Talent Development Framework

With so many separate educator talent management initiatives—from preservice training to professional development and compensation—and with district, state, and federal involvement in teacher policies, policymakers often have adopted a piecemeal approach to dealing with this system-level issue. In response, the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) has developed the Talent Development Framework, which provides an opportunity and a roadmap for state- and district-level policymakers to systemically address and improve educator quality.

Beyond promoting a comprehensive, systemic approach to improving educator quality, the Talent Development Framework aids state and district leaders in proactively and purposefully addressing talent challenges per local context. We argue that only by making talent management a priority can states, districts, and schools ensure a highly effective, diverse workforce that can provide an equitable education to our students.

The Talent Development Framework helps policymakers make sense of talent challenges across the educator career continuum by illustrating and systematizing the complexity of developing human talent in education. The evidence base on teacher and principal quality is large and varied. The existing evidence is clear, however, that there is no silver bullet for ensuring the quality of teachers and principals. Rather, multiple, coordinated evidence-based reform efforts across the educator career continuum are required. The Talent Development Framework can be used to facilitate a more proactive and strategic approach to securing the teachers and school leaders needed to create a strong, equitable education system.