Tapping the Potential - Alliance for Excellent Education

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TA P P I N G T H E P O T E N T I A L : R E TA I N I N G A N D D E V E L O P I N G H I G H - Q U A L I T Y N E W T E A C H E R STangipahoa FIRSTEvery new teacher in Louisiana is assigned a mentor who guides them through theirfirst years of teaching and prepares them to be assessed by the state. This program iscalled LaTAAP (Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program). A separateinduction program, Louisiana FIRST (Framework for Inducting, Retaining, andSupporting Teachers), provides a variety of supports to new teachers in school districtswho apply for and receive state grant money. This case study looks at TangipahoaParish, a rural district in Louisiana, to see how induction works in remote areasthrough both LaTAAP and LaFIRST.The Toledo PlanThe Toledo (Ohio) Plan is a cooperative project between the Toledo school districtand the Toledo Federation of Teachers. New teachers are considered interns, and aresupported by mentors and reviewed as to their effectiveness at the end of their firstyear. A Board of Review, composed of administrators and teacher leaders, examinesthe progress of each teacher and decides whether or not to renew their contracts. TheToledo Plan also identifies poorly performing veteran teachers and provides themmentored support.There is no question thatthe implementation ofeffective, comprehensiveinduction can make acritical difference in ourschools’ ability to attractand retain high-qualityteachers.RecommendationsThere is no question that the implementation of effective, comprehensive inductioncan make a critical difference in our schools’ ability to attract and retain high-qualityteachers. But many districts, facing increasingly tight budgets, find it difficult to allocatethe necessary resources to develop, implement, and maintain comprehensiveinduction programs. The Alliance for Excellent Education recommends that states andschool districts use funds from Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act(now the No Child Left Behind Act) to provide comprehensive induction to beginningteachers during at least their first two years of teaching.Furthermore, the Alliance urges the U.S. Congress, as it considers the reauthorizationof the Higher Education Act (HEA), to amend Title II of that law. Currently, TitleII of HEA provides Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants to partnerships of postsecondaryinstitutions and high-need school districts for improving the recruitment andpreparation of K–12 teachers. All future partnership grants should require recipientsto provide comprehensive induction that includes the quality criteria outlined above.Moreover, Congress should provide additional funding to ensure that every newteacher in our nation’s high-need schools receives comprehensive induction. Theseteachers are most at risk of leaving the profession.Congress should provideadditional funding toensure that every newteacher in our nation’shigh-need schools receivescomprehensive induction.5
A L L I A N C E F O R E X C E L L E N T E D U C AT I O NTHE PROBLEM WE FACE: HOW TO RETAINTEACHERS AND DEVELOP THEM INTOHIGH-QUALITY PROFESSIONALSBeing prepared for liferequires the same skills asbeing prepared for college.The quality of teachers hasan enormous impact onstudent learning andachievement.The high school graduation rate inthe United States is an abysmal 68percent. 35 Every school day approximately3,000 adolescents drop out of secondaryschool; 540,000 students fail to graduateeach year. 36 Only one out of two studentsof color will earn a high schooldiploma, and that rate plunges even lowerin many urban districts. 37Merely remaining in school is noguarantee that students will acquirebasic skills. One in four high school seniorscannot identify the main idea in asentence or understand informationalpassages. One in four cannot demonstratebasic math skills. 38 It is little wonderthat, according to a ManhattanInstitute report, 68 percent of studentsleave high school without the skills necessaryto succeed in college. 39These young people will also have difficultycompeting in the workplace.Increasingly, being prepared for liferequires the same skills as being preparedfor college. In 2004, the AmericanDiploma Project highlighted the expectationof employers that their employeeswith high school diplomas will have highlevels of literacy and math skills—the samelevels that colleges expect from their enteringfreshmen. But too few high schoolgraduates possess such skills. Sixty percentof employers question whether or not thehigh school diploma means that studentshave mastered even basic skills. 40Currently, employers have to spend millionsof dollars remediating their employees.Businesses and institutions of higherlearning in the state of Michigan alone,using a conservative estimate, spend $601million per year teaching young adultsbasic skills they should have learned inhigh school. 41Many educators think they can do littleto overcome the barriers to learningthat students bring with them to school.Recent research, however, tells us thatthe quality of teachers has an enormousimpact on student learning and achievement.42 Even low-performing studentsfacing barriers to learning can achievehigh standards if they are taught byhigh-quality professional teachers. In1991, Ronald Ferguson reported thatteacher expertise was the largest factorexplaining the gap between black andwhite student achievement—40 percentof the variation. 436
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