Teacher

In this brief guide, the National Council on Teacher Quality highlights best practices from 34 state plans for ensuring compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act’s educator equity requirements. It identifies best practices in key areas, including definitions of inexperienced and ineffective teachers; data analysis; and timelines and strategies for identifying and eliminating educator equity gaps.

Based on review of 35 studies on professional development, this Learning Policy Institute (LPI) report identifies seven characteristics of effective professional development, which the authors define as structured professional learning that result in improvements to teacher practices and student outcomes. 

This toolkit from Leading Educators is designed to help state teams focusing on teacher leadership study other states’ approaches, identify strategies they can use, and find resources to support district design and implementation. The toolkit sets out a step-by-step process for making the case for teacher leadership; developing a policy, support, and funding plan for seeding teacher leadership in districts; and monitoring and measuring effectiveness.

This report from the Center for American Progress calls for the expansion of supported entry programs for new teachers. The report examines several types of programs, including extended clinical preparation, residencies, and induction programs, that provide opportunities for new teachers to spend time working alongside experienced peers learning and practicing basic teaching skills that lays the foundation for mastering more complex aspects of their practice.

This paper presents findings from an analysis using student-level data over ten years to investigate the long-term impact of students having teachers of the same race in elementary grades.  Findings indicate that having a black teacher in grades 3-5 significantly reduces the likelihood of black male students, particularly those most economically disadvantaged, of dropping out of high school, and increases the likelihood that low-income black male and female students aspire to attend four-year colleges.

This report from Deans for Impact focuses on the application of “deliberate practice,” or activities based on research-based principles that are purposeful and designed to maximize improvement, to develop novice teachers. The report examines five key principles drawn from studies of individuals who have excelled in a variety of fields and how these principles can be used to develop teaching skill.

Explore how states are addressing talent development policies for coaches, mentors, instructional specialists, and teacher leaders. 

Teachers, district leaders, and school leaders can use these tools to determine their level of readiness for teacher leadership. 

This study by the Fordham Institute investigated whether districts are able to dismiss ineffective teachers who have tenure or veteran status. The authors report that in most districts, performance-based dismissal of tenured teachers is difficult, and if pursued is extremely vulnerable to challenge and thus can take years to achieve.