Consensus is growing that high-quality early education is a critical support to all subsequent learning. In early childhood education quality is generally considered holistically in terms of the physical environment, programmatic structure (e.g., length of the school day), curriculum and instruction, and the nature of interactions between teachers…

The time between the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and its replacement, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, marked a period of unprecedented policy-driven education reform. Unfortunately, the major objectives of the policy were not achieved, and the very problems it sought to fix still exist. One reason for this was an…

Summative performance assessments in teacher education, such as the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) and the edTPA, have been heralded through polices intended to enhance the quality of the teaching profession and raise its stature among other professions. However, the development and implementation of the PACT, and…

The edTPA is a teaching performance assessment (TPA) that the states of New York and Washington implemented as a licensure requirement in 2013. While TPAs are not new modes of assessment, New York and Washington are the first states to use the edTPA specifically as a compulsory, high-stakes policy lever in an effort to strengthen the quality and…

This article reports on three stories of what the author calls "eco-narrative" constructions from the data. These stories are rendered in detail to underscore the obstacles student teachers face regularly in becoming multicultural educators, as well as the various and subtle ways supervisors can help them advance their skills by giving…

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…

Questions about whether states play a role in ensuring access to high-quality teaching talent in local communities have ceased. Increasingly, states are encouraging and requiring more robust preparation programs; more efficient human resources departments that identify, recruit, place, and support the most effective educators; and more continuous…

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"…

THIS REPORT REPRESENTS THE SECOND PHASE OF A TWO-PART RESEARCH PROJECT CONCERNING WAYS TO IMPROVE CERTAIN ASPECTS OF TEACHER EDUCATION THROUGH CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION AND KINESCOPE RECORDINGS. IN THIS PHASE IT WAS PREDICTED THAT KINESCOPE RECORDINGS WOULD PROVIDE A MORE EFFECTIVE MEDIUM OF OBSERVATION THAN LIVE TELEVISION, AND THAT TELEVISION…

EVIDENCE WAS SOUGHT ABOUT THE USEFULNESS OF KINESCOPE RECORDINGS OF STUDENT-TEACHING PERFORMANCES IN THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER CANDIDATES. THIS REPORT, PHASE ONE, WAS CONCERNED WITH AN EVALUATION OF THREE SUPERVISORY METHODS--(1) SUPERVISION THROUGH PERSONAL VISITATION, (2) SUPERVISION THROUGH KINESCOPE RECORDINGS, AND (3) A…

Efforts underway in New York to establish statewide academic standards are described. The responsibility of different individuals and groups and the need for special programs are also discussed. (GC)

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The "2011 State…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effect of a 1972 change in New York certification requirements for vocational education teachers which made it possible for individuals with minimal work experience to become certified to teach vocational subjects. To determine the effect of these changes on local schools, this study attempted to…

The New York edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on teacher…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This New York edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…