Teacher and Paraprofessional Quality

People, Groups, and Projects Federal Regulations, Guidance, and Letters Publications People, Groups, and Projects Center for Improving Teacher Quality (CTQ) A national center housed at CCSSO and funded by Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services of the U.S. Department of Education to work with states on developing models for improving the preparation, licensing, and professional development of both GENERAL and SPECIAL education teachers of students with disabilities. Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) CCSSO's Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium brings together state education agencies and national educational organizations dedicated to the reform of the preparation, licensing, and on-going professional development of teachers. State Teacher Quality Network (STQN) The State Teacher Quality Network is a two-year project funded by the Joyce Foundation to help state education agencies implement the teacher and paraprofessional quality provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. The network was created to help states analyze, plan, and implement strategies to strengthen teacher quality, particularly in high-poverty, low-performing, and hard-to-staff schools. The project provides technical assistance and support to state education agencies by assisting states with the development of NCLB-required teacher equity plans to ensure that poor and minority students are not disproportionately assigned to inexperienced, unqualified, and out-of-field teachers identifying and disseminating best practices producing policy analyses, issue briefs, and tools providing opportunities for states to share information and expertise and to work collaboratively on teacher quality reforms Federal Regulations, Guidance, and Letters Academic Improvement and Teacher Quality Programs in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education Highly Qualified Teachers and International Teacher Exchange Programs March 24, 2004 New No Child Left Behind Flexibility: Highly Qualified Teachers March 15, 2004 Title I Paraprofessionals March 1, 2004 Non-regulatory guidance on Improving Teacher Quality State Grants-Title II, Part A January 16, 2004 Use of Title I Funds for Professional Development January 15, 2004 Publications Partnerships for State Teacher Equity Plans CCSSO, State Teacher Quality Network June 2006 Provides links to 10 major federal programs that offer funds to help states and districts prepare, recruit, develop, and retain teachers in high-need schools. In addition, provides links to existing partnerships in each state, so that SEAs can include these in their teacher equity plans as examples of steps that their states are taking to strengthen teaching quality in high-need schools. Template for State Teacher Equity Plans CCSSO, State Teacher Quality Network March 2006 Provides an organizing framework to help state education agencies develop and refine NCLB-required state teacher equity plans to ensure that poor and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified, and out-of-field teachers. Identifies eight elements that should be addressed in a well-designed state plan, provides links to multiple examples of existing state-level policies and programs to improve teacher equity, and presents a series of steps states can follow to construct their plans. Teacher Quality and Improvement newsletter CCSSO, State Teacher Quality Network February 2004 to present Free, biweekly electronic newsletter that provides information about recent reports, studies, legislative action, and news articles related to teacher quality and improvement efforts at the state and district levels. Teacher Quality Under No Child Left Behind: What we Know and May Not Know CCSSO Braintrusts October 2003 Overview of NCLB and other federal requirements related to teacher quality. Meeting NCLB Goals for Highly Qualified Teachers: Estimates by State from Survey Data CCSSO 2003 Profiles of state data on the qualifications of teachers in grades 7-12. Includes results from Schools and Staffing Surveys of 1994 and 2000, such as the percentage of teachers in each state that are fully certified and have a major in their assigned teaching field. Model Standards for Licensing Beginning Foreign Language Teachers: A Resource for State Dialogue CCSSO INTASC 2002 Report on standards that articulate what all beginning teachers should know and be able to do to effectively teach a student a foreign language. Model Standards for Licensing Classroom Teachers and Specialists in the Arts: A Resource for State Dialogue CCSSO INTASC 2002 Report on standards that articulate what all teachers, both classroom teachers and arts specialists, should know and be able to do to effectively teach the arts. Model Standards in Science for Beginning Teacher Licensing and Development: A Resource for State Dialogue CCSSO INTASC 2002 Report on the specific knowledge, dispositions, and performances that would enable beginning teachers to effectively teach science to students at any grade level, k-12. Model Standards for Licensing General and Special Education Teachers of Students with Disabilities: A Resource for State Dialogue CCSSO INTASC 2001 Report on the specific knowledge, dispositions, and performances that would enable beginning teachers to effectively teach students with disabilities. Model Standards in Mathematics for Beginning Teacher Licensing and Development: A Resource for State Dialogue CCSSO INTASC 1995 Report on the specific knowledge, dispositions, and performances that would enable beginning teachers to effectively teach mathematics to students at any grade level, K-12. Model Standards for Beginning Teacher Licensing and Development: A Resource for State Dialogue CCSSO INTASC 1992 Overview of the knowledge, dispositions, and performances deemed essential for all teachers regardless of their specialty area.

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document last updated 5/5/2008