Nonprofit group presents recommendations for improving teacher quality
Posted By Brandon Reid On October 23, 2009 @ 3:47 pm In Happening Now | No Comments
From press release
After an extensive review of the instructional workforce in Rockford Public Schools and the impact of state and local policies on teacher quality, the non-profit group The New Teacher Project (TNTP) will present its findings to the Rockford Board of Education next week.
TNTP, in collaboration with the Rockford Public Schools and Rockford Education Association, surveyed nearly 950 district employees and 92 administrators, reviewed state, district and contractual policies and analyzed data on teacher performance and layoffs. TNTP representatives will give a 20-minute presentation and answer board members’ questions during the board’s regular meeting at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Room 207 of the Administration Building, 201 S. Madison St.
Among the organization’s findings:
1. State certification requirements are confusing and cumbersome.
2. Mentoring programs need to be revamped.
3. Performance evaluations need to be more rigorous.
4. Reduction-in-workforce practices result in unnecessary disruption and loss of high-quality teachers.
TNTP recommends five key strategies in its report:
1. Improve teacher support as they renew their teaching certificates;
2. Provide high-quality and desirable mentoring activities to new teachers;
3. Institute a rigorous performance evaluation process that differentiates teachers based on performance and provides meaningful feedback;
4. Provide increased support and training for administrators on the evaluation process and hold them accountable for implementing the system correctly; and
5. Prevent unnecessary layoffs of loss of high-quality teachers through improved forecasting.
TNTP is a national non-profit organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap by ensuring that poor and minority students receive outstanding teachers.
TNTP partnered with 12 school districts in four states to analyze each district’s evaluation, tenure, remediation and dismissal policies and practices as well as each state’s teacher performance management policies. Rockford participated in the study with the Chicago Public Schools and District U-46 in Elgin, Ill.
Article printed from The Rock River Times: http://rockrivertimes.com
URL to article: http://rockrivertimes.com/2009/10/23/nonprofit-group-presents-recommendations-for-improving-teacher-quality/
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