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 |  | The "highly qualified teacher" is a familiar figure in discussions of educational policy, but it’s not always clear what teacher quality means or what policies support it. Current projections that 50% of the teacher corps will retire within the next five years give special urgency to considerations of teacher quality across the career span. NCTE believes that teacher quality is a vital factor in student learning, and that quality in English language arts instruction is tied to the context in which teaching occurs. Just as students arrive in classrooms with different prior experiences and needs, teachers themselves require different types of support at various stages of their careers so that they may consistently demonstrate “quality” in their planning, facilitating, and assessment of student learning. Here you can learn about various definitions of teacher quality, how current legislation addresses it, and what research tells us about the meaning of and support for teacher quality. |
Learn about the Issue
Frequently Asked Questions about Teacher Quality
| Find the answers to the most common questions about teacher quality. |
Teacher Quality Key Terms
| A glossart of important terms used when talking about teacher quality. |
A Good Teacher In Every Classroom: Preparing the Highly Qualified Teachers Our Children Deserve
| What kind of knowledge do teachers need in order to facilitate student learning? And what kind of experiences do teachers need to develop this knowledge? This report addresses these questions--and recommends needed policy changes. |
Policymakers Guide to Teacher Quality in English Language Arts
| These guidelines provide insights to policymakers so that they may support and strengthen measures designed to enhance teacher quality in literacy education. |
Creating Highly Qualified Teachers
| NCTE member and SLATE Region 5 Representative Michelle Trammel offers a summary of teacher quality provisions of NCLB and a perspective on how we define "good" teaching. |
CCCC Statement of Principles for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing
| These standards and principles for college-level writing programs promote fair treatment and ample learning opportunities for faculty and students in order to assure the delivery of high quality writing instruction. |
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Policy Research
Telling the Whole Truth (or Not) About Highly Qualified Teachers
| This report reveals that while some states made good faith efforts to report honest data, others fell far short. A considerable number of states reported no teacher quality data at all, some states reported data that appears inconsistent, and many others failed to apply their own definitions of teacher quality before submitting their baseline data. |
Teacher Quality: Equalizing Educational Opportunities and Outcomes
| This report examines the challenges states and districts encounter as they implement the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) teacher quality provisions. Using data from a six-state study, this report shows that the NCLB teacher quality provisions do little to address the primary barriers to attracting and retaining quality teachers in classrooms serving low-income and minority students.
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The Near Impossibility of Testing for Teacher Quality
| In this article, David Berliner looks at testing for teacher quality and finds that some current tests are inadequate. |
The Impact of Mentoring on Teacher Retention: What the Research Says
| This reports’s primary objective is to provide policymakers, educators and researchers with a reliable assessment of what is known, and not known, about the effectiveness of teacher induction programs. In particular, this review focuses on the impact of induction and mentoring programs on teacher retention. |
Research Reveals Teacher Working Conditions Key to Improving Student Achievement
| Data from new studies in both North and South Carolina indicate that improving teacher working conditions--time, empowerment, professional development, leadership, and facilities and resources--significantly improves student achievement and helps stem teacher turnover. |
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Teacher Resources and Advocacy
Contact Your Legislator
| You can make a difference with a simple e-mail, letter, or phone call. |
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Questions? Ask NCTE
| Do you still have questions about this topic? E-mail your questions to NCTE's Squire Policy Research team. |
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