Educator Quality and Quantity a CEAAC Project with Partners NEA Alaska and Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. Charles Wohlforth Jerry Barbara Updated December 16, 2014

EQQ Context 2004: CEAAC Board files the constitutional Moore suit to address low performance in rural schools. 2009: Judge Gleason orders teacher and principal training to meet state’s constitutional obligation. 2012, January: CEAAC settles Moore suit without a specific teacher preparation component. 2012, April: CEAAC Board adopts a three-year plan, taking on teacher quality and quantity beginning in , April: CEAAC Board retains Jerry Covey and Dr. Barbara Adams to study and make recommendations. Today: Covey/Adams Report to CEAAC

EQQ Project Goals 1.Collate statewide issues that negatively impact Alaska’s certificated education workforce. 2.Identify effective practices in educator recruitment, development, and retention. 3.Engage stakeholder groups in a collaborative effort to prioritize improvements that will strengthen Alaska’s certificated workforce. 4.Secure policy, regulatory, and statutory changes to improve the quality of Alaska’s certificated education workforce.

Issues & Impetus Issue Statement: Alaska’s education system is not serving all students to the best of their ability. Only about 40% of Alaska’s high school graduates attended postsecondary institutions in 2012 (ACPE, 2013). 49% of first-time UA freshman required remedial courses in Of that group 81% of them required remedial math and 50% required remedial English (ACPE, 2014). Half of Alaska’s K-12 students are minority but 90% of teachers are white (ISER, 2013). District teacher turnover ranged from 7-52% in 2012 (ISER, 2013). From an average of 64% of teachers were hired from outside (ISER, 2013). Turnover rate for teachers prepared outside is double that of teachers prepared in Alaska, regardless of years of experience. For example, 23% vs. 12% turnover of early career teachers 0-3 years (ISER, 2013).

Methodology & Methods Approach – Long-term issue – Make change – Leaders from range of stakeholders – Grounded Theory Data Collection – Interviews (16) – Two interviewers – Individual mostly and some group – Structured protocol – Document review

Interview Data Collection Alaska Dept. of Education & Early Development Alaska Staff Development Network Alaska Teacher Placement Anchorage School District Association of Alaska School Administrators Association of Alaska School Boards Education Matters Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Future Educators of Alaska Institute for Social and Economic Research NEA Alaska UA Rural Campus Leaders UA Schools of Education UA Statewide Administration

Research Reports/Documents Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) Documents Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) Education Matters, Inc. Flexner Report on Teacher Preparation (Brookings Institution) Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) Reports Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Standards (inTASC) National Board of Professional Teaching Standards National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) 2013 State Teacher Policy Yearbook Shaping Alaska's Future (University of Alaska) Stanford Social Innovation Review TCC Interior Education Summit Draft Report UA SOE Draft Plan for Revitalizing Teacher Education in Alaska

Coding & Analysis Process open coding Quality Compensation Mentoring Perception selective coding Preparation Recruitment Retention Professional development Iterative Process: open coding, axial coding, selective coding Analysis: frequency, co-occurrence, quotes axial coding Issues Solutions Changes

Results by frequency

Results for Issues Issue: ideas suggested as problems, bottlenecks, difficulties.

Results for Solutions Solution: ideas suggested that address an issue or suggest change in a specific and actionable manner.

Results for Changes Change: ideas suggested for modification without providing a solution.

Results by Topic

Strengthen K-12 Certificated Workforce Systemic Approach Expand the Alaska grown Workforce Develop and Keep the Workforce Train 60% of new hires in state by 2025 Develop 90% to proficiency level by 2025 Preparation & Recruitment Prof Development & Retention Measurable Outcomes

EXPANDDEVELOP & KEEP Preparation  Raise standards for entry into and exit from educator preparation program in state (CAEP)  Ensure university capacity for teacher education serves 40% more students  Increase and strengthen pre-service field experience (local and culture)  Integrate ESL training for all teachers  Provide a systemic process for improving teacher preparation using stakeholder and outcome feedback  Increase and strengthen bridge programs to attract minority groups into education careers  Establish laboratory schools in urban and rural hub communities Professional Development  Add 10 quality professional development days  Add 6 days to school year  Add 4 days to quality in-service allocation  Implement best practices  Provide targeted funding  Assess to ensure quality of PD  Select two curricular programs for major content areas – if districts voluntarily choose to use them, state will purchase them and EED will provide on-going quality staff development  Increase and expand the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project Recruitment  FEA program in every school district, aim for 5% of high school student population for a total of 2,000 students  Increase and strengthen bridge programs to attract minority groups into education careers  Loan forgiveness for Alaskans who are trained outside and return to teach  Support loan forgiveness throughout schooling not just at the end  Free special education courses  Attract second career people  Incentivize hard to fill jobs  Revisit salary and benefits package Retention  Incentivize hard to fill jobs  Revisit salary and benefits package  Loan forgiveness for educators who remain in district three years  Continue teacher retention grants to districts  Scale up practices that work in districts to a statewide level  Celebrate teachers with awards and recognition  Establish laboratory schools in urban and rural hub communities  Increase and expand the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project Note: this systemic approach should support increased retention as a whole

Preparation  Raise standards for entry into and exit from educator preparation program in state (CAEP)  Ensure university capacity for teacher education serves 40% more students  Increase and strengthen pre-service field experience (local and culture)  Integrate ESL training for all teachers  Provide a systemic process for improving teacher preparation using stakeholder and outcome feedback  Increase and strengthen bridge programs to attract minority groups into education careers  Establish laboratory schools in urban and rural hub communities STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT ACHIEVING GOAL #1: TRAIN 60% OF NEW HIRES IN STATE BY 2025

Recruitment  FEA program in every school district, aim for 5% of high school student population for a total of 2,000 students  Increase and strengthen bridge programs to attract minority groups into education careers  Loan forgiveness for Alaskans who are trained outside and return to teach  Support loan forgiveness throughout schooling not just at the end  Free special education courses  Attract second career people  Incentivize hard to fill jobs  Revisit salary and benefits package STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT ACHIEVING GOAL #1: TRAIN 60% OF NEW HIRES IN STATE BY 2025

Professional Development  Add 10 quality professional development days  Add 6 days to school year  Add 4 days to quality in-service allocation  Implement best practices  Provide targeted funding  Assess to ensure quality of PD  Select two curricular programs for major content areas – if districts voluntarily choose to use them, state will purchase them and EED will provide on-going quality staff development  Increase and expand the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT ACHIEVING GOAL #2: DEVELOP 90% TO PROFICIENCY LEVEL BY 2025

Retention  Incentivize hard to fill jobs  Revisit salary and benefits package  Loan forgiveness for educators who remain in district three years  Continue teacher retention grants to districts  Scale up practices that work in districts to a statewide level  Celebrate teachers with awards and recognition  Establish laboratory schools in urban and rural hub communities  Increase and expand the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project Note: this systemic approach should support increased retention as a whole STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT ACHIEVING GOAL #2: DEVELOP 90% TO PROFICIENCY LEVEL BY 2025

Next Steps Request consensus from CEACC board Present Alaska EQQ Plan to stakeholder groups Convene stakeholder group to begin developing recommendations Present plan to school boards, local governments, statewide civic, community, and business groups Present policy recommendations to legislature and education agencies Advocate for change 10/1/14 11/8/14