NSBA's Issue Brief on Strengthening Teacher Quality
BACKGROUND Research indicates no other school-related factor has a greater impact on student achievement than the ability of the student’s teacher. School districts nationwide face challenges involving teacher recruitment and retention, particularly in high-need subjects and harder-to-staff schools. While the federal role in strengthening teacher quality is a limited one, Congress can assist local districts and states in their recruitment and retention efforts through targeted incentives and fewer restrictions.
NSBA RECOMMENDATIONS NSBA’s legislative recommendations for strengthening teacher quality cover a range of strategies that touch on multiple legislative vehicles.
1. Congress should assist districts and states in recruiting and retaining qualified and effective teachers through federal incentives and funding, with a specific focus on hard-to-staff schools and subjects with shortages, such as math, science and special education. It should increase funding for Titles I and II in ESEA / NCLB, Title II in the Higher Education Act, as well as special initiatives such as the Teacher Incentive Fund, which provide grants to district and state programs aimed at recruiting and retaining quality teachers and principals in high-poverty schools.
2. Congress should improve the Highly Qualified Teacher provisions in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act by streamlining existing requirements and incorporating practical flexibility, especially for special education and rural teachers of multiple core subjects. Specifically, NSBA believes instructional personnel employed by supplemental educational service providers should meet the same HQT requirements as public school teachers. We also believe social studies teachers should be given a pathway similar to science teachers, whereby teachers in states that offer a “broad field” social studies certification will meet the requirements. Finally, NSBA believes Congress should codify the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regulation through which states can offer a multi-subject High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) to allow special education teachers of multiple core subjects a more reasonable way to fulfill the requirements.
3. Congress should assist districts and states in strengthening professional development by redirecting a portion of NCLB’s sanctions (Title I funds) toward professional development programs that can actually improve student achievement, as opposed to the current unproven approach of tying up Title I funds for supplemental educational services or school transfers that often go unused anyway.
4. Congress should assist in broadening the pool of new and effective teacher candidates by continuing to support alternative certification programs that help to increase the number of minority teachers as well as mid-career professionals. These alternative programs should be aligned with standards-based education reforms, accountable for the quality and effectiveness of its program graduates, and responsive to local public schools’ needs.
5. Congress should strengthen teacher preparation programs (traditional and alternative) to ensure appropriate alignment with NCLB requirements and state academic standards and foster increased accountability for the quality and preparation of program graduates. Congress should assist and encourage schools of education to collaborate with states and local school districts, and to increase the emphasis on helping teachers differentiate instruction for learners of different abilities.
6. Congress should help facilitate and disseminate quality research and best practices on effective teaching.
STATUS AND OUTLOOK In the first session of the 110th Congress, lawmakers made some progress on legislation that should help strengthen teacher quality nationally:
1. Congress passed and President Bush signed into law H.R. 2669, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which includes TEACH Grants that provide up to $16,000 over four years in tuition aid for high-achieving undergraduates and up to $8,000 over four years for graduate students who commit to teach a high-need subject in a high-need school for at least four years after earning their degree. NSBA supported the TEACH Grants’ inclusion in the legislation.
2. Congress passed and President Bush signed into law H.R. 2272, the America COMPETES Act, which includes scholarships of up to $10,000 a year for three years for prospective teachers to earn a bachelor’s degree in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) with a concurrent teaching credential. It also boosts professional development, mentoring and induction programs for STEM teachers and includes salary bonuses for such teachers in high-need schools.
Congress made some progress but has more work to do on other legislation impacting on teacher quality. Below is a status report:
1. The Senate passed S. 1642, the Higher Education Act (HEA), which includes Title II Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants. Improvements to the grants include strengthening teacher preparation program accountability and helping local districts establish a teacher residency program. The House approved H.R. 4137, its version of HEA, in February 2008. It includes the Senate’s improvements to Title II and also mandates a National Academy of Sciences study on best practices in teacher preparation and instruction. NSBA will urge the House – Senate conference committee and full Congress to adopt the Title II improvements and to include the House-passed best practices study in a final HEA bill in 2008.
2. Both the House and Senate education committees have yet to act on NCLB reauthorization, leaving changes to the highly qualified provisions, as well as comprehensive professional development assistance unfinished. NSBA will continue to urge for the above-mentioned improvements to these teacher quality provisions as part of our overall NCLB lobbying efforts that call on Congress to fix NCLB in 2008.
For additional information, please contact Marcus Egan, director of federal affairs at the National School Boards Association at 703-838-6707, or by e-mail, megan@nsba.org.
March 2008