Equitable Distribution: North Carolina

Analysis of North Carolina's policies

Providing comprehensive reporting may be the state's most important role for ensuring the equitable distribution of teachers among schools. North Carolina reports some school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent.

North Carolina collects and publicly reports some of the data recommended by NCTQ. Although the state does not provide a school-level teacher quality index that demonstrates the academic backgrounds of a school's teachers, North Carolina reports on the percentage of teachers with less than three years of teaching experience, the percentage of teachers on emergency credentials, the percentage of highly qualified teachers and the rate of teacher turnover. Commendably, these data are reported for each school, rather than aggregated by district. The state is also commended for comparing the average percentage of highly qualified teachers in high- and low-poverty schools. 

Citation

North Carolina School Quality Teacher Report Card 2009-2010 http://www.nctq.org/docs/srcICreatePDF North Carolina School Report Card 2009-2010 http://www.ncschoolreportcard.org/src/

Recommendations for North Carolina

Use a teacher quality index to report publicly about each school.
North Carolina is commended for reporting more school-level data than most states. However, the state should utilize a teacher quality index, with such data as with teachers' average SAT or ACT scores, the percentage of teachers failing basic skills licensure tests at least once, the selectivity of teachers' undergraduate colleges and the percentage of new teachers. This can shine a light on how equitably teachers are distributed both across and within districts. North Carolina should ensure that individual school report cards include such data in a manner that translates these factors into something more easily understood by the public, such as a color-coded matrix indicating a school's high or low score.

Publish other data that facilitate comparisons across schools.
North Carolina should collect and report other school-level data that reflect the stability of a school's faculty, including the rate of teacher absenteeism.

Provide comparative data based on school demographics.
As North Carolina does with highly qualified teachers, the state should provide comparative data for schools with similar poverty and minority populations. This would yield a more comprehensive picture of gaps in the equitable distribution of teachers. 

State response to our analysis

North Carolina noted that in addition to the information already reported, the state will begin to publish aggregate teacher ratings on the evaluation instrument. The state will publish, for example, that 45 percent of the teachers at School A have been rated as accomplished on the teacher evaluation instrument. These data will be linked with the school report cards. North Carolina also pointed out that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requires public reporting on teacher quality.