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 York reports some school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent.
New York collects and publicly reports some 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. However, it does report on the ratio of new to veteran teachers and the percentage of teachers without appropriate certification for each school. New York also reports on the percentage of highly qualified teacher and teacher turnover at the school level, but it does not report the teacher absenteeism rate.
Use a teacher quality index to report publicly about each school.
New York is commended for reporting more
school-level data than most states. However, the state should utilize
a teacher quality index with such data as with 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. This can shine
a light on how equitably teachers are distributed both across and
within districts. New York 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 York should
collect and report other school-level data that reflect the stability
of a school's faculty, including
the teacher absenteeism rate.
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.
New York recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.