Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Providing comprehensive reporting may be the state's most important role for ensuring the equitable distribution of teachers among schools. Wisconsin reports little school-level data that can help support the equitable distribution of teacher talent.
Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin also does not report teacher absenteeism or turnover rates.
Wisconsin does report on the percentages of teachers on emergency credentials, teachers with less than five years of teaching experience and highly qualified teachers. Commendably, these data are reported for each school, rather than aggregated by district.
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. Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin
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 population would yield an even more comprehensive picture of gaps in the equitable distribution of teachers.
Wisconsin recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.