•

What is the relationship like between the school board and school system?

•

What is the relationship like between the teacher union(s) and the school system?

•

How responsive are local college and university-based teacher preparation programs to the hiring needs of the district?

•

How responsive are local colleges and universities to the professional development needs of the district's teachers?

•

How well do parents support the work of teachers (e.g., through ensuring children do their homework, attending parent-teacher conferences, etc.)?

•

What steps have area businesses taken to support teaching quality (e.g. by offering technology training to teachers, executive training to principals, funding for teaching quality)?

•

How have local media covered issues of teacher quality?

•

How high is public awareness of teacher quality issues? To what extent are local residents participating in efforts to discuss or improve teacher quality?

•

What steps have area community organizations taken to support teaching quality (e.g. by adopting teacher quality as part of their own agendas, by providing small grants to teachers for special projects, by augmenting district professional development offerings)?

Possible Indicators of/
Questions about Community Impact

School board

Public support/advocacy of school system by board

Degree of input of school employees in board deliberations

Teacher unions

Terms of state/district agreements with teacher unions

Level of respect/trust between school system and teacher unions

College and university programs

Number of graduates of area preparation programs each year

Number of graduates of area preparation programs accepting jobs in the district each year

Accreditation of teacher prep programs from which most area teachers graduate

Graduation requirements/standards of teacher prep programs from which most area teachers graduate

Number of graduates of area preparation programs each year with characteristics deemed high-priority by the district (e.g. specialists in shortage content areas, minority candidates)

Number of such graduates accepting jobs in the district each year

Number of student teachers provided by area programs each year

Number of district teachers enrolled in area college and university programs each year (degree programs and other kinds of professional development)

Number and quality of college/university programs that place faculty in K-12 schools as consultants and/or other positions that strengthen ties between the research of universities and the practices of in-service teachers

Number and quality of college/university programs that use in-service teachers to help design and teach courses for pre-service teachers

Evidence of other ways colleges and universities are contributing to teaching quality

Parent involvement

Satisfaction with parent involvement/support as expressed by teachers on surveys, in focus groups, etc.

Forms (e.g., "parent report cards") that allow teachers to alert and/or assess parents as to how well they are supporting their children's education at home

Business involvement

Number of teachers and administrators participating in business-offered training/internship experiences each year

Business facilitation of programs in which mid-career and retiring professionals enter into the teaching profession

Provision of funds by businesses to support teaching quality (e.g. via enhanced professional development)

Media coverage

MProportion of school-related stories focusing on teacher quality issues

Quality and accuracy of teacher-related coverage

Extent of coverage of teacher quality improvement efforts

Public awareness and involvement

In a survey of citizens:
• proportion demonstrating awareness of teaching quality issues
• proportion rating the improvement of teacher quality as a high priority for the community
• proportion who say they volunteer in schools
• proportion who say they serve in a leadership position in a school or community-related organization or initiative

Number of citizens participating in focus groups, town meetings, and other forums on teacher issues

Diversity of citizens participating in focus groups, town meetings, and other forums on teacher issues

Turnout of citizens in school board elections and school bond referenda

Community organization

involvement Number of community organizations adopting teacher quality as part of their organizational agendas

Diversity / breadth of community organizations adopting teacher quality as part of their organizational agendas

Provision of grants to teachers for special projects

Community organization provision of professional development (e.g., a nonprofit technology training center offering computer training)

The Big Picture

Distribution

Flow

Structure and Process

Community

You may also download a Microsoft Word version of the entire data-collection framework document.