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 Mexico reports little school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent.
New Mexico 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 Mexico also does not report on teacher absenteeism or turnover rates.
New Mexico does report on the percentage of teachers on emergency or provisional credentials as well as the percentage of highly qualified teachers. However, the state reports the percentage of teachers on emergency or provisional credentials only at the district, and not at the school, level. Commendably, the state reports the percentage of highly qualified teachers for each school, rather than aggregated by district. New Mexico also compares the percentages for both factors 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. New Mexico 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 Mexico 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 New Mexico does with emergency credentials and 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.
New Mexico recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.