Quality Educators

• Is Teaching a Profession? – Paper by Dr. Judith Ramaley that addresses the question of whether the teaching profession is a profession.
• What Can we Learn From States, Districts that Increase Educator Effectiveness Using the Teacher Incentive Fund? – New report finds that changes to pay, educator evaluation, professional development, and new data systems are “good investments” to strengthen teaching and learning.
• Letter to OEIB Subcommittee on State Investments – This letter to the Oregon Education Investment Board urges the prioritization of supports to strengthen effective teachers and leaders throughout Oregon.
• Oregon’s SB 290: A Primer – The Primer is a guide for Oregon’s educational leaders to support the successful implementation of Senate Bill 290.

• Targeting Growth, Using Student Learning Objectives as a Measure of Educator Effectiveness – Discusses the basic elements of Student Learning Objectives (SLO’s) as a way to measure educator effectiveness.
• Value-Added Measurement– January 2012 – A brief overview of the rapidly expanding literature
• Preparing Principals to Evaluate Teachers– October 2011 – An article from the NGA Center for Best Practices discussing teacher evaluation and next steps, professional development, and what Governors can do to ensure principals receive proper training as well as how they can push for changes in state policy.

• Why Teacher Preparation Matters – 2011 – A presentation by Chalkboard Project’s Kate Dickson. Summarizes the current research and state of teacher preparation programs in Oregon and outlines a plan for continued development.

• Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An American Agenda for Education Reform – May 2011 – A analysis by Mark S. Tucker of the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) that examines four countries’ highlight successful education systems and how those strategies could be applied to improve education in the U.S, especially around teacher quality and preparation. (Read a summary in Chalkboard’s June Research Update.)

• Nurturing Quality Teachers: A Profile of the Successes and Challenges of Six Oregon Districts – January 2008 –  Examines the professional development activities of six small and mid-sized districts from across Oregon. Reviews of budgets, collective-bargaining agreements, and calendars shows the size and nature of the professional development investment varies considerably across districts.

• Professional Development in Oregon: What Do Teachers Want, What Do They Get, and Do They Find It Useful? – January 2008 – Sheds light on the scope and perceived quality of professional development through an analysis of data from the 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and administrative data from the Oregon Department of Education.

• Ten Key Findings on Professional Development in Oregon – January 2008 – Draws ten conclusions from the research paper above.

• Teaching Effectiveness and Why It Matters – February 2010 – Produced in partnership with the Department of Education at Marylhurst University, this paper serves to help contextualize the conversation around teacher effectiveness. Providing background information on effective teaching practices and drawing connections to professional practice and multiple measures of student achievement, this paper is an introduction to a much-needed dialogue around teacher effectiveness.

• Teaching Effectiveness and Why It Matters: Key Ideas Summary – February 2010 – A one-page summary of the above paper.

• How Well Is Oregon Supporting Excellence in Our Schools? – 2008 – A very successful business invests in keeping its employees well trained and at the top of their profession. Teachers need that investment, too. Chalkboard makes recommendations in five areas of teacher professional development: equity, quality, professional learning, time, and accountability.

• Pay for Performance – 2006 – This paper outlines the issue of pay for performance and outlines a policy that would encourage Oregon school districts to adopt alternative methods of compensating their teachers.

• Educator Workgroup – 2006 – Chalkboard pulled together a group of community leaders, educators and citizens from across the state to delve into the issue of educator quality and deliver a list of consensus recommendations for policy and programmatic next steps (Full Report) (Key Findings)

National Data

• Evaluating Teachers: The Important Role of Value-Added Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings. November 2010.
• Transforming Teaching & Leading Council of Chief State School Officers

• Empowering Effective Teachers Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. February 2010.

• Readiness for Reform Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. February 2010.

• Constructing 21st-Century Teacher Education by Linda Darling-Hammond. Journal of Teacher Education. 2006.

• Teacher Education and the American Future by Linda Darling-Hammond. Journal of Teacher Education. 2010.

• Educating School Teachers by Arthur Levine. The Education Schools Project. September 2006.

• Teacher and Principal Excellence Philanthropy Roundtable.

• Policy and Teaching New Teacher Center. June 2009.

• Pay for Performance National Center on Performance Incentives. February 2008.

• Fixing Tenure Center for American Progress. June 2009.

• No Dream Denied NCTAF. January 2003.

• Teacher Testing: An Effective Policy? Don Goldhaber. March 2005.

• Schools in Crisis Marguerite Roza and Raegan Miller. July 2009.

• What Works Clearinghouse – The U.S. Department of Education Institute of Educational Sciences research Web site.

• The Widget Effect The New Teacher Project. 2009.

• “Addressing Challenges Encountered by Leadership Teams in Five Mentoring Programs” ICCTE Journal.Org. September 11, 2008. Volume 3 Issue 2.

• “Addressing Sources of Colateral Damage in Four Mentoring Programs.” Teachers College Record. Vol. 108. Number 7. July 2006.

• “A Teacher Development Continuum: The Role of Policy in Creating a Supportive Pathway into the Profession.” New Teachers Center. June 2009.

• “Because No One Gets There Alone: OEA and George Fox University Create a Mentoring Program.” Today’s OEA. January 2003.

• “Decision Points for the ODE Mentoring Summit: A Synthesis of Research and Practice” The Teaching Research Institute. Western Oregon University. October 2007.

• “Does New Teacher Support Affect Student Achievement? Some Early Research Findings.” New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz January 2006.

• “Induction into Learning Communities.” National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. August 2005.

• “Is Mentoring Worth the Money? A Benefit-Cost Analysis and Five-Year Rate of Return of a Comprehensive Mentoring Program for Beginning Teachers.” ERS Spectrum Journal of Research and Information. Vol. 25, No. 3 Summer 2007.

• “Mentoring New Teacher to Increase Retention: A Look at the Research.” New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz. May 2005. December 2005.

• “NCTAF/GSU Induction Project Final Report.” National Commission on Teacher and America’s Future/Georgia State University. August 2008.

• “New Teacher Support Pays Off: A Return on Investment for Educators and Kids.” Policy Brief. New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz. Fall 2007.

• “NTC Response to IES/Mathematica First-Year Report on Teacher Induction.” New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz. February 2009.

• “Policy Brief: The High Cost of Teacher Turnover.” National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.

• “Solving the Dilemmas of Teacher Supply, Demand, and Standards: How We Can Ensure a Competent, Caring, and Qualified Teacher for Every Child.” National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.

• “Tapping the Potential: Retaining and Developing High-Quality New Teachers.” Alliance for Excellent Education.

• “Teacher Induction in the Midwest: Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio: Implications for State Policy.” Executive Summary. New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz. May 2005.

• “Three Mentoring Team Relationships and Obstacles Encountered: A School-based Case Study.” Mentoring & Tutoring. Vol. 15, No. 3, August 2007, pp. 293-308.

• “Unraveling the Teacher Shortage Problem: Teacher Retention is the Key.” National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. August 2002.