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A Quality
Teacher in Every Classroom: A Bold Initiative for
Our Nation’s
Schools
The need for quality teachers presents a daunting challenge
to states and local school districts. Teacher shortages
are most acute at the secondary level, where advanced
content area expertise and academic majors in fields
such as mathematics and science are critically important
for student achievement.
In far too many districts, meaningful improvement in
the way teachers are prepared, assigned, and supported
professionally has not occurred. Novice teachers, often
given the most difficult assignments in classrooms with
the most diverse populations, receive little or no preparation,
support, or professional development.
In a study of
teachers with three or fewer years of experience, less
than 30 percent reported feeling “very well prepared” when
it came to integrating technology, meeting the needs
of diverse student populations, addressing the needs
of special education students, or implementing curriculum
and performance standards. The results speak for themselves—roughly
one in five new teachers leaves the profession in the
first three years, and more than 30 percent leave within
five years.
To address this issue, PEN has launched an initiative to improve the quality of teaching in public middle and high schools by focusing on teacher skills and capacity, working conditions, and compensation. Underlying the initiative is PEN’s theory of action, which states that for sound research-based policies and best practices to be implemented and sustained, the public must be deeply involved in establishing community priorities around policies, resources, and practices. To this end, LEFs participating in the teacher quality initiative are utilizing public engagement activities supported by reliable data to effect changes in policy and practice to improve teacher quality.
During the three-year implementation process, participating LEFs in the District of Columbia, New York, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia will spearhead development and implementation of community-wide strategic plans to address the long-term goals of the initiative. Specific strategies will be determined through community engagement to achieve the following outcomes:
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Data providing community members and policymakers
with credible information on teacher quality at
the local level, in the district, and statewide
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A strategic action plan addressing issues of teacher
quality with specific outcome-based annual measures
of progress and specific roles for stakeholders,
policymakers, and individuals to play
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A community organized to support teacher quality
reform efforts and able to advocate for local and
state policy change
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