Series 2558: Constituent Correspondence, 2000-2003
35860
From: Governor Musgrove
To: Kelly Riley
Created: 8/1/2002 11:26 AM
Subject: Fwd: CSG's Trends Forecast Report
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From: "The Council of State Governments" <alindon@csg.org>
BC: Governor Musgrove
Created: 7/30/2002 4:04 PM
Subject: CSG's Trends Forecast Report
Message:
July 2002
Urgent Changes Needed to Improve Teacher Quality
There is a need indeed an urgency to do things differently, states
Michael Poliakoff, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. Existing
regulations for teacher certification in almost every state include greater or
lesser (usually greater) amounts of seat-time in teacher education courses. These
regulations are weak at screening prospective teachers for mastery of their subjects
and often require a battery of education courses that discourage promising candidates
from entering teaching.
Poliakoff continues, School personnel policies make staffing even more
difficult. Schools have traditionally had few tools at their disposal to attract
teachers to hard-to-staff subjects, like math and science, or to rural and urban
schools. Once teachers are hired, they are locked into a single salary scale
that does not distinguish between good, bad and indifferent performance. The
good news is that receptivity to new ways to improve the teaching force has never
been higher. We have a great opportunity to do a lot of good for the school children
of America.
The full article, "The Path to Teacher Quality from Regulation to Local Responsibility"
appears in the Summer 2002 issue of Spectrum: The Journal of State Government.
To purchase or subscribe to Spectrum, call (800) 800-1910,
or subscribe online by visiting http://www.statesnews.org/Marketing/Spectrum_sub.htm.
Reprint permissions may be obtained by contacting Susan Haney at (859) 244-8235.
Improving Teaching
The last several years have seen states develop a large number of policies
and programs to address the issue of teaching quality. These include measures
to recruit and retain teachers more successfully, prepare them more soundly,
certify and insure their competence more reliably, and provide more effectively
for their continuing professional growth.
Michael Allen, program director for the Education Commission of the States,
believes that what works is never only a matter of a particular kind of policy
or program but also depends upon the specific details of the programs design,
its political and financial support, the skill and determination of those who
administer it, and the other factors that determine the manner and success of
its implementation.
The full article, "Improving Teacher Preparation, Recruitment and Retention,"
appears in the
Summer 2002 issue of
Spectrum: The Journal of State Government.
To purchase or subscribe to Spectrum, call (800) 800-1910,
or subscribe online by visiting http://www.statesnews.org/Marketing/Spectrum_sub.htm.
Reprint permissions may be obtained by contacting Susan Haney at (859) 244-8235.
Improving Teacher Quality
There is an irony in demonstrating that teachers are important by showing
that students' academic achievement is dependent on the teachers they are assigned,
according to Grover J. Whitehurst, Assistant Secretary for Education Research
and Improvement for the U.S. Department of Education. In other fields, substantial
variation in performance among professionals delivering the same service is seen
as a problem to be fixed. For example, we would not tolerate a system in which
airline pilots varied appreciably in their ability to accomplish their tasks
successfully, for who would want to be a passenger on the plane with the pilot
who is at the 10th percentile on safe landings? Whitehurst continues, The American
system of public education is built on what Richard Elmore has called the ethic
of atomized teaching: autonomous teachers who close the doors to their classrooms
and teach what they wish as they wish. The graphs from the value-added studies
tell us what happens when a child has the bad luck to be assigned to a teacher
whose approach doesn't work. Variation in teacher effectiveness needs to be reduced
substantially if our schools are going to perform at high levels.
The full article, "Improving Teacher Quality" appears in the Summer 2002 issue
of
Spectrum: The Journal of State Government.
To purchase or subscribe to Spectrum, call (800) 800-1910,
or subscribe online by visiting http://www.statesnews.org/Marketing/Spectrum_sub.htm.
Reprint permissions may be obtained by contacting Susan Haney at (859) 244-8235.
Ensuring Quality Education
The role of the states in regulating teacher licensure differs in degree
and complexity from state regulation of other professions. Although state boards,
for example in law and medicine, require demonstration of competency, the state
is not directly responsible for delivering legal and medical services. In these
instances, oversight is often delegated by the state to the legal and medical
communities. In education, however, states mandate school attendance and contribute
to school financing. According to Thomas Houlihan, executive director of the
Council of Chief State School Officers, The states need policy and capacity
to ensure that students receive a quality education. One way for states to accomplish
this is to take a direct role in the oversight of the teaching profession.
The full article, "State Collaboration and Teacher Preparation Reform" appears
in the Summer 2002 issue of
Spectrum: The Journal of State Government.
To purchase or subscribe to Spectrum, call (800) 800-1910,
or subscribe online by visiting http://www.statesnews.org/Marketing/Spectrum_sub.htm.
Reprint permissions may be obtained by contacting Susan Haney at (859) 244-8235.
The Summer 2002 issue of Spectrum: The Journal of State Government includes a
symposium section examining the trends in education reform. Other issues explored
include new demographic divisions, a new compact on adult offender supervision
and Nevada's successful efforts at collecting debt.
Recently, The Council of State Governments launched a national mission to help
state leaders better prepare for the future by identifying emerging trends and
issues that might have significant impact on state priorities and policymaking.
CSG's Trends Forecast Report is an effort to provide foresight for state officials
across the nation. The information in this monthly report is condensed from CSG's
quarterly journal, Spectrum: The Journal of State Government. For more information
on the contents of this report or Spectrum, please contact CSG, PO Box 11910,
Lexington, KY 40578-1910; (859) 244-8220; or alindon@csg.org. If you would
like to subscribe to Spectrum, click here.
The Council of State Governments: Preparing states for tomorrow, today.
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