The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) is a national resource for:
- Regional Comprehensive Centers
- State Departments of Education
- And other education stakeholders
Goals:
- Improve the quality of teaching, especially in high-poverty, low-performing, and hard-to-staff schools.
- Provide guidance to ensure that highly qualified teachers are serving students with special needs.
Latest TQ Center Resources
New! Database on State Teacher Evaluation Policies (STEP): Executive Summary
New! Database on State Teacher Evaluation Policies (STEP)
New! Online Practical Guide to Designing Comprehensive Teacher Evaluation Systems
New! TQ Policy-to-Practice Brief
Alternative Measures of Teacher Performance
New! Innovation Configurations
New! Research & Policy Brief
Measuring Teachers' Contributions to Student Learning Growth for Nontested Subjects and Grades 
New! Research & Policy Brief
High Quality Professional Development for All Teachers: Effectively Allocating Resources
In the Spotlight
Database on State Teacher Evaluation Policies (STEP)
The STEP Database is an interactive, online database of teacher evaluation policies in seventeen states. The database includes information on eight key components of comprehensive teacher evaluation systems. Users can select states and components to generate customized tables in PDF format displaying database results.
From Implementation to Sustainability Webinar Series
"From Implementation to Sustainability" is the free and interactive webinar series presented by the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC). These sessions will provide state, regional, and national perspectives on timely issues, such as transitioning to the common Core Standards, early warning systems, and college and career readiness. There are four sessions in the series with each session lasting approximately an hour and a half. To view the webinars, please go to: http://www.arcc.edvantia.org/page/Webinars.
Transforming Teacher Work: A Brief From Advance Illinois
In the brief, Transforming Teacher Work , real teachers from Advance Illinois’s Educator Advisory Council provide their perspective to policymakers, superintendents, and principals about how to change their profession in order to attract and retain the best talent and meet student needs.
The report cites four guideposts as critical to transformation:
- Time for teachers to collaborate effectively,
- Shared leadership and responsibility with administrators,
- Professional learning and continuous growth, and
- Evolving career paths available without leaving the classroom.
Tricia Coulter Miller Named Director of the TQ Center
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) is pleased to announce that Tricia Coulter Miller, Ph.D., has been promoted to the position of director of the TQ Center effective October 1, 2011. Dr. Miller has been the deputy director of the TQ Center for the past three years assisting in general operations, coordinating technical assistance requests, and working with regional comprehensive center (RCC) TQ liaisons.
National Center for Teacher Effectiveness Webinar Series
The National Center for Teacher Effectiveness (NCTE) hosted a webinar series that featured presentations by experts who have developed and/or supported systems of classroom observation at scale. The presentations include six one-hour presentations by experts from Cambridge Education, Pearson Education, Teachstone, NIET, Teachscape and The New Teacher Project . Each presenter shared their experience and practical lessons about training and certifying raters for classroom observation. The recorded presentations and Powerpoints can be found at: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ncte/news/NCTE_Webinars.php.
Innovation Configurations
Teacher effectiveness, equitable distribution, and teacher preparation are inextricably linked. Recognizing that evidence-based practices account for at least part of the effects of teachers on achievement and the critical role of teacher preparation, the TQ Center offers innovation configurations to promote the implementation of evidence-based instructional practices in teacher preparation activities.
Teacher Leader Model Standards
Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium
The purpose of these standards—like all model standards—is to stimulate dialogue among stakeholders of the teaching profession about what constitutes the knowledge, skills, and competencies that teachers need to assume leadership roles in their schools, districts, and the profession.
Teacher Evaluation Models in Practice
This new TQ Center online resource responds to the need for detailed information about the design, implementation, and delivery of teacher evaluation models in practice in districts and states.
School Improvement Grant Capacity-Building Conferences and Webinars
The TQ Center hosted a webinar series on teacher evaluation as part of the School Turnaround Learning Community for School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools, districts, and states. Topics included Selecting Evaluation Measures, Training Educators for the New System, and Using Evaluation Results. The archived webinar recordings are available for viewing.
Selecting Evaluation Measures, August 12, Dr. Laura Goe and Dr. David Steele
Training Educators for the New Evaluation Systems, September 9, Lynn Holdheide, Kate McMahon, Cynthia Robinson, Bryan Devine
Q & A on Training Educators for the New Evaluation System, September 16
Using Evaluation Results, September 23, Dr. Laura Goe, Kietha Biggers, and Dr. Rubye Sullivan
Q & A on Using Evaluation Results, September 30
The Comprehensive Centers also collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education to host a series of regional capacity-building conferences for SIG grantees. The following four conferences were held:
