Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Providing comprehensive reporting may be the state's most important role for ensuring the equitable distribution of teachers among schools. New Hampshire does not report school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent.
New Hampshire does not collect or 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 and the ratio of new to veteran teachers. New Hampshire also does not report on teacher absenteeism or turnover rates.
New Hampshire does report on the percentages of highly qualified teachers and teachers with three years or less teaching experience. These data are reported for each school in the states' highly qualified teacher plan, but have not been updated since December 2006.
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. New Hampshire 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.
New Hampshire 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.
Providing comparative data for schools with similar poverty and minority populations would yield an even more comprehensive picture of gaps in the equitable distribution of teachers.
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. New Hampshire should update the data it reports on the percentage of highly qualified teachers, as the state has not done so since 2006.
New Hampshire recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.