Teacher Education and Teaching Quality: Creating the Foundation for Teacher Effectiveness

Challenges of 21st Century Teaching Greater Need for Education in Society Higher Standards for Learning More Diverse Students with Greater Educational Needs Greater Expectations of Schools for Ensuring Success Standards movement is holding kids to higher standards Yet in many places the system has not mobilized to equalize educational opportunity or to offer kids an education that would let them meet the standards (Funding differentials: access to qualified teachers and quality curriculum) Teaching is more difficult and challening

20th Century Teaching Cannot Meet 21st Century Demands

Current Dilemmas Little Faith in Teacher Education Proliferation of Routes and Models No Credible Quality Standard Little Leverage on Program Improvement Many Questions, Few Clearly Articulated Answers

Yet, Well-Prepared Teachers Matter a Great Deal Studies in NC and NY found student gains related to: Strong academic background Teacher preparation prior to entry Certification in the field taught Experience (> 3 years) National Board Certification (NC study) In NC, together, these predicted more of the difference in student learning gains than race & parent education combined (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2008). Policies should strengthen & equalize these features.

Preparation Reduces Teacher Attrition

Teacher Education Investments Boost Achievement

Effective Teachers… Engage students in active learning Create intellectually ambitious tasks Use a variety of teaching strategies Assess student learning continuously and adapt teaching to student needs Create effective scaffolds and supports Provide clear standards, constant feedback, and opportunities for revising work Develop and effectively manage a collaborative classroom in which all students have membership.

These Qualities are Embedded in Standards for Teaching National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (1987) -- Portfolio used to certify accomplished teaching Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) (1990) -- Adopted in > 40 states including California (CSTP) -- Basis of new licensing assessments -- Recently revised to reflect Common Core Standards ISLLCC

PISA 2009 Results Reading Korea Finland Singapore Canada New Zealand Japan Australia Netherlands Belgium Norway Mathematics Singapore Korea Finland Lichtenstein Switzerland Japan Canada Netherlands New Zealand Belgium Science Finland Singapore Japan Korea New Zealand Canada Estonia Australia Netherlands Germany

What are the Highest-Achieving Nations Doing? Societal supports for children’s welfare Equitable resources for schools Equitable access to a thinking curriculum (evaluated by rich performance assessments) Substantial investments in initial teacher education and ongoing support A well-paid and well-supported profession Schools designed to support teacher and student learning

Bureaucratic vs. Professional Approaches to Education Expertise rests in the classroom Teachers have extensive knowledge and skill Tests are aimed at informing practice Decisions are made collegially based on standards of practice Emphasis in on what works: “Doing the right things” Schools function as communities of learning Bureaucratic Expertise rests at the top of system Teachers have minimal skills Tests and texts are aimed at controlling practice Decisions are made hierarchically Emphasis is on following procedures: “Doing things right” Schools function as assembly lines

Professional Learning Opportunities in High-Achieving Nations The highest-achieving nations: Ensure extensive initial preparation that includes clinical training in model schools Provide beginners with intensive mentoring. Offer sustained learning opportunities embedded in practice: Teachers have 15-25 hours a week for collaboration plus additional days for professional learning Teachers engage regularly in Lesson Study, Action Research, and Peer Observation and Coaching to evaluate and improve practice.

What Policies are Associated with High Achievement in the US?

CT and MA Reforms Leading to High Achievement in the 1990s Raised & equalized teacher salaries Raised standards for teaching and teacher education Required more preparation for content pedagogy, special education, and literacy development Offered service scholarships to attract and prepare high-need teachers Required mentoring focused on a clinical performance assessment (CT) Invested in high-quality professional development (Reading Recovery, Writing Project, math networks) Pursued steady policies for > 15 years

What Kind of Teacher Preparation matters?

US Teacher Education is Today Where Medical Education was in 1910 © Linda Darling-Hammond 2010

What Doesn’t Work: Pathways that Reduce Preparation for Teaching

It is possible to prepare teachers well. What employers say: I have sought out Bank Street graduates in all my positions in the last ten years. (NYC principal) Wheelock does a better job of preparing early childhood teachers than any place I know. (Boston principal) As I look for teachers, I most immediately look for Alverno applicants…. I’ll take ten more teachers like the two I’ve had this year. (Milwaukee principal) I take all the [UC-Berkeley] grads I can get…. They are the best teachers – outstanding, dedicated. It is a program that stands out. (San Leandro principal)

Value-Added Gains of Students Whose Teachers Graduated from Different Teacher Education Programs in NYC ELA Strong Gains in ELA and Math Strong Gains in ELA, not math Math Weak Gains in ELA and Math Strong Gains in Math, not ELA

How can we turn the current Race to the Bottom into a Race to the Top for Teacher Education ?

Teacher Education Program Features Influencing Teacher Effectiveness Carefully developed student teaching Courses in content and content pedagogy Focus on learning specific practices and applying them in clinical experience Study of local district curriculum Portfolio or capstone project tying theory to practice

What Else Matters Program coherence and common vision School – university partnerships that support that vision and create a clinical curriculum

The Clinical Curriculum

What is Clinical Practice? IT IS NOT… Just being in a classroom Trial and error learning IT IS … Explicit modeling of good practice Opportunities to learn under expert supervision Assumption of gradual responsibility Specific clinical experiences linked to aspects of teaching practice and powerful theory

Learning about Practice in Practice

Supporting Clinical Training: The Need for Professional Schools As in medicine and other professions, teachers need to see and enact good practice while learning research and theory Professional development school models can support learning from expert veterans while candidates are taking tightly linked coursework. They can model state-of-the art education for students and teachers as well as opportunities for developing curriculum, new practices, and research.

What Can States Do to Leverage Quality?

State Levers Recruitment Incentives Preparation Standards -- Entry and Exit -- Programmatic Content Licensing / Relicensing Requirements -- Standards -- Assessments Accreditation Dissemination of Practice

1) Start with Standards and Build a Unified System Build on InTASC and National Board standards to create Standards-Based Approaches to state licensure assessment and advanced certification Use the same standards to shape teacher evaluation tool(s) for local evaluation Infuse into principal preparation, licensure, and evaluation the ability to evaluate and support teachers based on standards

2) Raise Standards and Create Attractions for Entering Teaching Create pathways into teaching Cadet programs, teaching schools Develop service scholarships for high-ability candidates and those in high-need fields Use undergraduate and graduate pathways Integrate leadership development with high-quality preparation Raise entry standards in ways that are related to the capacity to teach effectively

3) Use Performance Assessments to Guide Teacher Preparation & Licensing Teacher Performance Assessments examine -- Planning for a unit of instruction -- Instruction and rationale -- Assessment and student learning -- Reflection on teaching -- Development of academic language Trained scorers use analytic rubrics Calibration and auditing of scores Assessments predict effectiveness

Predictive Validity of Performance Assessments National Board Certification -- Effect sizes of .04 to .20 (pass/fail) Connecticut BEST portfolio -- Effect size of .46 (4 point scale) California PACT assessment -- Effect size of .15 (44 point scale) 20 percentile point difference in student achievement for the highest - and lowest-scoring teacher

Teacher Learning is Enhanced I think for me the most valuable thing was the sequencing of the lessons, teaching the lesson, and evaluating what the kids were getting, what the kids weren’t getting, and having that be reflected in my next lesson...the ‘teach-assess-teach-assess-teach-assess’ process. And so you’re constantly changing – you may have a plan or a framework that you have together, but knowing that that’s flexible and that it has to be flexible, based on what the children learn that day.

Teacher Educators Learn This [scoring] experience…has forced me to revisit the question of what really matters in the assessment of teachers, which – in turn – means revisiting the question of what really matters in the preparation of teachers.

Cooperating Teachers Reflect on Practice [The scoring process] forces you to be clear about “good teaching;” what it looks like, sounds like. It enables you to look at your own practice critically/with new eyes.

Programs Learn How candidates do: On different aspects of teaching In different subject areas In comparison to other programs Over time With different kinds of supports

Scores by Teaching Dimension and Institution

… And change: Courses The learning sequence Clinical practice opportunities Supports for candidates

4) Develop an integrated system Create a leadership cadre of expert teachers to serve as mentors and assessors Train and assess prospective and current principals for teacher supervision and support Create performance-based assessments for principal licensure Link the implementation of common core standards to teacher and principal preparation and evaluation

5) Strengthen Accreditation Evaluate all preparation and induction programs based on results of -- teacher performance assessments (TPA) -- graduates’ and employers’ assessments of preparation and preparedness -- entry and retention rates in teaching -- effectiveness of graduates in the classroom Use results for program approval / accreditation

6) Expand High-Quality Pathways to Teaching Study features of successful programs Disseminate information about what Works Create incentives for other programs to adopt these features Expand the number of successful programs and eliminate those that don’t improve

7) Protect Your Investment: Make induction productive Train and assign mentors who are highly accomplished teachers Guide induction with standards linked to a well-design performance assessment Support serious decisions about competence for tenure and professional / clear licensure -- High-quality assessment in light of meaningful standards -- Peer assistance and review processes

What About VAM? VAM estimates of teacher effectiveness … should not used to make operational decisions because such estimates are far too unstable to be considered fair or reliable. -- National Research Council, Board on Testing and Assessment In 2009, the NRC’s Board on Testing and Assessment issued a letter report directed to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, commenting on the Department’s proposal on the Race to the Top Fund. That letter included strong cautions concerning value-added models, and strongly urged further research and pilot studies before mandating any operational use of these models. Since then, the evidence has continued to accumulate that these models have serious problems.

Concerns Raised about Value-Added Measures Studies find that individual teachers’ value-added ratings are highly variable across years, classes, and tests and are influenced by: Student characteristics and attendance Class size, curriculum, instructional supports, and time spent with students Tutoring and out-of-school learning The effectiveness of peers

A Teacher’s Measured “Effectiveness” Can Vary Widely YEAR 1 10 YEAR 2 Same high school Same course (English I) Not a beginning teacher Model controls for: Prior achievement Demographics School fixed effects 1

Many Factors Influence Student Achievement Teacher knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behaviors that support the learning process. Hanushek et al. estimate the individual teacher effects component of measured student achievement is about 7%-10% of the total. Student availability for learning – Prior learning opportunities, health, supportive home context, attendance, developed abilities Resources for learning – Curriculum quality, materials, class sizes, specialist supports, etc. Coherence and continuity – The extent to which content & skills are well organized and reinforced across grades and classes

Work on Nuanced Indicators of Educator Effectiveness Multiple sources of evidence about student learning appropriate to the curriculum and students being taught Sensitivity to teaching conditions as well as teacher knowledge and skills Develop a data dashboard, not a single metric

What Should We Focus On?

A Smart System Would… 1. Adopt teaching standards across the career 2. Use Performance Assessments for initial licensure, professional licensure, & advanced certification -- scored by practicing educators / teacher educators -- used to evaluate and accredit programs 3. Build expertise for evaluation by focusing on principal knowledge and skills 4. Leverage changes in preparation based on what features produce results 5. Equalize access to teachers who are prepared and certified based on these stronger measures.

A goal for high-achieving 21st century nations: “Those who can, do. Those who understand, teach.” “Those who can, teach. Those who can’t go into a less significant line of work.”