Description of Topics

Leadership
Leadership efforts toward improving teacher quality would be incomplete without similar efforts toward improving the quality of school leaders. As well, there is an increasing emphasis on teacher leadership. Several resources are available here, including publications that provide research and strategies on leadership standards, data systems, principal evaluation, teacher career ladders, and distributed leadership to help RCCs and SEA and LEA personnel address leadership issues.

Special Education
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) confirm that teachers need to be prepared and supported to meet the needs of all learners—both general education learners and learners with disabilities. The purpose of the section on special education is to offer policymakers and institutions of higher education information and resources related to special education. In an effort to provide information to those who prepare and support teachers, the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality offers the TQ Connection. This new resource, targeted to teacher preparation programs, provides the most up-to-date strategies and research-based practice and policy on how the goals of NCLB might be achieved.

State Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) Plans
In July 2006, states were required to submit plans to the U.S. Department of Education that outlined how they plan to meet a variety of teacher quality goals. These plans were to focus on areas such as technical assistance for local education agencies (LEAs) and teacher equitable distribution. Many states consider these plans living documents and use them as tools to guide ongoing efforts for meeting HQT requirements of NCLB as well as long-term educator quality goals in the state. The section on HQT plans offers several resources and technical assistance options related to this important topic.

Certification and Licensure
The purpose of the teacher certification and licensure section is to help policymakers, institutions of higher education, and others find information about programs, data, policies, and the realities of general and special education teacher certification and licensure across the country.

Effectiveness and Evaluation
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) call for states to direct their attention to teacher effectiveness. States, districts, and schools must determine how to define teacher effectiveness and which evaluation measures are most suitable for which circumstances. This section introduces the research and policy behind evaluating practitioners, including a five-point definition of teacher effectiveness, and helps states and districts translate that information into concrete strategies and action steps.

Preparation
Teacher preparation is the first stage of the formal teacher development process. The purpose of the teacher preparation section is to help policymakers, institutions of higher education, and others answer important questions and tap into useful information about programs, data, policies, and the realities of teacher preparation across the country.

Recruitment and Retention
The purpose of the teacher recruitment and retention section is to help policymakers, institutions of higher education, and others answer important questions related to recruitment and retention and to find out about programs, data, and policies related to teacher recruitment and retention across the country.

Equitable Distribution
Underqualified teachers typically serve in hard-to-staff schools where turnover is frequent and openings are often filled with inexperienced and uncredentialed teachers. States, districts, and schools have an obligation to work toward ensuring that all students—regardless of race, poverty, or geography—have access to highly qualified teachers. The purpose of the section on equitable distribution is to offer policymakers and other education decision makers resources and strategies to address issues related to equitable distribution.