During this preconference meeting, regional comprehensive center teacher quality liaisons and their state managers/liaisons will meet with National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) staff to share capacity-building successes and stories, become oriented to their role as regional and/or state team facilitators, and collaborate across regional centers.

Facilitators

• Gretchen Weber, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates
• Tricia Coulter, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates

Lord Culpeper Room, Lindens Suite, Sulgrave Suite, Benjamin Latrobe Room, Imperial I, Imperial II, Decatur Room, Alice Longworth Room

Because the primary goal of the TQ Center Annual What Works Conference is to build the capacity of participants, state and regional teams will use this time to determine how they can add value to their conference experience through conference session attendance and the use of working sessions materials provided by the TQ Center.

Facilitators

• TQ Center Staff
• RCC Teacher Quality Liaisons

During this preconference meeting, new attendees to the What Works Conference will learn about the federal technical assistance and dissemination network system of support that is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Participants also will have the opportunity to learn how the TQ Center provides technical assistance for RCCs in conjunction with their work with state departments of education and related agencies.

Presenters

• Tricia Coulter, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates
• Patricia Fleming, Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center

As it is becoming increasingly evident that no single reform effort, program, or initiative can address the unique challenges faced by school districts working to recruit and retain a sufficient number of high-quality teachers, the opening conference presentation and keynote panel will address the theme of the conference: "Building Capacity for a Systems Approach to Improving Educator Quality." Following the opening remarks, a panel of practitioners will share their views on how a systems approach to educator talent management affects teachers on a day-to-day basis and how such an approach can advance efforts to attract and retain the "best and brightest" in the teaching profession.

Presenters

• Lewis Chappelear, California 2008 Teacher of the Year, James Monroe High School, Los Angeles Unified School District
• Maria Fenwick, Ralph Waldo Emerson School, Boston Public Schools
• Amy McIntosh, New York City Department of Education
• Sabrina Laine, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates

A. The Human Capital Management Movement in Education: Its Meanings and Methods

There is a tendency to take a piecemeal approach to improving teacher quality by enhancing just one or several components of the teacher career continuum (e.g., teacher preparation, recruitment, hiring, induction, professional development, working conditions, compensation, evaluation, and leadership.) This concurrent session addresses the need to take a comprehensive, holistic approach to improving teacher quality that recognizes the need to align policies and leverage resources. Innovative educational leaders are investigating streamlined models that utilize a more systemic approach that integrates the various crucial policy components and provides institutions of higher education (IHEs), schools, and districts a framework for identifying and rectifying gaps in their human capital system in a coordinated and coherent manner.

Presenters

• David Axner, Superintendent of Schools, Dublin, Ohio
• Judy Wurtzel, The Aspen Institute
• Susan Tave Zelman, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and former Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ohio Moderator
• Ted Stilwill, Learning Point Associates

In order for students to successfully meet the real-world demands of work and postsecondary education of the 21st century's global economy, teachers must provide all students with high-quality, rigorous instruction. However, in order for teachers to effectively prepare students for the challenges of the future, they must be adequately prepared and properly supported. This session will feature a discussion of how to direct the creativity and potential of Gen Y teachers into statewide efforts to build successful schools for the 21st century that will attract and inspire this next generation of teachers and school leaders. The session will highlight what states, districts, and IHEs can do to enhance educators' content National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality 2008 What Works Conference Agenda—4 expertise and broaden their pedagogical skills, particularly with regard to technology, collaboration, and innovative teaching methods that are designed to prepare students for success in the 21st century.

Presenters

• Carolyn Brown, The Comprehensive Center for School Reform and Improvement at Learning Point Associates
• Celine Coggins, Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy
• Maria Fenwick, Ralph Waldo Emerson School, Boston Public Schools

Moderator

• George "Pinky" Nelson, Western Washington University and former NASA astronaut

As the role of the principal shifts from manager to instructional leader and as teachers assume increasing leadership responsibilities, IHEs, states, districts, and schools must work together to develop innovative programs that will effectively prepare, develop, and support principals and teachers in these new roles. School leaders today must proactively create positive working and learning environments and effectively use data to drive improvements in both instruction and student achievement. This session will examine changes in the role of school leaders and highlight best practices in schools and districts that build capacity by creating leadership pathways that prepare teachers to become teacher leaders or principals. These pathways provide teachers with strong professional development, improve retention, and utilize the knowledge and expertise of experienced teachers to strengthen the performance of all teachers at the school.

Presenters

• Kim Burke, Nalle Elementary School, Washington D.C. Public Schools
• Lewis Chappelear, California 2008 Teacher of the Year, James Monroe High School, Los Angeles Unified School District
• Pamela Coleman, Teacher Education and Licensure, Kansas State Department of Education

Moderator

• Terry Dozier, Center for Teacher Leadership, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education

Teacher professional development and evaluation programs often use a "one-size, fits all" approach by treating all teachers in much the same way, when in fact they often face very different experiences in their classrooms. This session will explore best practices in programs that recruit, prepare, support, and assess teachers of diverse learners, with particular emphasis on the unique challenges associated with teaching in a rural school and instructing students with disabilities and English language learners. These innovative models are tailored to the needs of teachers in specific situations and aim to enable teachers to help all students experience success.

Presenters

• Lawrence Gloeckler, Special Education Institute at the International Center for Leadership in Education
• Socorro Herrera, Kansas State University

Moderator

• Dan Reschly, TQ Center and Vanderbilt University

States have worked diligently throughout the past several years to ensure that all of their teachers are highly qualified under the guidelines of NCLB. Now, many states and districts are moving beyond a focus on highly qualified teaching to an emphasis on highly effective teaching. This session differentiates between highly qualified and highly effective teachers and explores how schools, districts, and states can support the development of highly effective teachers. Presenters will discuss a range of strategies to support this development including the creation of professional learning communities, embedded professional development, valueadded measures of student performance, mentoring, and coaching. When these strategies are implemented creatively and within a coordinated and coherent approach, they result in both improved teacher quality and higher student achievement.

Presenters

• Charlotte Danielson, Consultant
• Janet Gless, The New Teacher Center at the University of California–Santa Cruz
• John Tyler, Brown University

Moderator

• Laura Goe, TQ Center and ETS

Predominantly Rural States—Lord Culpeper Room
Predominantly Mixed Urban and Rural States—Lindens Suite
Single-State RCCs—Decatur Room
Multistate RCCs—Alice Longworth Room
Institutions of Higher Education and Other Educator Quality Organizations—Benjamin Latrobe Room

During these roundtable sessions, participants will meet in groups according to roles (e.g., IHEs, RCCs, states with educator quality issues in rural areas, etc.) to identify the key pressure points in the educator quality system. In order to recruit, develop, and retain a sufficient number of high-quality teachers for all children, multiple agencies and institutions at different levels must attend to a number of complex policy areas. Guided by stimulating discussion questions, participants will reflect upon the existing opportunities and challenges in taking a systemic approach to educator quality and strategize on how to effectively build capacity.

As the national education policy agenda moves forward, how do best practices and research about teacher quality inform policy? Engage in a conversation with Steven Sun to discuss implementation of best practices in teacher quality and teacher effectiveness and how to move those best practices to scale across the country.

Facilitators

• Steven Sun, Office of Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA)
• Paul Kimmelman, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates

This invitation-only session will focus on the HQT monitoring process. Seventeen states will be monitored by the U.S. Department of Education this year. The TQ Center invited representatives from those 17 states as well as their RCC colleagues to attend this session to prepare for the monitoring process. TQ Center staff will share lessons learned from the monitoring process, and participants will hear from panelists of three states that have already been monitored, who will discuss how they prepared for monitoring as well as some of the state work that contributes to the commendations that they received from the U.S. Department of Education. A question-answer session will follow the panel discussion.

Presenters

• Linda Benedetto, Pennsylvania Department of Education
• Carol Illian, Wyoming Department of Education
• Flora Jenkins, Michigan Department of Education
• Amy Potemski, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates
• Cortney Rowland, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates

Discussant

• Elizabeth Witt, U.S. Department of Education

After nearly two years of hearing expert testimony, systematically examining the research base, and working in focused task groups, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel released their final report titled Foundations for Success. This report synthesizes the best available scientific evidence regarding the essential knowledge of mathematics that children need to be successful as well as how to recruit, prepare, certify, and support the teachers who are responsible for leading students to grasp this knowledge. This keynote panel presentation is a unique gathering of the national content centers and will explore the findings and implications of the report as they relate to teacher quality, assessment, innovation, instruction, and high school reform. Panelists will describe the resources available at each content center and distill the essential knowledge that RCCs and state education agencies (SEAs) need to ensure that all children succeed in mathematics.

Presenters

• Angela Penfold, The Center on Instruction
• Nancy Protheroe, The Center on Innovation and Improvement
• Kirk Walters, The National High School Center

Moderator

• Francis "Skip" Fennell, McDaniel College (Member of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel and former president of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) Discussant
• Sabrina Laine, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates

This panel will provide federal perspectives on the recent reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which is intended to improve teacher quality by strengthening teacher preparation programs. Panelists will describe the key components of this legislation, such as the five new teacher education programs included in Title II, changes in the structures of the Teacher Quality Enhancement grants, and accountability measures for institutions of higher education.

Presenters

• David Cleary, Office of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
• Gabriella Gomez, Office of Congressman George Miller (D-CA)
• Jane West, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

Facilitator

• Katherine Bassett, TQ Center and ETS

Lord Culpeper Room, Alice Longworth Room, Benjamin Latrobe Room, Decatur Room, Dumbarton Suite, Sulgrave Suite, Grand Ballroom II

Full regional and state teams will meet in designated breakout rooms to discuss conference themes and share ways in which these themes reflect priority areas in their state or region. Working session materials will support the teams in collaborating on issues of teacher quality and leadership.

Shortages of quality teachers in science, mathematics, and related subjects, such as engineering and technology, have been a perennial policy concern for many decades. The shallow pool of potential teachers in these subjects is due in part to a cyclical problem by which, having not benefited from effective science and mathematics teachers themselves, many individuals lack confidence and interest in these subject areas. In this keynote presentation, former NASA astronaut Dr. George "Pinky" Nelson will discuss the innovative Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Program at Western Washington University. This program breaks the mathematics and science talent pool cycle by providing carefully designed preservice instruction and professional development through an authentic partnership between university and community college faculty and K–12 schools to improve science instruction in elementary, secondary, and higher education classes. The keynote will discuss how this program improves teacher effectiveness through higher education science content classes, teacher preparation classes, and K–12 buildings and classrooms, to graduate a new generation of teachers ready to prepare students for 21st century challenges and breakthroughs.

Presenter

• George "Pinky" Nelson, Western Washington University and former NASA astronaut

Facilitator

• Paul Kimmelman, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates

There is a tendency to take a piecemeal approach to improving teacher quality by enhancing just one or several components of the teacher career continuum (e.g., teacher preparation, recruitment, hiring, induction, professional development, working conditions, compensation, evaluation, and leadership.) This concurrent session addresses the need to take a comprehensive, holistic approach to improving teacher quality that recognizes the need to align policies and leverage resources. Innovative educational leaders are investigating streamlined models that utilize a more systemic approach that integrates the various crucial policy components and provides institutions of higher education (IHEs), schools, and districts a framework for identifying and rectifying gaps in their human capital system in a coordinated and coherent manner.

Presenters

• David Axner, Superintendent of Schools, Dublin, Ohio
• Judy Wurtzel, The Aspen Institute
• Susan Tave Zelman, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and former Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ohio Moderator
• Ted Stilwill, Learning Point Associates

In order for students to successfully meet the real-world demands of work and postsecondary education of the 21st century's global economy, teachers must provide all students with high-quality, rigorous instruction. However, in order for teachers to effectively prepare students for the challenges of the future, they must be adequately prepared and properly supported. This session will feature a discussion of how to direct the creativity and potential of Gen Y teachers into statewide efforts to build successful schools for the 21st century that will attract and inspire this next generation of teachers and school leaders. The session will highlight what states, districts, and IHEs can do to enhance educators' content National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality 2008 What Works Conference Agenda—4 expertise and broaden their pedagogical skills, particularly with regard to technology, collaboration, and innovative teaching methods that are designed to prepare students for success in the 21st century.

Presenters

• Carolyn Brown, The Comprehensive Center for School Reform and Improvement at Learning Point Associates
• Celine Coggins, Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy
• Maria Fenwick, Ralph Waldo Emerson School, Boston Public Schools

Moderator

• George "Pinky" Nelson, Western Washington University and former NASA astronaut

As the role of the principal shifts from manager to instructional leader and as teachers assume increasing leadership responsibilities, IHEs, states, districts, and schools must work together to develop innovative programs that will effectively prepare, develop, and support principals and teachers in these new roles. School leaders today must proactively create positive working and learning environments and effectively use data to drive improvements in both instruction and student achievement. This session will examine changes in the role of school leaders and highlight best practices in schools and districts that build capacity by creating leadership pathways that prepare teachers to become teacher leaders or principals. These pathways provide teachers with strong professional development, improve retention, and utilize the knowledge and expertise of experienced teachers to strengthen the performance of all teachers at the school.

Presenters

• Kim Burke, Nalle Elementary School, Washington D.C. Public Schools
• Lewis Chappelear, California 2008 Teacher of the Year, James Monroe High School, Los Angeles Unified School District
• Pamela Coleman, Teacher Education and Licensure, Kansas State Department of Education

Moderator

• Terry Dozier, Center for Teacher Leadership, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education

Teacher professional development and evaluation programs often use a "one-size, fits all" approach by treating all teachers in much the same way, when in fact they often face very different experiences in their classrooms. This session will explore best practices in programs that recruit, prepare, support, and assess teachers of diverse learners, with particular emphasis on the unique challenges associated with teaching in a rural school and instructing students with disabilities and English language learners. These innovative models are tailored to the needs of teachers in specific situations and aim to enable teachers to help all students experience success.

Presenters

• Lawrence Gloeckler, Special Education Institute at the International Center for Leadership in Education
• Socorro Herrera, Kansas State University

Moderator

• Dan Reschly, TQ Center and Vanderbilt University

States have worked diligently throughout the past several years to ensure that all of their teachers are highly qualified under the guidelines of NCLB. Now, many states and districts are moving beyond a focus on highly qualified teaching to an emphasis on highly effective teaching. This session differentiates between highly qualified and highly effective teachers and explores how schools, districts, and states can support the development of highly effective teachers. Presenters will discuss a range of strategies to support this development including the creation of professional learning communities, embedded professional development, valueadded measures of student performance, mentoring, and coaching. When these strategies are implemented creatively and within a coordinated and coherent approach, they result in both improved teacher quality and higher student achievement.

Presenters

• Charlotte Danielson, Consultant
• Janet Gless, The New Teacher Center at the University of California–Santa Cruz
• John Tyler, Brown University

Moderator

• Laura Goe, TQ Center and ETS

In order to recruit and retain a sufficient number of high-quality teachers for all students, public schools must provide a spectrum of interconnected policies and practices across the teachers' career continuum. Dr. Susan Moore Johnson, Director of the Next Generation of Teachers Project at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, will explore the challenge of developing a differentiated career in teaching. This presentation will highlight what the latest research reveals about the types of support, professional development, professional roles, working conditions, and compensation that are likely to ensure that new teachers will remain in, and thrive in, the teaching profession.

Presenter

• Susan Moore Johnson, Harvard University and the Next Generation of Teachers Project

Facilitator

• Sabrina Laine, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates

In this interactive workshop, participants will examine the ways that teacher effectiveness is being assessed around the country in order to explore this critical aspect of performance management in human capital development. Participants will learn how to communicate effectively about issues of teacher effectiveness in order to build consensus on terminology and support for policies related to teacher assessment for accountability. Finally, participants will become familiar with the many TQ Center resources on this topic.

Presenters

• Jane Coggshall, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates
• Laura Goe, TQ Center and ETS
• Ginny Elliott, Georgia Master Teacher Program, Georgia Professional Standards Commission

In this workshop, the TQ Center will continue working with regional comprehensive centers and states to implement state HQT plans. Workshop presenters and participants will discuss the topic of how to shift components of the plan from technical compliance to policy levers for change. Issues such as provisions of Section 2141 in NCLB, lessons-learned from the HQT monitoring process, and working with local education agencies (LEAs) will be addressed. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from other states about their efforts to implement their state plans.

Presenters

• Cortney Rowland, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates
• Cathryn Gardner, Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center
• Beverly Pratt, Oregon Department of Education
• Danny Martinez, Southeast Comprehensive Center
• Janice Zube, Louisiana Department of Education
• Gwendolyn Watson, Tennessee Department of Education

Because SEAs, IHEs, and LEAs work collaboratively to achieve NCLB's highly qualified teacher and student achievement goals, this workshop will build on existing collaborative state models to enhance teacher preservice and inservice practices. The workshop will include opportunities for supervised application of innovation configurations to ensure that high-quality teacher preparation and continuing professional development offerings include a focus on evidence-based instructional practices. Innovation configurations defining key components and levels of implementation for scientifically based instruction in reading, classroom organization/behavior management, inclusive practices, and learning strategies will be presented and applied to course syllabi from teacher preparation programs.

Presenters

• Dan Reschly, TQ Center and Vanderbilt University
• Martha Hougen, Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of Texas–Austin

Full regional and state teams will meet in designated breakout rooms to discuss conference themes and share ways in which these themes reflect priority areas in their state or region. Working session materials will support the teams in collaborating on issues of teacher quality and leadership.

The 2006–08 HQT data indicate that nationwide 94 percent of classes are staffed with HQTs. Yet, in all but a handful of states, poor and minority students are still disproportionately taught by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers, particularly in high schools. In Title I, Part A Section 1111(b)8(C) of NCLB, states are required to submit plans to ensure that this no longer happens, but even the best plans do not solve problems by themselves. This postconference session will explore the action steps states can take today to ensure the equitable distribution of teachers tomorrow and into the future. Participants will engage in breakout discussions focusing on different types of solutions to the inequitable distribution of teachers. In each session, participants will discuss four aspects of the focus solutions: the desired effects of the solution, the conditions for successful implementation of the solution, the steps that states can take to support successful implementation, and how to measure progress.

Presenter

• Marguerite Roza, Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington

A. Incentives for Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Hard-to Staff Schools

B. Improvements in the Job of Teaching

C. Enhancements in the Local Supply of Teachers

D. Professional Development to Increase Teacher Qualifications and Support Teacher Quality

Presenters

• Marguerite Roza, Center for Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington
• Tricia Coulter, TQ Center and Learning Point Associates