NCTQ Publications

Teacher Prep Review: Building Content Knowledge

Christie Ellis, Shannon Holston February 2023

New data and analysis from NCTQ finds significant opportunities for teacher preparation programs to improve their coursework requirements to ensure that aspiring elementary school teachers receive the essential social studies and science content knowledge they need for the classroom. The new report shows that while most teacher preparation programs have sufficient course options available, only 3% require aspiring teachers to complete courses in most of the social studies and science topics an elementary teacher needs...

Reading, Subject matter knowledge, Social studies , Science , Teacher Prep

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Do States Have the Data they Need to Answer Important Questions about their Teacher Workforce?

Patricia Saenz-Armstrong December 2022

Given both the importance—and dearth—of nuanced, local data on teacher supply and demand, NCTQ set out to understand the key data elements states are currently collecting, which data is missing, and the level of detail that is needed to meaningfully answer essential questions about the teacher workforce. In a new state policy brief, we share the results of a survey of state education agencies on the extent to which they collect data on 39 distinct...

Supply and Demand, Equitable distribution, Shortage areas, State role

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State of the States 2022: Teacher and Principal Evaluation Policies

Abigail Swisher, Patricia Saenz-Armstrong November 2022

Results of the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress reveal alarming results: Since 2019, scores declined substantially for all students, while disparities widened for students already most affected by opportunity gaps. As districts and states help students recover in the wake of a global pandemic, supporting teachers and principals by recognizing strong performance, and helping them grow and improve where necessary, is more urgent than ever.

Observations, State role, Evaluation, Student growth

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State of the States 2022: Teacher Compensation Strategies

Patricia Saenz-Armstrong September 2022

Salaries are one of the most powerful policy levers states and school districts can use to attract qualified, effective, and diverse teachers. However, strategic pay remains underutilized as a tool to attract teachers to the schools or subjects that are traditionally harder to staff. Similarly, few states have policies that consider performance in salary schedules or reward prior relevant work experience in order to attract career switchers to the teaching profession. This report examines the...

Supply and Demand, Differentiated pay, Shortage areas, State role

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Digging Deeper: Which types of institutions achieve excellence and equity for aspiring teachers of color?

Hannah Putman July 2022

Building a more diverse teacher workforce is essential to addressing educational inequity for students of color. In this analysis, NCTQ considers teacher licensure test pass rate data through the lenses of excellence and racial equity, highlighting those teacher prep institutions that achieve racial equity in their pass rates, pointing toward promising practices that others can adopt, and proving that high pass rates for aspiring teachers of color are entirely achievable.

Licensing tests, Teacher Prep, Licensure, Teacher diversity

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Teacher Prep Review: Preparation in Elementary Mathematics

Graham Drake, Kate Walsh, Shannon Holston May 2022

Improving instruction in elementary mathematics is critical to supporting better academic and life outcomes for our students. While weak elementary math instruction is not a new challenge, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have exacerbated the issue. Many states have reported that students have lost more learning in math than in reading over the past two years, and pre-existing gaps in math achievement between low-poverty and high-poverty schools and between majority-White and majority-Black schools have worsened...

Math, Teacher Prep, Licensure

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Ensuring Students' Equitable Access to Qualified and Effective Teachers

Kate Walsh, Shannon Holston, Shayna Levitan April 2022

How states have responded to a 2015 federal law that they collect and report on the equitable distribution of teacher talent across their schools.

Hiring and Assignment, Equitable distribution, Federal role, State role

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State of the States 2021: State Reporting of Teacher Supply and Demand Data

Patricia Saenz-Armstrong December 2021

What data do states collect and report on the teacher labor market? Do states connect data on supply and demand to better understand and address teacher shortages? Explore state policies in this new NCTQ report.

Supply and Demand, Shortage areas, State role, Hiring

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Digging Deeper: Which subjects pose the greatest challenges to aspiring elementary teachers?

Hannah Putman November 2021

Elementary teachers have a big job. Unlike secondary teachers, they need to know not just one subject well, but four. Elementary teachers are expected to teach English language arts, math, science, and social studies—key content that develops a foundation for students' future academic success. In this new brief, we dig deeper into teacher licensure test pass rate data to explore in which of the four subjects aspiring teachers are most successful—and where they struggle the...

Licensing tests, Subject matter knowledge, Teacher Prep, Licensure

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Driven by Data: Using Licensure Tests to Build a Strong, Diverse Teacher Workforce

Hannah Putman, Kate Walsh July 2021

The NCTQ publication of long-hidden data on institutional pass rates for elementary content teacher licensure tests serves as a compass, pointing toward strengths and opportunities in preparing aspiring elementary teachers for success in the classroom.

Licensing tests, Subject matter knowledge, Teacher Prep, Teacher diversity

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Smart Money 2.0

Patricia Saenz-Armstrong July 2021

A new analysis by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) examines salary data and related compensation materials from 90 large school districts to determine lifetime earnings trajectories for teachers over a 30-year career. The findings expose vast differences in teacher compensation by a number of measures, including starting salaries, maximum salaries, average salary throughout a career, bonus potential, and lifetime earnings, all adjusted for cost of living.

Differentiated pay, Salary schedules, Performance pay, Pay

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State of the States 2021: Teacher Preparation Policy

Hannah Putman, Kate Walsh March 2021

NCTQ examines state policy trends that govern some of the most essential aspects of teacher preparation, from reading and content knowledge licensure exams to admissions and basic skills test requirements.

Licensing tests, Reading, State role, Teacher Prep, Licensure

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Knowledge of Early Reading - Excerpted from State of the States 2021: Teacher Preparation Policy

Hannah Putman, Kate Walsh August 2021

- Updated August 2021 - Most states continue to lack a comprehensive set of policies to improve teacher knowledge of evidence-based early reading methods. This excerpt from NCTQ's State of the States 2021: Teacher Preparation Policy examines state policy trends that govern requirements for early reading instruction knowledge in teacher preparation and licensure. A third of the nation's students reach fourth grade unable to read at even a basic level. This problem is especially stark...

Licensing requirements, Licensing tests, Reading, State role, Teacher Prep

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