72 results found
The Ford Model T: revolutionary 100+ years ago, impractical now. Similarly, our outdated classroom model doesn't meet the needs of today's students and teachers. We explore the evidence driving schools...
How much does reading policy work its way into classrooms? A new study exploring the state of reading across the U.S. underscores the need for consistent support and monitoring of...
What can the education field learn from Netflix? How to revolutionize staffing to better meet the needs of those you serve. Our outdated model of teaching makes it hard for...
https://www.nctq.org/blog/More-than-words:-7-approaches-to-monitoring-implementation-of-reading-laws
New research suggests that targeted and timely AI feedback on teachers' instruction is possible and can improve instruction—but teachers still have their doubts.
Researchers say Chicago Public Schools ultimately assigns students to teachers known to be low-performing and unlikely to improve.
A new report explores why some teachers don't use standards-aligned curriculum materials. Here's what states and districts should do to ensure teachers feel empowered and supported to use high-quality materials.
State education leaders shouldn't work alone to enact teacher-focused reading policies, writes NCTQ President Heather Peske. Instead, they can look to states that have already blazed the trail and laid...
Explore the most popular District Trendline posts of 2023, spotlighting topics like paid parental leave benefits, housing costs in relation to teaching salaries, the diversification of the teacher workforce, and...
Pipelines, incentives, retention strategies, and data tracking lead to greater diversity.
How do you balance teachers' need for professional development with the time it takes away from their students? And do you make sure that time is well spent?
Teachers need to be constant learners to keep up with an ever-changing landscape. But professional development can vary a lot, which makes it hard to know what will ultimately help...
What does the research say about measuring how great a teacher is other than their students' test scores?
Mention AI in a school setting and most people think of ChatGPT and cheating scandals. But AI in school settings isn't all bad.
Providing teachers with feedback—through a medium that allows them to explicitly see how they responded to various scenarios—could help teachers become more effective.
A look at how the nation's largest districts address planning and collaboration time for elementary and secondary teachers
New research finds that paraprofessional support, time, caseload, resources, and professional development all play major factors in retention.
Frequent observations and feedback can help teachers excel in the classroom.
A focus on teacherrecruitment without appropriate attention to retention is like trying tocollect water in a sieve.
People have life coaches, nutrition coaches, and executive coaches. So, it's no surprise to see schools turning to coaches as well.
A new working paper may be cause for genuine concern regarding the most widely-used evaluation instrument in the country, the Danielson Group's Framework for Teaching.
As the challenge of recruiting a new generation of teachers gains increasing urgency, what's old is being made new again.
It's time to show our substitute teachers that we value them—and the time they spend with our students.
A look at how using evidence-based practices can help ensure that teacher evaluation systems produce positive outcomes.
A recent paper puts the spotlight back on the quality of feedback teachers receive in their evaluations.
With the significant infusion of dollars now available to both states and school districts, we have a unique opportunity to finally reduce high rates of illiteracy, particularly in populations which...
New data suggests expectations placed on novice teachers during their first real professional development experience are far too low.
The path to becoming anti-racist is long, challenging, and for teachers, essential. Tackling one's mindset and implicit biases takes hard work, and even trainings intended to help people do this...
https://www.nctq.org/blog/Testing,-testing-Are-teachers-less-likely-to-quit-when-states-stop-testing
Does removing the stress of a standardized test keep teachers in the classroom?
As school districts work out next year's instructional format and take stock of their teacher workforce, districts in a position to hire are also readying themselves for a potentially unprepared...
Learning how to read is not something that comes naturally. Many children need instruction from their teachers that follows the research on the most effective and efficient methods of teaching...
In this unprecedented time of school closures, districts must walk a fine line regarding teacher evaluations.
Just as football and basketball teams spend hours reviewing game tape, teachers have much to gain from self-observation.
If there's one thing we know about teacher evaluations, it's that they're only as effective as the people doing the evaluating.
Since the 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a large number of states have backed away from recently enacted policies that were designed to breathe new life...
"What's in a name?" Juliet famously asks as she pleads her case to Romeo...
Something doesn't add up.
Teacher evaluation systems, when implemented well, are coinciding with real and measurable benefits for students and teachers alike.
The past decade has been marked by rapid changes in teacher evaluations. While many districts and states announced their intention to install better systems, they faced political and structural challenges....
Districts' policies should enable teachers and administrators to fully capitalize on the benefits provided by strong evaluation practices.
About 20 school districts have adopted new staffing models known collectively as Opportunity Culture, each designed to maximize the impact of great teachers. Makes sense, but does it work? Thanks...
Districts spend on average $18,000 per teacher every year on professional development, with little to show for it. That's why we were excited to see the new research findings looking...
Imagine a test where the only grades a student could earn were A or A-. Envision an update to Yelp that allows customers to rate restaurants using only 4 or...
Mississippi had to do something. Between 1992 and 2013, no more than 55 percent of its 4th grade children could look at a piece of writing and locate relevant...
We've long been arguing that districts could tap retired teachers to ease the transition of new teachers into the classroom. We recently found a great example of a district doing...
Choosing the right district for you is not easy if you don't have the right information.
For teachers, finding satisfaction in their classroom, school, and district is key to longevity and success.
Eight school districts just became the nation's first-ever Great Districts for Great Teachers. This new honor, developed by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), recognizes districts for their exceptional...
Teacher quality researchers made plenty of provocative headlines in 2016. They identified trends to monitor, new tips for the trade, and a few wins worth celebrating. Here are the papers...
If you look closely, they're actually not hardto find: inexpensive professional development opportunities for teachers thatactually do make a real difference in student learning. Earlier this year, wecovered an experiment...
It's a popular movie theme--the story of that one teacher who really connects withstudents, setting them on the right path to a productive future.
In the face of all evidence on the (apparently) utter uselessness of most professional development, might there be something that works? A new NBER working paper claiming just that perked...
The headline of a new study from Matthew A. Kraft (Brown University) and David Blazar (Harvard Graduate School of Education) caught our eye: Intensive, personalized coaching programs can improve teacher...
As any district can attest, overhauling teacher evaluations represents a huge lift for all involved. The temptation to look for shortcuts is equally huge.
The Mirage by TNTP
At this point, we figure that everyone else has already written about the more interesting and insightful takeaways about TNTP's latest report, entitled The Mirage (see here and here). (That's...
This month’s installment of Catching up on Contracts covers the new contracts in three districts in NCTQ’s Teacher Contract Database: Minneapolis Public Schools, Granite School District and ...
As students settle into their first months ofthe new school year, it's a good time to check in on the teacher policylandscape governing the profession across the country. From...
This report provides a detailed and up-to-date lay of the land on teacher evaluation policies across the 50 states and DCPS. It also offers a more in-depth look at the...
Interim editions of the Yearbook provide shorter briefs for each state that include a state-specific action plan, updating states' progress on Yearbook goals and giving advice on how to prioritize...
Interim editions of the Yearbook provide shorter briefs for each state that include a state-specific action plan, updating states' progress on Yearbook goals and giving advice on how to prioritize...
Interim editions of the Yearbook provide shorter briefs for each state that include a state-specific action plan, updating states' progress on Yearbook goals and giving advice on how to prioritize...
A report on Boston Public School policies that have an impact on teacher quality, concluding that while the district has many smart, strategic policies already in place, improving teacher rules...
Staffing each classroom with an effective teacher is the most important function of a school district. Doing so requires strategic personnel policies and smart practices. This analysis reviews the Seattle...
This report, which examines the alignment of Hartford's teacher policies with its goals for improving teacher quality, represents the first in a number of similar analyses which NCTQ is undertaking...
NCTQ Releases Study of Reading Preparation in Indiana Education Schools: As a follow up to NCTQ's national study on how well elementary teachers are prepared to teach reading, NCTQ looks...
The 2008 edition of the State Teacher Policy Yearbook provides an in-depth analysis of a critical piece of the teacher quality puzzle: the retention of effective new teachers.
In this groundbreaking report, NCTQ studied a large representative sampling of ed schools to find out what future elementary teachers are and are not learning about reading instruction. The report,...
For all the conflict generated by various K-12 education reform efforts, there is one principle everyone agrees on: teachers need to know the subject matter they teach. This principle makes...
The importance of good teaching to the academic success of students is intuitively obvious to any parent and is well substantiated by a body of sound research. Correspondingly, ensuring that...