My colleagues here at NCTQ have been working hard to make sure that both districts and prospective teachers know what they're getting when they enroll in or hire someone from a particular teacher prep program and we're happy to see a big-city district chiming in with more information.

The New York City Department of Education hires over 5,000 teachers each year and, starting today, the colleges and universities that supply them will have some direct feedback on how their teachers are doing once they get in the classroom. The Division of Human Resources and Talent has prepared Teacher Preparation Program Reports showing how teachers from each school compare to the district's teachers as a whole on six metrics: assignment to high need schools, tenure approval, retention, licenses in high need subject areas, unsatisfactory ratings and student growth scores. The reports are released publicly today, but the district previewed the reports with  individual colleges and universities so that they had a chance to see how they fared and discuss concerns with the district.

As they say on Broadway, BRAVO! This kind of clear communication between districts and teacher preparation programs is a giant step toward aligning the preparation teacher candidates receive with the needs of school districts. These reports are also a nice complement to NCTQ's own teacher prep reports by program. We hope to see more districts following New York City's lead.