Lately, there has been an increased focus on the role that certification plays in the long-term performance of classroom teachers. In short, does certification matter? Many studies have analyzed the specific components and requirements of certification programs to determine which might be more predictive of long-term teaching success. This study…

Teacher certification is an important topic in the history of teaching in American education. Policymakers have recognized that for students to meet high standards, their teachers must also be of high quality (Goldhaber, Perry & Anthony, 2004; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, & Hamilton, 2003). The National Board for Professional Teaching…

This special report provides context and examples of new legislation impacting preparation, certification, induction, professional development, evaluation and compensation for leaders of schools and districts.

Recruit, train, reward, retain. These actions sound like the core competencies of a human resources manager or the buzzwords for economic development initiatives aiming to attract Fortune 500 companies. The same principles apply to finding, preparing and retaining effective educators. All 16 Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have…

Given the challenges facing American public education today, identifying effective teachers is a more vital task than ever before. In the U.S. public school system today, the method used to determine teacher effectiveness--and thus to drive salary, promotion, and tenure decisions--is based on a few external credentials: certification, advanced…

There is a sea change occurring in education across the country in the systematic way that everyone considers "what" students should be learning and "how" teachers should be evaluated. Amidst the sweeping changes in the enterprise of teaching and learning, English language learners, or ELLs, are one subgroup of students that…

This paper investigates the effect of teacher quality, represented by teacher level characteristics, on mathematics gain scores employing multilevel (or three-level hierarchical linear model, HLM, based) unconditional and conditional value-added model (VAM). We found the significant effects of teacher's mathematics content certification, teacher…

The 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized "Blueprint for Change," building off last year's "Yearbook"…

Each school district in the state of Florida was required to submit for approval a model for implementing the Beginning Teacher Program mandated by the Florida legislature. The program model required that a support staff, consisting of a peer teacher, building-level administrator, and at least one other professional educator be assigned to assist…

Two major state-wide programs in Florida have adopted the Florida Performance Measurement System (FPMS) for the formative and/or summative evaluation of instruction--The Beginning Teacher Program and the Master Teacher Program. Since the state is responsible for compiling and reporting scores in a state-wide system, the Teacher Evaluation…

Written in a reader-friendly style for busy faculty members and school administrators with little or no prior knowledge of statistics, this comprehensive model is designed to create fair, valid, and reliable assessments of teacher knowledge and skills. Evaluation experts Judy Wilkerson and Steve Lang provide detailed guidance for the complete…

The rationale for the role of state educational agencies in certifying teachers, the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) program and the new NTE Core Battery are discussed. State certification in Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma, Louisiana's consideration, and the District Court of South Carolina decision concerning NTE use for certification are…

Florida and Texas have tied evaluation of preservice teacher programs to performance measures. These reforms may have an impact on the functioning of teacher education programs within their institutions of higher education (IHE's). In 1996, Florida's State Board of Education adopted the Florida Education Standards Commission's (ECS) Recommendation…

Five states (Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida, and Arizona) are currently either administering or field-testing classroom observation systems for certification or employment decisions regarding beginning teachers. In Georgia, a beginning teacher has three years to demonstrate competence. Observations are completed by an external data…

This report presents the Florida edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook." The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals…