Teaching is one of very few professions that expects new employees to be masters of their craft — where they handle all of the responsibilities of long-serving veterans — on their first day on the job. Historically, new teachers have received limited exposure to life in the classroom. Even today, Read more
Writing for Chalkbeat, Matt Barnum explores the research on the value of being mentored by an expert teacher. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Studies released this year offer real evidence that good teaching can be passed down, in a sense, from mentor teacher to student teacher. In several cases, Read more
Many organizations offer technical assistance (TA) to teacher preparation programs seeking to improve their programming. But until recently, there was no common way to assess the impact of that technical assistance or even define what high-quality technical assistance looks like. How can TA providers better understand the impact their technical Read more
In recent years, public officials have sought to determine the quality of our nation’s teacher preparation programs, both the traditional programs at colleges and universities, as well as alternative preparation programs like Teach for America. One proposed way to do this is to track graduates into the classrooms where they Read more
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released its latest ratings for 567 traditional graduate programs, 129 alternative route programs, and 18 residencies preparing both elementary and secondary teachers. Assessing programs on a number of key factors – such as how well they assess teachers’ subject matter content knowledge, Read more
In school year 2011-12, the majority of early-career teachers (i.e., teachers who had taught for five or fewer years) in public schools reported that they were well prepared for a range of instructional duties in their first year of teaching. The National Center for Education Statistics released a new Statistics Read more
It is often difficult for school and district leadership to identify high-quality teachers who will remain in the classroom, especially among those who are just entering the profession and in the first years of employment. However, a recent study by Robert Vagi, Margarita Pivovarova and Wendy Miedel Barnard suggests that Read more
NCTQ’s 2018 State Teacher Policy Best Practices Guide highlights leading state work across 37 different policy areas that impact teacher quality. This resource serves as a guide to all states seeking concrete ideas and examples of how to improve teacher policy. Despite consistent concerns regarding whether states are acting quickly Read more
In October 2017, American Institutes for Research (AIR) convened a panel of more than 30 teacher educators, researchers, and school and district leaders to present interdisciplinary research study designs that would break ground on new ways to better prepare teachers. These innovative designs, and the conversations they sparked, represent the Read more
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released its Teacher Shortages and Surpluses Databurst, an analysis of states’ work to track teacher shortages and surpluses, and to implement policy solutions to address these challenges. This resource includes an overview of promising practices currently being implemented, a snapshot of all Read more
Writing for New America, Roxanne Garza describes how early college high schools specializing in the teaching profession work to encourage more young people to become educators. Excerpts of the article appear below: Early College High Schools, which allow students to earn an associate degree in addition to a diploma while Read more
A new brief from Education First outlines what teacher educators do and how they can be supported in their practice. To give all students great educational opportunities, we need outstanding teachers in our classrooms. But we can’t forget that, when participating in teacher preparation programs and professional development, teachers are Read more
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has released Transforming Educator Preparation: Lessons Learned from Leading States, a playbook offering specific steps states can take to improve educator preparation. In 2012, CCSSO released Our Responsibility, Our Promise, boldly challenging state education leaders to raise expectations and strengthen policies to Read more
Every student, no matter where he or she lives, deserves a great teacher. States, educator preparation programs (EPPs), and K–12 leaders must work together to ensure that all teachers are learner ready on day one in the classroom. But too often, these actors do not have access to the necessary Read more
It is back to school time, and children everywhere are being asked, “Who is your teacher this year?” In this month’s issue brief from Core Education, we explore the data to offer a profile of the American teacher. The demographics of the American educator workforce has changed over the past Read more
We know that students learn more when they receive high-quality instruction. We also have findings suggesting that some teacher preparation programs produce graduates that are more capable than others. These two pieces of evidence have led many teacher educators, researchers, and stakeholders to conclude that we need better studies of Read more