Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Providing comprehensive reporting may be the state's most important role for ensuring the equitable distribution of teachers among schools. Arizona does not report school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent.
Arizona does not collect or publicly report any of the data recommended by NCTQ. The state lacks a school-level teacher quality index that indicates the academic backgrounds of a school's teachers as well as the ratio of new to veteran teachers. Arizona also does not report on teacher absenteeism or turnover rates.
Arizona does report on the percentage of teachers on emergency credentials and the percentage of highly qualified teachers. However, these data are reported only at the district level, not for individual schools, and have not been updated since the 2007-2008 school year. While Arizona compares the average percentage of highly qualified teachers in high- and low-poverty schools within each district, it does not provide the percentage of highly qualified teachers for each school.
Use a teacher quality index to report publicly about each school.
A teacher quality index, such as the one developed by the Illinois Education Research Council, with data including teachers' average SAT or ACT scores, the percentage of teachers failing basic skills licensure tests at least once, the selectivity of teachers' undergraduate colleges and the percentage of new teachers, can shine a light on how equitably teachers are distributed both across and within districts. Arizona should ensure that individual school report cards include such data in a manner that translates these factors into something easily understood by the public, such as a color-coded matrix indicating a school's high or low score.
Publish other data that facilitate comparisons across schools.
Arizona should collect and report other school-level data that reflect the stability of a school's faculty, including the rates of teacher absenteeism and turnover.
Provide comparative data based on school demographics.
As Arizona does with highly qualified teachers, the state should provide comparative data for schools with similar poverty and minority populations. This would yield a more comprehensive picture of gaps in the equitable distribution of teachers.
Report data at the school level.
Arizona should ensure that it is reporting all currently collected data at the school-level, rather than aggregated by district.
Ensure all data are current.
It is important to keep data updated and current in order to provide the public with an accurate picture of teacher distribution across school districts. Arizona should update the data on the percentage of teachers on emergency credentials and the percentage of highly qualified teachers, as the state has not done so since 2007-2008.
Arizona had no comment on this goal.