US Chamber of Commerce

A Look Into Teacher Effectiveness

While there is broad consensus that high-quality teachers are key to raising student achievement, there is significant disagreement about how to measure and reward quality and ensure that every classroom has a high-quality teacher. Specifically, this In Focus brief focuses on the following chief areas that are driving the teacher quality conversation at the national, state, and local levels:

• The Role and Impact of Collective Bargaining
• Teacher Evaluations: The Role of State Laws and Collective Bargaining
• Teacher Compensation: Seniority Rules Still Dominate
• Teacher Tenure: Low Bar for Granting, High Bar for Taking Away

A Look Into Turning Around Failing Schools

Struggling schools are not new, but the definitions have changed—as have the requirements for these schools. It is instructive, therefore, to examine the role that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has played over the past 10 years in identifying these schools and driving improvement. NCLB has been largely credited for shining a light on these struggling schools to ensure that all their students are at grade level in at least math and reading. However, this identification has not come without controversy. Are too many schools identified as being in need of improvement? Not enough? What are schools doing once they are identified? Are the school turnaround models required under NCLB effective, and do they work across rural, urban, and suburban settings? These are just some of the questions driving the school turnaround debate at the national, state, and local levels.

Moving From Data Systems to Data Use

The requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the America COMPETES Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), state accountability systems, and efforts to evaluate the impact of schools, districts, students, principals, teachers, and others involved in educating children have dramatically increased the demand for high-quality education data and infrastructure. As additional steps are taken to raise academic achievement, the collection, analysis, and use of education data become even more critical. Educators can use data to target resources, improve instruction, and respond to other educational challenges in our schools—all actions that are critical to improving student learning. The past two years have seen remarkable progress toward the full implementation of state data systems and some of the training necessary to use data. Yet we are still data rich but information poor.

Standards Implementation and College and Career Readiness

Developing and implementing academic standards and their impact on college and career readiness have been major objectives for state and federal policymakers since the 1980s. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush convened governors for a historic education summit to focus on key national education goals. This discussion led to the creation of the National Education Goals Panel and the National Council on Education Standards and Testing. Many of the ideas developed from this effort were incorporated into the Goals 2000 Act, one of the first education policy initiatives by the Clinton administration in 1993.

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In Focus.pdf