Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Providing comprehensive reporting may be the state's most important role for ensuring the equitable distribution of teachers among schools. Oklahoma does not report school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent.
Oklahoma does not collect or publicly report on any 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. Oklahoma also does not report on teacher absenteeism or turnover rates.
Oklahoma 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, and not the school, level. Oklahoma's Revised Equity Plan, published in 2009, compares 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. Oklahoma
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.
Oklahoma 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.
Report data at the school level.
Oklahoma should ensure that it is reporting all currently collected data at the school level, rather than aggregated by district.
Oklahoma recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.