About the Yearbook

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has long argued that no educational improvement strategies states take on are likely to have a greater impact than policies that seek to maximize teacher effectiveness. In this fifth edition of the State Teacher Policy Yearbook, NCTQ provides a detailed examination of state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession, covering the full breadth of policies including teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal.

The Yearbook is a 52-volume compendium of customized state reports for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as a national summary overview, measuring state progress against a set of 36 specific policy goals. All of the reports are available from NCTQ's website at www.nctq.org/stpy/reports.

The 36 Yearbook goals are focused on helping states put in place a comprehensive policy framework in support of preparing, retaining and rewarding effective teachers. The goals were developed based on input and ongoing feedback from state officials, practitioners, policy groups and other education organizations, as well as from NCTQ's own nationally respected advisory board.

The Yearbook goals meet five criteria:

1. They are supported by the best research available.

   The Yearbook relies on the best teacher-quality research available. We use academic research presented in refereed journals, books or from a research institutes, including quasI-experimental work adhering to acceptable research methods where outcome measures focus on student achievement. We also include some non-academic work, where appropriate, from respected sources. All of the research used to support the Yearbook goals is organized goal-by-goal and is posted on the NCTQ website at: www.nctq.org/stpy11Goals.do?actionType=supportingResearch.

2. They offer practical, not pie-in-the-sky, solutions for improving teacher quality.

   While NCTQ does not necessarily disagree with the many reports calling for dramatic and costly changes in how teachers are prepared and compensated, the agenda presented is feasible regardless of new infusions of funding. In some cases, implementing certain goals requires that states just be willing to be more specific, such as improving their teaching standards. In other cases, the goals require updating policies to reflect 21st century practices such as annual evaluations of teachers and portability of licenses among states. Goals also often call for states to eliminate loopholes that add unnecessary burdens to the teacher preparation process.

3. They take on the teaching profession's most pressing needs.

   All of the Yearbook's goals are interdependent and interrelated and all focus on creating a policy framework for creating a more effective teacher workforce. Policymakers seek answers to particular problems with both shortages and quality, including states' abilities to attract talented individuals to teach mathematics and science, and poorly prepared special education teachers. Equally important, the Yearbook calls on states to focus much more attention on the preparation need of elementary teachers.

4. They are relatively cost neutral.

   Without disregarding the need for compensation reform as reflected in our Area 3 goals, the Yearbook does not require large commitments of new financial resources. In some cases, implementing these recommendations could be considered reasonable cost-saving measures. In other cases, if implemented concurrently, the recommendations prove cost neutral. On compensation reform, we think that states should at least get out of the way of districts wanting to innovate. We do not call for more teacher preparation; we call for more focused preparation. We also urge states to do more screening up front of aspiring teachers, avoiding the significant investment of public tax dollars on persons who are accepted into schools of education but who do not possess the most basic skills acquired in middle school.

5. They respect legitimate constraints on states.

   The Yearbook goals focus on areas that are within the state's authority to regulate. States often claim that they cannot address certain topics, because they are matters of "local control." This is frequently a matter of tradition more than statute. Many states are extremely reluctant to tell districts (or teacher preparation programs for that matter) what to do. While school districts need and deserve autonomy in many aspects of their operation, local control too frequently becomes a way for states to relegate responsibilities that are most appropriately and efficiently addressed at the state level. The alternative to "anything goes" does not have to be "one size fits all." By setting clear guidelines and standards and then enforcing them, states signal their minimum expectations. For example, states need not dictate how teacher evaluations are to be conducted, but they can and certainly should insist on annual evaluations and provide basic criteria that must be addressed, such as ensuring that student learning is the preponderant criterion. Similarly, tenure is a contractual matter between districts and their teachers. Without mandating specific requirements, states can ensure that districts do not provide teachers tenure in too few years and require districts to consider teacher effectiveness in the process.

The need to ensure that all children have effective teachers has captured the attention of the public and policymakers across the country like never before. The Yearbook offers state school chiefs, school boards, legislatures and the many advocates who press hard for reform a concrete set of recommendations as they work to maximize teacher quality for their students.