National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality National Issue Forum

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality National Issue Forum: "From Planning to Action: Implementation of the Highly Qualified Teacher Plans"
March 28–29, 2007, at the Wyndam Hotel, Washington D.C.

Forum Summary

Day 1

Welcome and Introductions

Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., director of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality , gave a brief welcome to participants and described how the Issue Forum was structured to link with the U.S. Department of Education's Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title II conference regarding the state highly qualified teacher (HQT) plans.

Joint Session – National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality and ESEA Title II National Conference "Equitable Distribution Within the Highly Qualified Teacher Plans"

Elizabeth Witt, Ph.D., team leader for Teacher Quality Programs, U.S. Department of Education, led a discussion on the state requirements for meeting the equitable distribution requirement in their HQT plans. The law requires states to plan equitable distribution strategies, to measure the success of the implementation and outcome of these strategies, and to report publicly on their progress toward meeting the requirement. One difficulty that Dr. Witt has noticed in the state plans is providing clear definitions for many terms (such as minority and experienced), which are linked to the collection of such data that will help inform state plans.

Implementation of the state plans hinges on communicating the plan to the major stakeholders in each state. States must determine who the stakeholders are and how to communicate the implementation strategies and monitor progress toward equitable distribution. Dr. Witt encouraged states to use National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality and other states as resources to generate and implement ideas to achieve equitable distribution of teachers.

Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., director of National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, commented that the Tennessee Department of Education's dissemination of research concerning the equitable distribution of teachers is an excellent example of how to target messages to stakeholders. The research brief, titled Tennessee's Most Effective Teachers, is available online (http://www.state.tn.us/education/nclb/ doc/TeacherEffectiveness2007_03.pdf).

Dr. Witt concluded that individual state plans should not be static; instead, they should be living documents that inform and respond to the long-term project of achieving the equitable distribution of teachers. She also mentioned that local education agencies (LEAs) have a responsibility to work with, and support, state education agencies (SEAs) by collecting data at the local level concerning the outcomes of efforts to promote equitable distribution.

Luncheon Keynote Address: "Equitable Distribution Policies and Practices: Implications for States and Districts"

Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, presented on the equitable distribution of teachers, specifically across schools within districts. When Dr. Roza first began researching teacher compensation, education officials told her that teachers were distributed equitably. When she met with principals, they told her that salary was not a variable in the equitable distribution equation. After many years of gathering district-level data in multiple states, Dr. Roza discovered the following:

Higher salaries paid to more experienced and qualified teachers were diverting district resources to wealthier school districts.
Differential salaries do not necessarily correlate with more qualified teachers; such salaries, however, do relate to teacher retention.
High-needs schools have vastly fewer hiring options than wealthy, high-achieving schools.
Equal is not the same as equitable. The problem is relative, so effective solutions must be relative as well or they perpetuate the disadvantage.

Dr. Roza concluded that there are two different types of solutions to this problem. One solution, the "layer-on" solution, preserves the current salary schedule but adds targeted incentives such as bonuses, professional development, or recruitment of highly effective principals for high-needs schools. The other solution involves the structural change of compensation and hiring practices.

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Regional Comprehensive Assistance Center, and SEA Working Sessions

The working sessions for this Issue Forum revolved around the three major strands found in the state HQT plans: using data to target resources, what technical assistance on meeting HQT provision looks like for districts, and equitable distribution of highly qualified teachers. Each of the working sessions began with a welcome, introductions, and review of the agenda goals and was followed by an overview of the components, format, and purpose of the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality-developed action planning tool (Adobe^® Reader^® PDF 392 KB), Turning State Plans Into Action. The tool was designed to help states think specifically and pragmatically about steps they can take to improve the implementation and outcomes of their approved highly qualified teacher plans. The sessions were facilitated by National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality staff, who introduced a panel of experts on the topic.

The purpose of the working sessions was to provide an opportunity to learn from the expert panelists regarding strategies, policies, and practices relating to each strand. The states had a chance to work in teams and with their regional comprehensive assistance center to determine how to move from planning of their HQT plan to action in their state's implementation of the plan and to use the knowledge learned from the experts and other resources to inform planning and begin the work at the forum using the action planning tool to be continued in their states. Each state team attended three working sessions, one on each strand. State teams were also aided by National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality technical assistants throughout the course of each session.

Strand A: Using Data to Target Resources

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Session Facilitator: Laura Goe, Ph.D., Senior Researcher
National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Planning Tool Expert: Cortney Rowland, Policy Products and Services Coordinator

Aimee Guidera, from the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), talked about the power of using longitudinal data and the resources that exist at the DQC. She discussed the cultural change underway and encouraged states to view data as a flashlight, not a hammer. Longitudinal data, gathered on the same student from year to year, makes it possible to follow individual growth and figure out the value added of specific programs, student mobility and attrition, school effectiveness, and the impact of teacher preparation, training, and professional development on student achievement. If states have a unique teacher and student identifier, they can examine teacher preparation programs that produce graduates whose students have the strongest academic growth. Guidera also presented the 10 essential elements of a longitudinal data system, of which having a unique identifier was thought the most significant.

Stephen Barr, Ed.D., of the Ohio Department of Education, talked about the extensive, coordinated data system that Ohio designed and implemented. Dr. Barr stated that technology is a useful tool in targeting resources. The system in Ohio included needs assessment and diagnostic tools that districts can use to measure change. It also includes a decision framework that uses the data to illuminate promising solutions. The decision framework has four tiers: achievement, root cause analysis, climate and conditions, and resource management. These data tools are aligned with finance and planning services so that different offices can work within the same framework. For example, they can pool all educational funds and then disburse these funds by building based on the results of needs assessment and diagnostic results.

Melody Schopp, from the South Dakota Department of Education, began with a discussion of the unique challenges in her state, mainly being that the state serves extremely rural districts. Also, in South Dakota, the high Native American population lives in abject poverty, making recruitment and retention for the highest-needs reservation schools a challenge. In the state, they have two data systems in place: the Personnel Record Form System (employment) and the Certification System. The state has been able to match the databases together in order to generate the HQT report. The HQT report is a live database, available online year-round (except for the one month while data is verified, which generally occurs in October). The database is updated annually to reflect degrees obtained by teachers and Praxis II test scores.

Lee Sherry, Ph.D., National University and formerly of the Florida Department of Education, focused on how data have fostered decision making in Florida, where he directed the system. This system tracked personnel supply and demand and included as data elements HQT information by course codes matched to teacher certification data. Dr. Sherry explained that Florida's voter mandate to reduce class size exacerbated its existing teacher shortage and made increasing the supply of highly qualified teachers a strategic imperative. He also emphasized that SEAs must use data to identify and plan the most effective steps to take to meet HQT requirements.

Strand B: What Technical Assistance on Meeting HQT Provision Looks Like for Districts

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Session Facilitator: Amy Jackson, Center Deputy Director
National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Planning Tool Expert: Jane Coggshall, Ph.D., Research Associate

Gary Manford, Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center and Kansas State Department of Education, discussed his role as the "information conduit" from the federal government to the states. Manford mentioned that as a regional comprehensive assistance center employee working in the same building as Kansas Department of Education staff, he is able to provide timely, appropriate, and efficient technical assistance. Manford described his technique as a multi-tiered model. His graphic organizer showed the intersection of three circles of teacher quality as the starting point of conversation about teacher quality issues. These three circles include the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and school improvement laws. He gave the example from the past spring: When many of the Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center states did not pass the first round of HQT plan reviews, Manford contacted National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, which then worked with the states to revise and edit the state plans.

Julie McCargar, Ed.D., Tennessee Department of Education, discussed what Tennessee learned about equitable distribution by analyzing its extensive educational database. The distribution of teacher quality in Tennessee in terms of experience, credentials, and retention matched the national pattern of inequitable distribution. Dr. McCargar described how the state ranked schools within each district to compare local inequities and found that the worst inequities were located in smaller urban areas that were surrounded by upper-middle-class suburban districts. Using this data, six district teams are working to improve the equitable distribution of teachers by increasing district-to-district communication.

In Tennessee, educational policymakers also took advantage of the value-added data system to look at the equitable distribution of teachers by teacher effectiveness. The research also was published in a research brief, titled Tennessee's Most Effective Teachers, which was distributed at the conference. These data were used to inform strategies to improve the equitable distribution of teachers. In addition, Tennessee partnered with Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) and National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality to offer two webinars to discuss the research presented. The webinars will be posted on the ARCC website at http://www.arcc.edvantia.org. The Tennessee research brief is available at http://www.state.tn.us/education/ nclb/doc/TeacherEffectiveness2007_03.pdf

Susan Villani, Ed.D., New York Comprehensive Center, focused on the use of mentoring and induction to provide assistance to the state and districts. Dr. Villani promoted the use of a collaborative model that provides mentoring to new teachers and also trains the mentor teachers to train their colleagues. She suggested that this program provides ongoing training and support (i.e., professional development for teachers). Dr. Villani also said this model builds capacity over time, leading to the program becoming self-sustaining.

Strand C: Equitable Distribution of Highly Qualified Teachers

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Session Facilitator: Tricia Coulter, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Research and Dissemination
National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Planning Tool Expert: Amy Potemski, Research Specialist

Leslie James, Nevada Department of Education, discussed the state perspective on teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. Nevada is focusing on the Teacher Incentive Fund Grant, which would aid in the provision of bonuses and extended mentorship to teachers and principals working in schools with 30 percent or more high-poverty students. The program would emphasize multiple approaches, such as mentorship activities and professional development that focus on pedagogical skills, curriculum development, and equity in terms of instruction. The state also will focus on data collected, using evaluation and retention data along with formative assessments to inform instructional decisions.

George Ann Rice, Ph.D., Clark County Schools, Nevada, continued the discussion by describing the nontraditional incentives that Clark County is using to attract and retain teachers. Dr. Rice said that the district is one of the fastest growing in the state, and high housing costs in the area are a problem for beginning teachers. In response, the school district hosted job fairs for spouses and other cohabitants. They also provide beginning teachers with social networking events, so that they can meet other young teachers with similar interests. Through the Urban Teachers Academy, beginning teachers receive intensive mentorship; Clark County School District offers free housing for the Academy term and raises each teacher one column on the salary schedule for participating. The importance of this initiative is that funding is tied to meaningful, targeted learning experiences. Dr. Rice mentioned that in Clark County, the district works closely with the teacher unions—an involvement that has worked in the county's favor.

Wesley Williams, Ohio Department of Education, reported on the systems perspective of securing highly qualified teachers for high-needs schools. The goal, as Williams described it, is to support teachers from entry into the profession through retirement using the MODEL approach: monitor, organize, design, ensure, and leverage. One of the 68 strategies that Williams was charged with moving forward was building relationships with the schools through 25 site visits. He followed the data to the schools and conducted interviews and focus groups with local stakeholders about their successes and needs, focusing on how the state can best support them. Another strategy was the Teacher Equity Project, which armed teachers with data to analyze the sources of inequity in the schools, and thus inform strategies for change and assist with leveraging funds for resources.

Jennifer Presley, Ph.D., Illinois Education Research Council, presented on independent research regarding the equitable distribution of teachers in Illinois. Some data already were available on student outcomes, though some variables were missing. Using a principal components analysis, Dr. Presley used the data that she could gather for Illinois teachers and empirically weighted the importance of various indicators of teacher quality. This became the Teacher Quality Index (TQI). She then ranked teachers by their TQI quartile and displayed the results by the percentage school poverty in which the teacher worked. The results were significantly skewed in the direction of inequitable distribution. Further analysis indicated that 54 percent of the variance in teacher quality across students by poverty level was within school districts. Dr. Presley concluded that her research implies that experience is only one of many variables indicative of a quality teacher.

Regional Comprehensive Assistance Center Roundtable Discussion: "Providing Technical Assistance Within a Network of Support"

Amy Jackson, National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, facilitated this discussion with regional comprehensive assistance center staff focusing on relationships between National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, the regional comprehensive centers, and their SEAs. Four major questions directed the conversation. Those questions, with discussion points, are as follows:

How are you engaging SEAs around teacher quality issues?

Data collection and reporting requirements.
Assist SEAs in piecing together fragmented programs to increase capacity.
Encourage states to use the Comprehensive Continuous Improvement Plan (CCIP) framework and adapt their data collection and use.
Leverage needs with requirements: funds and people to support data systems.
Use integrated planning to close gap between teacher quality initiatives.
Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center has enhanced communication, coordination, and collaboration by imbedding a person in each state department.

What has been involved in the shift to focusing on teacher quality?

Principal quality
Induction programs
Logic models for program implementation
Credentialing issues

What are some strategies for communicating with agencies that oversee teacher credentialing?

Reauthorization of special education and general education credentials.
U.S. Virgin Islands summit brought educators and policymakers together to collaborate on these issues; some suggestions from summit have been incorporated into their state plans.

What can National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality do for you?

Help the regional comprehensive assistance center staff understand the difference between highly qualified and highly effective teachers.
Describe and give strategies for developing effective leadership.
Determine what incentives are effective means of attracting teachers to high-needs schools.
Provide the regional comprehensive assistance center staff with useful tools.
Compile rural recruitment success stories in response to the difficulty recruiting teachers.

Jackson concluded with a short discussion on National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality's plans for work in the upcoming months. She encouraged regional comprehensive assistance center staff to utilize the Teaching Quality (TQ) Source website (http://www.tqsource.org) for resources on these topics and more.

Dinner Keynote and Discussion: "Reauthorizing NCLB and Teacher Quality: Thoughts for the Future"

Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D., Learning Point Associates, introduced the dinner speaker and helped facilitate questions after the presentation.

Roberto Rodriguez, senior education advisor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, spoke on the topic of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. Of the topics under consideration for updating the law, Rodriguez mentioned that a focus on pedagogy along with content expertise would be examined regarding teacher qualifications. He also mentioned teacher effectiveness and professional development as key points of interest.

Day 2

Welcome and Keynote Panel: "Moving Policy Into Action"

Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, began the session with a brief look back at the history of the Highly Qualified Teacher initiative, beginning in January 2002. To encourage participants to think about the next step in moving beyond monitoring and compliance, Dr. Laine delineated four phases of implementation: early, interim, emerging, and future implementation of the HQT plans. Key areas of interest mentioned were the equitable distribution of teachers, along with a focus on data systems and professional development, reporting on the distribution of highly qualified teachers, and understanding and measuring teacher effectiveness.

Melody Schopp, South Dakota Department of Education, discussed the actions that South Dakota has taken in response to the highly qualified teacher requirements. For example, South Dakota has created a live, online reporting system developed by using teacher quality data that the state has been able to collect, along with actively collaborating with institutions of higher education, amending state policies related to teacher testing, and promoting National Board for Professional Teaching Standards for certification. The state also has established mentoring programs, such as a new teacher academy summer program for first- and second-year teachers to work with master teachers. Schopp also mentioned that the state is seeking alternative certification candidates to fill highest need rural positions as well as further collaboration with higher education in which a review of the teacher preparation program led to renewed standards and partnership with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Leslie James, Nevada Department of Education, discussed the changing nature of Nevada's challenges. A unique challenge of Nevada is that it is the fastest growing state, and 70 percent of the population is clustered in Clark County. The area has a tremendous need for urban teachers. Taking a systems perspective that teachers will stay at schools offering supportive working conditions and great leadership, Nevada sought to align and integrate elements. It used the Council of Chief State School Officers template to maximize school effectiveness.

George Ann Rice, Ph.D., of Clark County School District in Nevada, offered a district perspective of the HQT challenges that relate to the presentation made by Leslie James. In Clark County, Dr. Rice formed good working relationships with the state and the teachers union while trying to serve 6,000 new residents per month and meet the need to hire 3,200 new teachers last year. She accomplished this goal in the face of decreasing numbers of teachers being trained locally and difficulties with recruiting and retaining teachers nationally. One strategy used was to allow high-needs schools early notification of teacher applications and make offers in advance. Dr. Rice mentioned that this approach was possible through partnership with the local teachers union, whose support was gained for the policy. Also, to increase the number of minority male candidates, Clark County utilized the Troops to Teachers alternative certification program.

Stephen Barr, Ed.D., Ohio Department of Education, talked about the focus in Ohio on process changes. Previous to NCLB, Ohio had a strong set of data that remained unused. The law forced the state to change its process, and state education officials learned how to use current data. Instead of storing the 40 different district plans separately, the state now aggregates district plans within one data system so all compliance challenges are reported. Ohio's new data system also allows different departments and agencies to access each others' data. Dr. Barr stated that these structural changes will facilitate long-term improvement. He also offered several suggestions for states: cooperate in sharing data and strategies, set standards that will help leverage funds to meet the standards, and turn to facilitators when different perspectives make it difficult to move forward.

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Regional Comprehensive Assistance Center, and SEA Working Sessions

Working sessions were repeated in the morning and afternoon on the second day of the Issue Forum. These sessions repeated the structure of the previous day's working session. For each of the three strands, participants heard from experts in policy, practice, and research, guided by an National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality facilitator. The participants spent the remainder of the session discussing and completing the section and components of the action planning tool (Turning State Plans Into Action) that aligned with the session strand. The goal was for the states to use the knowledge learned from the experts and other resources, such as the model components document, to inform planning and begin the work at the forum using the action planning tool to be continued in their states.

Luncheon Presentation: "Ongoing Assistance From National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality"

Amy Jackson, National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, discussed the various resources that the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality provides to the education community. The website (http://www.tqsource.org) provides many resources, along with the interactive database at the TQ Source website (http://www.tqsource.org). Jackson thanked participants and presenters and encouraged regional comprehensive centers to contact National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality for support with teacher quality issues.

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