• compensation
• transfer and assignment
• work day and year
• developing effective teachers and exiting ineffective teachers

To complete this analysis, we examine all relevant documents, including school board policies, state laws and regulations, salary schedules and collective bargaining agreements. We talk with local officials, advocates, education reporters, union leaders, teachers and principals. We collect whatever data the district has pertaining to our analysis (school, teacher and student demographic data; teacher hiring, transfer and placement data; and performance evaluation data showing teacher ratings).

We compare the district's policies with those of other similar school districts and recommend possible solutions that have been successful elsewhere.

After producing a draft analysis we solicit comments from school district officials and the local teachers’ union. Their responses are included in the report.

To strengthen the report's impact we educate the local media about human capital policies for teachers. We invite local print, TV, and radio reporters, as well as bloggers, to participate in a seminar about human capital in education.

We release our recommendations to the public in a press conference, encouraging local media and community groups to use the NCTQ document as a guide for tracking the progress of the district.