The Education Commission on the States (ECS) came out last week with a new report on how states are faring in implementation of various NCLB requirements.

On teacher quality, ECS rates states on whether they have gotten around to defining what it means to be a highly qualified teacher (each state gets its own definition); what they're doing to make sure they meet the 2006 deadline for employing only highly qualified teachers; how far they've gotten in approving the standards that current teachers must meet to demonstrate subject matter competency; implementing the, now required, broad subject matter test for new elementary teachers; and coming up with workable ways to improve professional development and measure its effectiveness.

Unlike the rest of the report which paints a fairly optimistic picture of state progress on NCLB, progress on teacher quality, says ECS, is pretty slow. Unfortunately the report doesn't really explain why. For instance, on states' progress towards developing subject matter standards for current teachers, ECS decides only 11 states are "on track." However, since all but two states in the nation have in fact created their HOUSSE standards, what is it that these 11 "on track" states have done that others haven't? Perhaps ECS means that some state HOUSSE standards aren't worth the paper they are written on, which for some states is certainly true (see NCTQ Reports, Spring 2004)--but it's not altogether clear. Still, it's a useful contribution in the effort to get states to focus on what needs doing, as the clock continues to tick towards 2006.