Liam Goldrick, Director of Policy

 

At least seven states (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington) are poised to strengthen their policies on new teacher induction and mentoring in 2013. Leadership on this issue is bipartisan and is being offered by governors, state boards of education, superintendents of public instruction and state policy task forces.That's good news -- as there is much work to be done. As we articulated last year in our Review of State Policies on Teacher Induction, only three U.S. states require and fund a multi-year induction program for every beginning teacher -- something research suggests is necessary to realize desired impacts on teaching effectiveness and student learning.

 

Then there's California. A historic leader and early innovator on new teacher induction, the Golden State's financial commitment to its widely recognized Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program has withered in recent years. In the 2007-08 school year, the state provided more than $4,000 in funding per beginning teacher for BTSA induction -- the most generous in the nation. But during California's recent economic downturn, school districts have been allowed to sweep this funding and redirect it toward "any educational purpose."

 

In a recent Ed Source blog post, NTC CEO Ellen Moir argued for reinvesting in California's historic commitment to developing a world-class teaching force. Moir discussed her participation on California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson's Educator Excellence Task Force which, last September, recommended strengthening and reinvesting in BTSA, so new teachers actually receive much-needed differentiated and personalized support, and school principals are provided additional coaching and induction support. 

 

Unfortunately, Governor Jerry Brown's (D) proposed school finance reform plan would codify the state's move away from investing in new teacher induction. While taking needed steps to equalize school funding across California, the Governor's plan would eliminate dedicated BTSA funding. Given that teachers are the greatest school-based determinant of student learning and that beginning teachers are more likely to teach high-need, lower-income students, this change merits reconsideration based both on evidence and on equity grounds.

 

What's your state doing to strengthen and support new teachers? Contact me and share any policy developments NTC should know about.

 

Education Week released the 17th edition of Quality Counts earlier this month. The annual report ranks states on numerous education indicators and provides a summative letter grade. StudentsFirst also recently released its inaugural State Policy Report Card, issuing a letter grade to each state based on policies in three categories ("Elevate the Teaching Profession" is one), but the report's scoring rubric does not include student outcomes or issues related to developing or supporting teachers.

 

While both reports aim to bring attention to important issues facing American schools, neither survey has a sufficiently robust focus on teaching. Although Quality Counts does include policy information on teacher development and support, that data is updated only biannually, and won't again be current until 2014. StudentsFirst's report card, on the other hand, does not assess state policies on developing and supporting teachers, basing its definition of "elevating teaching" solely on teacher evaluation measures, the use of evaluation data to inform staffing and personnel decisions, performance pay, and alternative pathways to certification.

In a Huffington Post Education blog post, Andreas Schleicher, Special Advisor on Education Policy at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), discusses the importance of meaningful professional development for teachers. One critical success factor he identifies is a well-structured and resourced beginning-teacher induction program. According to the OECD's Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), "Teachers consistently report that their greatest need for professional development is in learning how to handle differences in student learning styles and backgrounds, using information and communication technologies effectively, and improving student behavior."