund Grantees