Ensuring Equitable Access to Effective Teachers

• In Event: A State's Journey to Achieve Educational Equity: The Role of Stakeholders, Researchers, and the Courts

Abstract

One of the requirements of the State’s long-standing court case was to ensure that students have access to competent, certified, well-trained teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine the current state of the teacher workforce in the State and to recommend needed actions to ensure that students of color and low income students have access to well-prepared, effective and diverse teachers. Research indicates that teachers are the most important school-based factor affecting student achievement (McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, & Hamilton, 2003; Rowan, Correnti, & Miller, 2002). Therefore, it’s critical that states, districts, and schools strategically develop and sustain an effective teacher workforce. Researchers examined current and past status, policies and programs for providing an effective teacher in every classroom with respect to:
• Educator supply, demand and quality
• Mobility and attrition of teachers
• Access to fully prepared and experienced educators for all students, but particularly historically underserved students
• Professional environments in place to support the growth and development of teachers
• Retaining and extending the reach of high-quality teachers

Researchers utilized a mixed-methods approach and included reviews of prior research; analyses of existing state administrative data sets and survey data from NCES; data from an original survey sent to every principal in the state; perceptual data from interviews and focus groups with teachers, principals, superintendents and other district and state professionals from across the state; and other extant data.

Ten key findings emerged from the study:
1. Teacher supply is shrinking and shortages in the state are widespread.
2. The average quality of teachers entering the workforce has declined.
3. Experienced, licensed teachers have the lowest annual attrition rates.
4. Teacher demand is growing, and attrition increases the need for hiring.
5. Changes to key state programs for teacher development have decreased its ability to positively improve the quality and supply of the teacher workforce.
6. Salaries and working conditions influence both retention and school effectiveness.
7. The overall current teacher workforce does not reflect the student population.
8. Disadvantaged students in the state have less access to effective and experienced teachers.
9. Access to, and quality of, professional learning opportunities vary across schools and districts, and state-level efforts that support teacher growth and development are inadequate and inequitable.
10. Teachers are often not compensated for taking on advanced teacher-leader positions.

Given the key findings, providing a qualified, well-prepared and effective teacher in every classroom poses an enormous challenge, which will require a systemic, multifaceted approach to build and maintain the teaching workforce needed throughout the state. This study contributes to the discussion of how to address the current state for the most-disadvantaged students—that they are much more likely than their peers to be taught by less effective or less experienced teachers (Goldhaber, Lavery, & Theobald, 2015; DeMonte & Hanna, 2014), and that past remedies have failed to correct this problem at scale (Glazerman & Max, 2011). Specific recommendations and current actions to tackle this critical equity issue will be discussed during this presentation.

Author

• Angela Minnici, WestEd