Strategies to Consider

Adopt a regular schedule and process for analyzing teacher and leader effectiveness data across schools to determine whether effective teachers and leaders are distributed equitably within and across districts and schools. 

Conduct a focus group of front-runner local education agency (LEA) leaders, and ask the following questions:

• Which districts have promising strategies for addressing inequitable access to great teachers and leaders?
• What state policies, regulations, and practices hinder or support attracting, developing, or retaining effective teachers?
• How does an LEA work with the local teachers association to support equity work? Can this partnership be strengthened to better support equity work? 

Review equity data from districts across the state, and consider the following questions:

• Which district is the furthest behind in terms of its equitable access to great teachers?
• Which district seems to be a front-runner, from which other districts can learn? When making connections, be sure to consider how district context (i.e., demographics, poverty level) might impact strategies used to address inequitable access to great teachers and leaders.
• Where are your identified high-need schools in terms of equitable access? 

Seek assistance from the federal technical assistance network for this work (i.e., your regional educational laboratory [REL], regional equity assistance center, or regional center).

Establish benchmarks for success based on your new or existing action plans (e.g., equity plan, Race to the Top, Elementary and Secondary Education Act flexibility waiver). 

To ensure full public access, make certain that reporting is technically accurate and complete and includes a user-friendly executive summary for lay people. 

Work with local education agencies and state educator effectiveness advisory bodies to analyze, compare, and use data from identified high-quality educator evaluation systems to determine root causes of equity gaps in access to excellent teachers and leaders between and within districts. 

Develop partnerships with key stakeholders (e.g., in an equity workgroup) to determine what metrics to use to continuously measure long-term access to excellent teachers and leaders. 

Find out whether a regional educational laboratory serving a state education agency can analyze extant data to help the state understand key patterns of equity gaps.

Regional comprehensive center staff can assist state education agency and educator preparation program staff to develop a framework for analyzing data.