Percentages of full-time public school teachers who feel very well-prepared to do various activities in the classroom.
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Teacher quality powerfully influences student learning. A review of 60 studies examining school resources and student learning found that teacher ability, experience, and education are clearly associated with increases in student achievement. It also found that spending additional resources on teacher education is one of the most productive investments schools can make to raise student achievement.[9]
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Every child needs and deserves dedicated, outstanding teachers who know their subject matter, are effectively trained, and know how to teach to high standards and to make learning come alive for students. President Clinton The need for high-quality teachers is urgent and growing. Over the next decade, the Nation's schools will need to hire over two million teachers, over half of whom will be first-time teachers. Many schools already face shortages of qualified teachers. This is particularly true in high-poverty communities and in subject areas such as science and math. And many teachers, especially in high-poverty schools, are asked to teach subjects in which they have had little or no training. |
More than two million public elementary and secondary school teachers must be hired over the next decade.[10] Fortunately, there is encouraging news: College freshmen are expressing a growing interest in the teaching profession. In 1998, over 6 percent of freshmen planned on a career in elementary education, and 4 percent planned on a career in secondary education. These percentages are the highest since the early 1970s and nearly twice what they were in 1982.[11] In addition, with support from the Eisenhower Professional Development Program and Goals 2000 State and local grants, schools are working hard to align teacher training with rigorous content and performance standards. The challenge is to ensure that teachers are well-prepared for the classroom and receive ongoing support, particularly in the early years.
Over the past seven years, the Clinton-Gore Administration has promoted rigorous standards, supported high-quality professional development, increased accountability, and helped States and districts recruit, prepare, and induct new teachers. Enhancing the quality of teaching is critical to the success of school reform. Because other changes in school organization may have little impact on student achievement if teaching methods are not systematically adapted and improved,[12] the Administration has made improving teacher quality a top priority.
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RECRUITING TEACHERS Twenty-seven States provide scholarships or forgivable loans to prospective teachers. Six use these incentives to help fill both shortage areas and hard-to-staff schools. Source: Education Week survey, January 2000 |
For the first time in almost 30 years, the Federal government is investing in the recruitment, preparation, mentoring, and support of new teachers. Among the investments that directly affect teachers is the new Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant program and the Preparing Tomorrow?s Teachers to Use Technology program. These initiatives support systemic efforts to improve the quality of teacher preparation and training and, in turn, the quality of instruction and student achievement. In 1999, the Teacher Quality program awarded 28 teacher recruitment grants to help high-need school districts recruit and prepare 3,000 new teachers; 25 partnership grants to improve the preparation of over 17,000 new teachers; and 24 State grants to support systematic efforts to improve the quality of teaching. The Preparing Tomorrow?s Teachers program awarded 225 consortium grants to support implementation and infusion of technology into the preparation and field experiences of 400,000 future teachers. But more needs to be done. Teachers want help in bringing high standards into their classrooms. That is why the Administration has called for an intensive investment in high-quality professional development in the Teaching to High Standards Act that it sent to Congress as part of its current proposal to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
In addition, this Administration has made a significant commitment to helping ensure that all teachers are prepared to meet students? diverse learning needs. More than half of all teachers have a student with limited English proficiency in their classrooms, yet 80 percent of teachers do not feel well-prepared to address the needs of students with limited English proficiency or students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Over the past seven years, the Administration has more than doubled the investment in bilingual education professional development programs to train ESL and bilingual teachers as well as regular classroom teachers. It has also increased funding for the Emergency Immigrant Education Program from $29 million in 1993 to $159 million in 2000.
To support greater communication and cooperation among the many parties involved in recruiting, preparing, and inducting teachers to ensure that they are prepared to teach in the 21st century, the Department has organized a series of first-ever nationwide conferences. The President?s Summit in September 1999 convened college and university presidents from across the country to discuss their role in elevating the importance and improving the quality of teacher preparation on their campuses. Building on the Summit, the National Conference on Teacher Quality in January 2000 assembled more than 1,000 higher education leaders with K-12 and community leaders to develop action plans for improving teacher education. Four regional summer institutes will focus on implementation of these plans.
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IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY
North Carolina has taken a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of its teaching force. The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program aggressively recruits high-caliber high school students and gives them college scholarships in exchange for teaching in North Carolina for several years after graduation. The Administration has proposed a similar program in its FY 2001 budget. Moreover, North Carolina requires all institutions of higher education with teacher preparation programs to be nationally accredited. Other approaches to ensuring quality within the profession were initiated through the Excellent Schools Act passed in 1997, which raised standards for students entering colleges of education, requires future teachers to complete a year-long clinical experience before graduation, supports an induction period for new teachers with trained mentors, and requires teachers to pass a rigorous, performance-based assessment before receiving a continuing teaching license. North Carolina is the leading State in producing and supporting National Board Certified Teachers, with over 1,260 certified by 1999. These teachers receive a 12 percent salary increase, and teachers with advanced degrees receive a 10 percent salary increase. |
To address the shortage of math and science teachers, and to improve the quality of teaching in these critical areas, the Administration established the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, chaired by former Senator John Glenn. By the end of this year, the Commission will propose concrete steps that Federal, State, and local policymakers can take to improve the recruitment, preparation, professional development, and retention of math and science teachers. Moreover, using the results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, the world?s largest, most rigorous international comparison of mathematics and science education, the Department has developed a comprehensive resource kit that includes a variety of tools for helping teachers, schools, and districts work together with parents and business leaders to improve math and science teaching.
To improve teaching in all subjects, the Administration has increased funding for high-quality professional development that research indicates is most effective. As a result, the focus of professional development is shifting from one-time individual workshops to ongoing, collaborative activities that build content knowledge while also improving teachers? ability to engage students and successfully communicate challenging material in the classroom. Funding for Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants went from $246 million in 1992 to $335 million in 1999. However, a larger, more concerted effort is needed. That is why the Administration?s proposal to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act targets high-poverty schools and would commit an unprecedented amount—triple the Eisenhower investment—to providing high-quality professional development and mentoring new teachers. In addition, the Administration initiated a National Awards Program for Model Professional Development to identify schools and districts that demonstrate increased student achievement as a result of their investments in professional development. The awardees will serve as models for others that want to improve professional development.
The Administration also supports the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, a voluntary, rigorous certification program that identifies highly accomplished teachers. National Board Certified Teachers now receive salary supplements in 31 States, and these incentives help keep the most highly qualified teachers in the classroom. The Board?s popularity is most visible in the rapid growth of its members, from 282 certified teachers in 1995 to 4,799 in 1999. There are currently over 10,000 candidates for the 1999-2000 cycle.
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Percentages of full-time public school teachers who feel very well-prepared to do various activities in the classroom.
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To measure the nation?s progress in ensuring a talented, dedicated, and well-prepared teacher in every classroom, the Administration initiated the first Biennial Report on Teacher Quality, issued in January 1999. It pointed out the need for more and better professional development for teachers. In addition, for the first time in the Nation?s history, State and institutional reports on the quality of teacher preparation and licensing standards are now required by law and will be collected and made public. By standardizing and requiring data collection on teacher quality, this effort will help sustain national, State, and local efforts to improve teacher quality.
10 National Center for Education Statistics (1999), Predicting the Need for Newly Hired Teachers in the United States to 2008-09, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, p. 9; see also National Center for Education Statistics (1998), Back to School Report on the Baby Boom Echo: America?s Schools are Overcrowded and Wearing Out, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
11 Higher Education Research Institute (1998), The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1998, Los Angeles, CA: Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, p. 22.
12 J.A. Kulik (1992), An Analysis of the Research on Ability Grouping: Historic and Contemporary Perspectives, National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
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 [ 1 Raising Student Achievement ] |
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