Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Providing comprehensive reporting may be the state's most important role for ensuring the equitable distribution of teachers among schools. Delaware reports little school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent among schools within districts.
Delaware does not collect and publicly report most of the data recommended by NCTQ. The state does not provide a school-level teacher quality index that demonstrates the academic backgrounds of a school's teachers, but it does report at the school-level the ratio of new to veteran teachers. The state provides district-level data on the percentage of teachers on emergency credentials. However the data has not been updated since the 2006-2007 school year. While Delaware does not report on teacher absenteeism rates, it does report school-level data on the percentage of highly qualified teachers and years of teaching experience of the staff. The state is commended for comparing the percentage of highly qualified teachers at high and low-poverty schools.
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. Delaware
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.
Delaware 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 Delaware 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.
Delaware should ensure that it is reporting all
currently collected data at the school level, rather than aggregated
by district.
Ensure that 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 schools in districts. While Delaware has
kept the majority of its data up-to-date, the state has not issued a
new state report card since the 2006-2007 school year.
Delaware recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.