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This article discusses the importance of understanding teacher union contracts and how businesses can support superintendents in making improvements. It also explores the achievement gap between white and minority students and the impact of effective teachers on student outcomes.
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Understanding the Teacher Union Contract and How Business Can Support the Superintendent in Making Improvements ICW Business LEADs Institute | Summer 2009 Dan Weisberg The New Teacher Project Kate Walsh National Council on Teacher Quality
A significant achievement gap separates white and minority students. By high school, minority students are four years behind white students. NAEP Grade 4 Reading NAEP Reading At age 17, African American and Latino students read at the same levels as 13 year-old white students. Percent of Students Average Scale Score Notes: *Accommodations for students with disabilities and English language learners not permitted; Trends similar for Math. Source: Original analysis of the Education Trust based on Long-Term Trends NAEP ; National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP Data Explorer, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde, NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress
Research has shown that effective teachers are the solution. Dallas students who start 2nd grade at about the same level of math achievement… …finish 5th grade math at dramatically different levels depending on the quality of their teachers. After 3 EFFECTIVE Teachers 50 After 3 INEFFECTIVE Teachers Original analysis by the Education Trust. Source: Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.
Certification Has a One-Point Impact on Achievement Source: Gordon, Kane, Staiger, Identifying Effective Teachers Using Performance on the Job, The Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution, April 2006.
To realize sustainable improvement, effective teaching must be the guiding concern behind all elements of a district’s human capital system. An effective teacher in every classroom Working Conditions Recruitment School- Level Human Cap. Mgmnt. Selection Effectiveness Management Optimize effectiveness of teacher workforce. CORE METRICS Talent Pipeline Create supply of effective teachers to fill all vacancies. CORE METRIC Number and percentage of new teachers who demonstrate effectiveness above a target threshold Retention / Dismissal Training / Certification Compensation Hiring / Placement Evaluation / Prof. Dev. On- Boarding Measures of student learning
New TNTP study, The Widget Effect, shows that teacher performance is used only for punitive purposes (though rarely) in most districts. When is teacher performance information taken into account?
Key Issues In Collective Bargaining and State Law • Collective Bargaining Laws • School Time • Teacher Compensation • Teacher Preparation • STEM Teachers • Pensions • Teacher Evaluation/Tenure/Due Process • Teacher Excessing/Layoff
State laws on collective bargainingWhat’s wrong with this picture?
States have tremendous authority over who gets to be a teacher By the end of ed school Before admission to an ed school No requirement at all
Teacher Evaluation – State ImpactOnly a handful of states require student performance information to be considered in teacher evaluations. Source: National Council on Teacher Quality Teacher Roles, Rules and Rights database located at http://www.nctq.org/tr3/. State allows student performance information to be considered in teacher evaluations State requires student performance information to be considered in teacher evaluations State requires student performance information be the preponderant criterion in teacher evaluations
Teacher Evaluation – Teacher/Principal Views Teachers and principals agree that poor instruction is pervasive. “Are there tenured/non-probationary teachers in your school who deliver poor instruction?” (Percent responding “Yes”) Percent of All Ratings that Indicated “Unsatisfactory” Performance Source: TNTP survey of 7,318 teachers across 4 sites conducted February to April 2009
Teacher Evaluation – Dismissal DataDismissal for poor instructional performance virtually never occurs. Frequency of Teacher Dismissals for Performance (Non-Probationary Teachers)
Teacher Excessing and Layoff: Teacher/Principal ViewsThough excessing and layoff are nearly always done based on seniority, teachers and principals support additional factors being used. “In [District Name], length of service teaching (seniority) in the district determines who should be laid off during a Reduction in Force (RIF). Should additional factors be considered?” Teachers Principals 74% Yes 98% *Answer choices: Yes or No Source: TNTP survey conducted in February 2009 of 1,673 teachers and 61 principals. DRAFT
Roles for Business Community in Contract Reform • Funding Research in Advance of Negotiations • Teacher Impact on Student Achievement • Differential Retention Rates • Alignment of District Investments with Teacher Effectiveness • Spotlighting Key Issues in Advance of Negotiations • Lobbying for State Statutory/Regulatory Reform to Promote Contract Reform Goals • Impact on Student Achievement as Preponderant Criterion in Teacher Evaluation • Public Accountability During and After Negotiations • Providing Alternative Views to Parents • Strategic Support for School Funding
The foundation for state reform has already been laid through ARRA. • Essential Areas for Reform-Outlined by Secretary Duncan on April 1, 2009 • Making improvements in teacher effectivenessand ensuring that all schools have highly qualified teachers. • Making progress toward college and career-ready standards and rigorous assessments that will improve both teaching and learning. • Improving achievement in low-performing schools, by providing intensive supportand effective interventions in schools that need them the most. • Gathering information to improve student learning, teacher performanceand college and career-readiness through enhanced data systems that track progress. • Improving teacher effectiveness and ensuring that all schools have highly qualified teachers • A state would report on the extent to which all students have access to qualified and effective teachers and whether or not teachers are evaluated based on how well their students perform. More specifically, a state would report: • The number and percent of teachers in the highest-poverty and lowest-poverty schools in the state who are highly qualified • The number and percent of teachers and principals rated at each performance levelin each local educational agency’s (LEA’s) teacher evaluation system • The number and percent of LEA teacher and principal evaluation systems that require evidence of student achievement outcomes
Comprehensive Teacher Effectiveness Legislation • Mandate measurement of instructional effectiveness and base critical decisions on effectiveness outcomes • Teacher Identifier: Allow for specific teacher identifiers to allow matching of students and teachers vis-à-vis state standardized tests • Teacher Evaluation: • Establish a multiple rating teacher evaluation system • Allow student performance, as measured through test scores and analysis of student work, to be a component of teacher evaluation. • Meaningfully differentiate instructional performance, and hold districts and administrators accountable for doing so • Granting Non-Probationary Status: base the granting of non-probationary status on student learning outcomes; specifically, it may be advisable to demand that third year teachers be at least as effective as the average first year teacher if they are to receive non-probationary status in the state • Layoffs: when positions are reduced, effectiveness in the classroom should carry more weight than district seniority • Professional Development/Support: require professional development and support systems to align with individual teacher development needs, to increase impact on student learning, with demonstrable results
