NASBE's State Education Standard Urges State Policymakers to Take Fresh Look at Preparing Teachers and Leaders

  • 09/15/15

Alexandria, Va. — The National Association of State Boards of Education today released the fall issue of its journal, The State Education Standard. This edition explores the many ways policymakers can ensure that those who teach and lead our children in public schools are better prepared and better supported to do their jobs well.

Research shows that teacher quality makes the biggest difference of all the in-school factors that influence student learning. Teachers want to improve, and good principals want to prepare their teachers for any classroom challenge and support their professional development. But, as the authors in the Standard suggest, raising the level of teaching in every classroom isn’t easy, nor is it an exact science. We are still learning what works, but it is clear state policymakers have a vital role in identifying, developing, evaluating, and supporting effective school leaders.

Two states, West Virginia and Massachusetts, are taking the lead to retool and rethink teacher preparation. Buoyed by a directive from the governor, the West Virginia State Board of Education is changing requirements for teacher preparation and certification. As past-president Gayle Manchin can attest, such planning is best started around a table big enough to fit a lot of stakeholders. The Massachusetts state board baked improving teacher preparation programs right into their most recent strategic plan. Now, the state’s educator preparation programs must demonstrate need for their programs and provide evidence of their effectiveness.

Researcher Brenda Turnbull highlights the lessons of six school districts across the country taking on the critical challenge of ensuring their schools have a supply of effective principals. All six districts are participating in The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Pipeline Initiative. Denver teacher Lori Nazareno details the sequence of events that led Denver Public Schools to its commitment to fully implement a district-wide teacher leader program by 2018.

Evaluation can be a key tool in building up education leaders. But many states are missing the mark. Drew Gitomer of Rutgers University argues state policymakers should look at evaluation systems with fresh eyes—seeing the connection between policy and practice—so that these systems become real engines of instructional improvement. Patrick McGuinn assesses lessons learned in the teacher evaluation reforms carried out in six “early adopter” Race to the Top states.

Other highlights in this issue include a federal education update on ESEA, an interview with 2010 National Teacher of the Year Sarah Brown Wessling, and a preview of a NASBE study group survey on principal development policies.

Read the full September 2015 issue of The State Education Standard at www.nasbe.org/standard-issue/preparing-teachers-and-leaders/.

Featured

  • RenewAire Releases DX Cooling Coil for Two Existing Energy Recovery Ventilators

    HVAC and indoor-air-quality solutions provider RenewAire recently launched the new HE+DX Coil, a duct-mounted system for the company’s existing HE07 and HE10 energy recovery ventilators (ERVs).

  • Michigan School District Installs New Gun-Detection Platform

    Williamston Community Schools in Williamston, Mich., recently announced that it has installed the ZeroEyes gun-detection video analytics platform for its five schools, according to a news release. ZeroEyes is the only solution of its kind with a U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act Designation and adds an AI gun-detection and intelligent situational awareness software layer into existing school security cameras.

  • Understanding the Training of School Resource Officers

    SROs are now integral components of nearly every educational system in the country. But instead of being a more passive entity in schools, they have gradually become mentors to students, adding to their support network of teachers, parents, coaches, and other caring adults.

  • The Impact of School Security on Student Well-Being

    One of the most fundamental human requirements, as outlined in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is the provision of basic needs: food, shelter, and clothing. In school, this hierarchy of needs shifts to include the need for physical, mental, and emotional safety. The student mind is not biologically wired to deal with the negative impacts of unsafe environments, which implies that security has a major impact on student well-being.