TITLE II, Part A, Improving Teacher Quality

PAFPC Conference

April 6, 2011

Don McCrone

Program Manager

Title II, Part A, Improving Teacher Quality

• USDE NCLB Website– www.nclb.gov

• USDE Guidance– www.ed.gov– http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/bu

dget11/summary/edlite-section3a.html#eit

Title II A Purpose

• Increase Student Achievement• Improve Teacher and Principal Quality• Insure Teachers are Highly Qualified• Professional Development-college credit

reimbursement-core content• Class-Size Reduction-core content• Supplement/supplant

Title II A Core Academic Subjects

• English, Reading/Language Arts• Mathematics, Sciences, Foreign Languages• Music and Art• Social Studies – History, Economics,

Geography, Civics, and Government

Highly Qualified Teachers - NCLB

• All Teachers-not just Title I buildings• Core Academic Subjects-alt, special ed.• End of 2005-06 School Year• HQT Plan must be in place• Section 2141 requirements

Section 2141

• By the end of the 2005-06 school year, all LEAs were required to have 100% of their core academic teachers highly qualified. Section 2141 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by No Child Left Behind, sets forth the technical assistance and accountability provisions for LEAS who fail to have 100% highly qualified educators for core academic subjects.

Section 2141

• Section 2141 requires an LEA that does not have 100% highly qualified educators in core academic subjects for two consecutive years, to create an updated Improvement Plan. Furthermore, if for three consecutive years an LEA fails to maintain 100% of its core academic teachers as highly qualified and also fails to make adequate yearly progress (AYP), the PDE and LEA are required to enter into a written agreement regarding the use of that LEA’s Title I and/or Title II funds.

Title IIA – Title I Set-Aside

• Districts that do not have all core academic teachers HQ must set aside 5% of Title I allocation to provide opportunities for teachers to become HQ

• Title I schools in Improvement must spend 10% of Title I on PD focused on whatever got you into Improvement

• PDE 425 Principal Attestation

Title II A Assurance – Needs Assessment

• Teachers and Administrators• Assessment of Local Needs• Professional Development Activities• State Standards• Student Achievement

Title II A – Targeting of Funds

• LEAs must target program funds to schools:– With the lowest proportion of HQ teachers,– With the largest class sizes, or– Identified for school improvement

Title II A Budget – eGrants

• Title II, Part A Nonpublic Share– Nonpublic Must Receive Equitable Share of

Funds Spent on Professional Development– eGrants Calculates Additional Amount Due

NP Based on Title II, Part A Funds Budgeted for SD Professional Development

– Any additional amount to be shared with NP listed on carryover section of budget and DFP Website

Title II A Use of Funds – Hire

• Only Highly Qualified Teachers• Reduce Class Size• Any Grade Level, any building• Based on Needs Assessment

Title II A Use of Funds - Materials

• Title II funds cannot be used to purchase materials for students unless materials are necessary for professional development activities which can then be used within classrooms

Equitable Teacher Distribution

Requirements and ExpectationsRequirements and Expectations

What is an equitable distribution plan…

2 provisions of ESEA help us understand the purpose of and responsibilities associated with an equitable distribution plan:Section 1111(b)(8)(C) of the ESEA

(pertains to State Education Agencies)Section 1112(c)(1)(L) of the ESEA

(pertains to LEAs)

Section 1112(c)(1)(L) of the ESEA states that…

each LEA plan must include an assurance that the LEA will “ensure, through incentives for voluntary transfers, the provision of professional development, recruitment programs, or other effective strategies, that low-income students and minority students are not taught at higher rates than other students by unqualified, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers.”

Who Must Develop an Equitable Teacher Distribution Plan?

• All LEAs must develop an equitable teacher All LEAs must develop an equitable teacher distribution plandistribution plan

Even if they have: Even if they have: Achieved 100% HQT andAchieved 100% HQT andMet AYPMet AYP

What Does an Equitable Distribution Plan Look Like?

• There is no set format, but including the following type of information is essential:

Teacher and Student Data, as well as an Analysis of these Data

Staffing Problems and Barriers Recruitment and Retention Strategies

What Does an Equitable Distribution Plan Look Like?

Action Steps, Responsible Personnel and Target Dates

Review Process to Determine if Strategies Are Working

Differentiated Supports for Novice Teachers

LEAs and SEAs must analyze data to:

identify why teachers are not highly qualified;

determine if novice (less experienced) teachers are concentrated in specific schools

measure progress; determine if strategies

in the plan are working or should be changed;

revisit the plan regularly and update as needed.

PA’s 2008-2009 NHQT Data Tell Us…

• Schools in urban areas are more likely to have higher numbers of NHQT classes

• High-poverty schools have the greatest proportion of classes taught by NHQTs

• As poverty-level and the proportion of core academic classes taught by NHQTs increase, the mean of students’ reading and math performance gradually decline

PA’s 2008-2009 NHQT Data Tell Us…

• As the percentage of minority students increases, NHQT classes also increase

• PA high-poverty elementary schools have 6 times more core academic classes taught by teachers who do not meet PA’s HQ teacher requirements than do low-poverty elementary schools (6:1)

PA’s 2008-2009 NHQT Data Tell Us…

• PA high-poverty secondary schools have 2 times as many core academic classes taught by teachers who do not meet PA’s HQ teacher requirements than do low-poverty secondary schools (2:1)

PA’s 2004-2006 NHQT Data Tell Us…

• Schools not making AYP had the greatest percentage of assignments taught by NHQTs:

√ Social Studies (15%) √ Math (9%)√ Science (13%) √ English (6%)√ Foreign Languages (10%)

2008-2009 PIMS Data

  School Type Core Course Section Count

HQT Section Count

NHQT Section Count

1 All schools 368,480 360,612 15,264

2 High-poverty elementary schools

17,678 16,603 1,053

3 Low-poverty elementary schools

29,518 29,080 438

4 All elementary schools

101,069 98,286 3,113

5 High-poverty secondary schools

40,688 36,061 4,627

6 Low-poverty secondary schools

10,128 98,479 2,527

7 All secondary schools 

267,411 255,550 11,868

Distribution of Elementary NHQT Classes 2007-2008

0

173 138

783

1094

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

NoContent

Sp Ed -No

Content

Emerg.Permit

Out ofField

Total

Reasons for NHQT

Nu

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er o

f N

HQ

T C

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Distribution of Secondary NHQT Classes 2007-2008

5913

3036 2535

0

11484

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Out of Field Sp Ed - NoContent

Emerg.Permit

Other Total

Reasons for NHQT

Nu

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HQ

T C

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What can LEAs do…

• Within each building, distribute poor/minority students equally among all classroom teachers at all grade levels (heterogeneous grouping)

• Within the district promote hiring/voluntary transfer preferences/incentives for 3+ years of experience

What Can LEAs do…

• Identify where inequities in teacher assignments exist

• Review school-level data on teacher turnover to identify characteristics of teachers who have left and whether or not they move to another school or leave the profession

• Tap into pools of teachers and individuals who would be willing to be teachers and then distribute them equitably - paraprofessionals

• Use resources wisely to retain teachers

What Can LEAs do…

• Improve conditions in hard-to-staff schools – working as well as classroom environment

• Streamline district recruitment and hiring practices• Consider using companies, such as Teacher-

Teacher.com (http://www.teacher-teacher.com/), to assist with recruitment

• Map local courses to state-level courses by reviewing SCED descriptions and HQT Certification mapping

What Can LEAs do…

• Provide differentiated support to novice teachers

• Establish partnerships • Participate in Title II

Part A higher education-sponsored activities

• Encourage novice teachers to participate in content-based professional development opportunities, such as the Governor’s Academy for Urban Education

What Can LEAs do…

• Develop strong collaborations with colleges and universities to develop “grow your own” teacher recruitment strategies to encourage high school students to pursue the teaching profession

• Build the capacity of school leaders to support teachers in hard-to-staff schools

What Can LEAs do…

• Assign teachers to areas where they will be HQT

• Encourage teachers who are not highly qualified to participate in on-line PRAXIS preparation program offered by PaTTAN

• Work with local union representatives

• Establish professional development schools with nearby college or university

What Can LEAs do…

• Involve experienced teachers in decision-making

• Pay for advanced educational pursuits if experienced teachers agree to work in hard-to-staff schools

• Use experienced teachers as mentors and classroom coaches for novice teachers (induction program)

What Can LEAs do…

• Collaborate with schools that have similar student populations to learn what steps they are taking to recruit and retain highly qualified and experienced teachers

What Else Can LEAs do…

• What other strategies might be beneficial to high-poverty, high-minority LEAs as they wrestle with how to equitably distribute teacher quality resources among and between their schools?

Resources to Assist LEAs…

• National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (www.ncctq.org)

• America’s Challenge: Effective Teachers for At-Risk Schools and Students available at http://www.ncctq.org/publications/NCCTQBiennialReport.php

Monitoring

• Written Equitable Teacher Distribution Plans will be reviewed by federal program monitors during the monitoring cycle in 2009-Division priority

• Reinforced in ARRA legislation and included in NCLB reauthorization by Obama administration

The Future of Title IIA

• The proposed Excellent Instructional Teams authority would have 3 components:

• The Effective Teachers and Leaders State

grants program • The Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund• The Teacher and Leader Pathways program.

Continued…

• Effective Teachers and Leaders State grants would make formula grants to States and LEAs to promote and enhance the teaching profession; recruit, prepare, support, reward, and retain effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders, especially in high-need LEAs, schools, fields, and subjects; design and implement strong teacher evaluation systems; ensure the equitable distribution of effective teachers and principals; increase the effectiveness of teachers and principals

Continued…

…improve the preparation of teachers and principals by developing, supporting, and expanding effective pathways to the education profession; improve instruction and help ensure that teachers have the knowledge, skills, data, and support needed to be effective in the classroom; promote collaboration and the development of instructional teams that use data to improve practice; and improve the management of human capital in States and LEAs.

Continued…

• The Teacher and Leader Innovation Fund would make competitive awards to States and LEAs willing to implement bold approaches to improving the effectiveness of the education workforce in high-need schools by creating the conditions needed to identify, reward, retain, and advance effective teachers, principals, and school leadership teams in those schools, and enabling schools to build the strongest teams possible.

Continued…• The Teacher and Leader Pathways is a new

program with a focus on student outcomes that would support the creation or expansion of high-quality pathways, including university- and LEA-based routes as well as alternative routes, into the teaching profession, and the recruitment, preparation, and retention of effective principals and school leadership teams who are able to turn around low-performing schools. The request would almost triple funding for the antecedent programs in order to increase the number of effective teachers serving in high-need and low-performing schools and high-need fields and subjects

Questions?