Today NCTQ released its fifth annual comprehensive (and by
comprehensive we mean an encyclopedic 9,000 pages of analysis packed into 51
state volumes and a national overview report) review of everything there is to
know about the state policies that shape the teaching profession today—the
2011 State Teacher Policy Yearbook.
It was a year like no other since NCTQ started the Yearbook project. We documented more
changes in teacher policy than any previous review of the laws and regulations
governing the profession.
In this not-so-ordinary year, the nation finds itself just
one state shy of half the states requiring that objective measures of student
achievement be included in teacher evaluations. More states than ever before are
opting to take evidence of teacher effectiveness in the classroom seriously in
making decisions about teacher tenure and dismissal.
Largely driven by policy adoption around teacher evaluation, 28 states improved their standing since the last time NCTQ graded the states, in our 2009 Yearbook.
Seven states—Florida, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio—earned the highest grades we’ve ever handed out. States topping the list for the most progress on teacher policy include Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Rhode Island.
But it wasn’t an extraordinary year for all the states or
for all areas of teacher policy. Some states—Alaska, California, Mississippi,
Missouri and Montana—made no progress whatsoever on even a single one of the Yearbook’s 36 research-based teacher goals.
The not-so-insignificant state of California ranks dead last in the nation on
teacher policy progress. The average of all state grades is a mere D plus and the
lowest grades of all are for teacher preparation policies, where the states
average a D for dismal.
For more, download the Yearbook
state reports and national overview at www.nctq.org/stpy.