October 2005 Policy Brief

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF), is calling for widespread implementation of comprehensive, long-term teacher induction programs for new teachers. In a recent policy paper entitled, Induction Into Learning Communities , NCTAF presents its vision for comprehensive teacher induction systems that support the learning of new teachers so they remain in the classroom and be effective in their work.

The paper examines data on the impact of induction on teacher retention and emerging information on induction's effects on improving student learning, and goes in-depth on models of strong mentoring programs in the U.S. and comprehensive induction systems in other countries.

According to the policy paper, most new teachers receive only limited assistance from mentors, who may or may not have the time or training needed to provide the kind of instructional assistance required. NCTAF calls for induction systems that go beyond mentoring and include such critical elements as opportunities to observe and be observed by other teachers, common planning time to work with colleagues and share lessons, participation in an external network of teachers, and reduced class preparations and assignment of non-teaching duties.

In this paper, NCTAF reviews induction programs in the U.S. and abroad, viewing induction through the lens of its role in supporting 21st century learning communities. The paper discusses the following key findings:

Induction should be a stage in a continuum of teacher development;
Induction should support entry into a learning community;
Mentoring is a useful component of induction, but only one element of a comprehensive induction system;
External networks, supported by online technologies, can add value; and
Induction is a good investment.

The policy paper found that only one-third of states have polices that require, guide, and finance some type of new teacher induction. According to the paper, the data shows that there is a strong relationship between induction and teacher turnover. NCTAF estimates that America's schools lose approximately $2.6 billion each year to teacher attrition, but recognizes this is a conservative estimate. NCTAF is conducting a Cost of Teacher Turnover study in several districts around the country to help them measure the full costs of turnover.

To help lower those costs, NCTAF recommends that leaders of states, districts, schools, and higher education systems implement and support comprehensive induction systems that are based on four central goals:

Building and deepening teacher knowledge;
Integrating new practitioners into a teaching community and school culture that support the continuous professional growth of all teachers;
Supporting the constant development of the teaching community in the school; and
Encouraging a professional dialogue that articulates the goals, values, and best practices of a community.

Source: NASSMC News Briefs [September 7, 2005]

HIGH-STAKES TESTING AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

According to a new Arizona State University study, high-stakes tests generally don't have a positive impact on student achievement. Researchers found that high-stakes exams increased dropout rates and disproportionately targeted minority students.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, each state is responsible for constructing a system used to hold schools and school districts accountable for student achievement. The belief is that by attaching consequences for student performance, the pressure of high-stakes testing will increase student achievement. However, this study finds that pressure created by high-stakes testing has had almost no important influence on student academic performance.

The researchers used a Pressure Rating Index (PRI) to measure the impact of high-stakes testing pressure on achievement and to account for the differences in testing pressure among the states. Correlations between the PRI and National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) results from 1990 to 2003 in 25 states were analyzed. These analyses revealed that:

The authors concluded that there is no convincing evidence that the pressure associated with high-stakes testing leads to any important benefits for students' achievement. Read more here.

A recent study entitled, The Market for Teacher Quality , indicates that good teachers increase student achievement. Using a unique dataset from the Texas School Microdata Panel, researchers Hanushek, Kain, O'Brien, and Rivkin, measured teacher quality by the annual growth in each student's scores on the mathematics section of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills.

Using student achievement gains to estimate teacher value-added (their measure of teacher quality), substantial variation in the quality of instruction was revealed, mostly occurring within rather than between schools. Although teacher quality appears to be unrelated to advanced degrees or certification, experience does matter -- but only in the first year of teaching. The study also found that good teachers tend to be effective with all student ability levels but that there is a positive value of matching students and teachers by race.

Within their sample, results also indicated that teachers staying in urban schools tend to be as good as or better than those who exit. Therefore, the main cost of large turnover is the introduction of more first year teachers. Finally, there is little or no evidence that districts which offer higher salaries and have better working conditions attract the higher quality teachers. The overall results have a variety of direct policy implications for the design of school accountability and the compensation of teachers. Read more here.

Source: ASCD SmartBriefs [September 22, 2005]

NEW STUDY: LOSING GROUND IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Produced by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, Pa., and the New York City-based Foundation for Child Development, a recent study has found that educational levels of Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers reached a peak during the early 1980s recession. However, beginning in 1983, there was a fall in the educational attainment of the center-based ECE workforce that continued until 2001, when slow job growth made more educated workers available to ECE. This study also found:

The share of U.S. center-based teachers and administrators with at least a four-year college degree averaged 43% from 1983 to 1985, but only 30% in the last three years.
The education levels of ECE teachers have fallen even further relative to the workforce as a whole, which has become better educated over time.
The younger a teacher or administrator is today, the less likely they are to have a college degree. Only a little over a quarter of those ages 24 to 36 have a college degree compared to 36% of those ages 40 to 50 and 43% of those over age 50.
Education levels are lower in home-based ECE than center-based.
The hourly earnings of teachers and administrators in center-based ECE were $10 in 2002-04 compared to $19.23 for all female college graduates.
From 1984 to 1997 the wages of teachers and administrators rose only 43 cents per hour compared to an increase of $2.63 per hour for female college graduates. Most of the fall in the education levels of teachers and administrators took place during 1984 to 1997.
A quarter of center-based teachers and administrators have incomes below 200% of the poverty line, compared to one in five for all workers and one in 14 for all female college graduates.

The study concludes that the position of ECE in the labor market has changed for the worse since the early 1980s and that the challenge of maintaining a qualified early childhood workforce will grow more difficult in the years ahead. Read the study here.

Source: Education Week [September 21, 2005]

QUICK LINKS

The Facts About K-12 Education Funding
The cost of funding education in America's public elementary and secondary schools is the topic of a recently revised publication from the Education Department. 10 Facts About K-12 Education Funding provides an overview of how kindergarten through 12th-grade education is funded in the United States. According to the brochure, in the 2004-05 school year, 83 cents out of every dollar spent on education is estimated to come from state and local contributions. The federal government's share is 8.3 percent, which has risen by more than one-third since 1990-91, when it was 5.7 percent.

The brochure also specifies the funding levels under the No Child Left Behind Act, which has increased every year since it was enacted in January 2002—from $22 billion to the $25.3 billion proposed for fiscal year 2006. Federal dollars under NCLB are sent to states and school districts through a variety of programs, as described briefly in the publication, including Title I (for high-poverty schools), Reading First, Improving Teacher Quality Grants, and English Language Acquisition. Read more about the publication here.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, The Achiever [September 2005]

Commission on the Future of Higher Education
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently announced the formation of the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The new commission is charged with developing a comprehensive national strategy for postsecondary education that will meet the needs of America's diverse population and also address the economic and workforce needs of the country's future.

The commission will engage students and families, policymakers, business leaders, and the academic community in a national dialogue about all key aspects of higher education. Through public hearings to be held around the country, the commission will attempt to answer questions such as: What skills will students need to succeed in the 21st century? How can we make sure America stays the world's leader in academic research? And, how can we make sure opportunities for quality higher education and best jobs are open to all students?

Spellings noted that the achievement gap is closing and test scores are rising among our nation's younger students, due largely to the high standards and accountability measures called for by the No Child Left Behind Act. Read more.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, The Achiever [September 2005]

STATE BY STATE. . .

Arizona Web Site to Serve All Teachers, Students
Arizona education officials hope to have 50,000 state teachers, 1 million students and their families linked through one web site by next August. The new full-service web site, called IDEAL (Integrated Data to Enhance Arizona's Learning), contains learning tools to help schools customize education for individual students and their parents. State education officials hope it can improve test scores, teacher training and parents' understanding of how the school system works. Read more here and visit the site here.
Source: ECS e-CLIPS [September, 23, 2005]

ACT to Replace Michigan Educational Assessment Program
Michigan has picked the American College Test (ACT) to replace the controversial high school MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program) exams beginning with the Class of 2008, Governor Jennifer Granholm recently announced. All 11th graders will be required for the first time to take the college entrance exam in spring 2007. The Michigan version of the ACT is expected to cost approximately $10 million. Educators have said that when a college entrance exam is required, many students who thought they weren't college material fared better than they thought and reconsidered their post-high school plans. The new assessment test requires approval by the U.S. Department of Education to see if it complies with the adequate yearly progress standards required by the federal No Child Left Behind law. The MEAP will continue to be administered to elementary and middle school students. Read more here.
Source: ECS e-CLIPS [September, 23, 2005]