Alabama's Teacher

Equity Plan

a plan to ensure that poor and minority students are not taught at
higher rates than other students by inexperienced, unqualified and/or
out of field teachers

July 2006

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**Alabama's Teacher Equity Plan**

[Background and Policy Support]{.underline}

Alabama's first serious look at the critical impact of teachers on
student achievement began in 1997 when the Task Force on Teaching and
Student Achievement was established. Comprised of a broad cross-section
of educators, business representatives, and public policy
representatives -- including education policy and program appointees in
the Governor's office, members of the State Board of Education, and
senior administrative staff in the Alabama Department of Education --
the Task Force convened for two years to study and make recommendations
about strategies to improve teaching and student achievement in Alabama.
Their findings and recommendations were published in 2000 in a 96-page
report entitled *Teaching and Learning: Meeting the Challenge of High
Standards*. (The report is available at:
<http://www.bestpracticescenter.org/pdfs/tal1-5p.pdf>.)

Alabama began focusing on the fact that *good teaching matters most*[^1]
and resolved to use teacher quality as a tool for school improvement.
The focus was succinctly noted:

> *If we are going to change our schools, we have to dig deeper. We have
> to get back to a fundamental truth about education: A well-prepared
> teacher is the critical ingredient in student learning. We must
> guarantee that every child in Alabama has a highly qualified teacher.
> No exceptions. No excuses.*[^2]

The *Teaching and Learning* report identified four critical components
that must work together to create and maintain sufficient numbers of
well-prepared, competent, and effective teachers and to raise student
academic achievement: (1) high teacher standards; (2) high quality
undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs with extensive
clinical experiences and strict accountability for results; (3)
sustained and sharply focused professional development which requires
teachers to reflect on their current teaching, refine what works, and
change what does not work; and (4) organization of schools so that
effective teaching is the top priority of every school.

The Task Force acknowledged that schools with a concentration of
high-poverty students and schools that are otherwise hard to staff are
more likely to have teachers that are less prepared and/or
inexperienced; thus, the urgency to ensure that each student has a
highly qualified, effective teacher.[^3]

Alabama had significant historical, legal, and practical barriers to
overcome in implementing the *No Child Left Behind Act of 2001* (NCLB).
However, the state's pre-NCLB resolve coupled with the high-stakes
federal legislation has enabled remarkable strides in teacher and
teaching quality in the state. The state has made significant progress
in the high quality professional development component, but less
progress toward ensuring an adequate supply of highly qualified,
experienced teachers and ensuring that sufficient numbers of such
teachers are employed by and continue teaching in the state's
high-poverty, high-minority schools and in schools identified for
improvement.

The A+ Education Foundation, a key player in developing and publishing
the *Teaching and Learning* report, has remained a tireless advocate of
highly qualified teachers for all students and has greatly influenced
local and state policymaking and funding to implement the critical
components of a comprehensive teacher development system. More recently,
Alabama's current governor has made teacher quality an urgent priority
in his administration. To ensure coherence of policy, resources, and
practice and to facilitate progression toward the desired goal, Governor
Bob Riley established the Governor's Commission on Teaching Quality. The
group commenced work on January 17, 2006, "to examine, recommend, and
work to implement laws, policies, and practices affecting teachers and
teaching effectiveness to ensure student success in Alabama's public
schools." (More and up-to-date information on the Governor's Commission
is available at <http://www.ti.state.al.us/>.) The Commission's goals
for Alabama, which encompass critical components identified by the 1997
Task Force are:

1.  To improve the academic achievement of all students in the public
    schools by aligning teacher practice and professional learning with
    the *Alabama Quality Teaching Standards*.

2.  To provide highly-effective teachers through aggressive recruitment
    and experientially-based preparation.

3.  To retain and reward high-quality teachers by creating professional
    pathways with incentives for continuous professional learning and
    career advancement along multiple routes.

The successful marriage of these goals to Alabama's existing academic
accountability system is key to having every student on grade level in
reading and mathematics by 2014.

Since enactment of NCLB in 2002, Alabama has made several policy changes
and additions that were needed to implement key strategies. Examples
include the following:

-   June 2002 -- the State Board of Education adopted *Alabama
    Professional Development Standards* which are based on the National
    Staff Development Council standards.

-   June 2003 -- the State Board of Education adopted the *Alabama Model
    for Identifying Highly Qualified Teachers* which provides background
    information, defines the term "highly qualified teacher" as it
    applies to Alabama teachers, and describes teacher options for
    meeting the NCLB requirement.

-   June 2004 -- the State Board of Education adopted *Alabama Standards
    for Effective Teacher Induction and Mentoring*.

-   April 2005 -- the State Board of Education adopted Praxis II tests
    as a pre-condition for initial teacher certification in Alabama.
    (Alabama had been a "non-testing" state for many years prior to this
    time.)

-   July 2005 -- the State Board of Education adopted *Alabama Standards
    for Instructional Leaders* and *Alabama Educator Code of Ethics*.

-   February 2006 -- the State Board of Education adopted minimum cut
    scores for Praxis II tests taken as a pre-condition for initial
    teacher certification.

Currently, the Governor's Commission on Teaching Quality is organized
into five active task forces: (1) Standards, (2) Selection and
Preparation, (3) Certification, (4) Professional Development, and (5)
Working Conditions. It is anticipated that the Commission will continue
making recommendations to the State Board of Education for policy
actions needed to facilitate achievement of the it's goals. An
Implementation Committee was appointed by Governor Bob Riley in August
2005 to ensure timely and efficient implementation of the Governor's
Congress Recommendations.

**Identification of Where and to What Extent Inequities in Teacher
Assignment Exist**

[Alabama's Data and Reporting System]{.underline}

Evidence of probable success: The Alabama Department of Education is
keenly and painfully aware of the importance of high-quality data, an
efficient data collection system, and a functional reporting system.
Since 2002, Alabama has directed tremendous amounts of time, fiscal, and
human resources to build and enhance a data system that meets NCLB
expectations and requirements. In addition, the ADE recruited and
employed a chief information officer to direct data system development
and implementation. NCLB requires each state to collect data on the
qualifications and assignments of teachers at the LEA and school levels
and to publicly report specified data elements for the high-poverty
quartile of schools and the low-poverty quartile of schools, compared to
all schools. These data are reported in conjunction with the academic
accountability status of each LEA and school.

Prior to NCLB, Alabama implemented a state-mandated public reporting
system comprised of the following components: (1) Annual State Report
Card; (2) Annual LEA Report Cards; and, (3) Annual School Report Cards.
Since 2002, the state's annual reporting system has been expanded,
enhanced, and improved each year so that, effective with the 2005
reports, the system fully meets NCLB's annual public reporting
requirements and supports the State Board's *Educational Ruler*. (See
Page 2.)

Alabama's reporting system is an integral feature of the state
accountability system and provides numerous data elements of interest
and importance to educators, parents, and other stakeholders as well as
to local and state policymakers. Reports from the data system currently
are used to inform program and curriculum decisions related to student
achievement and, particularly, to inform budget decisions related to
school improvement, corrective actions, and/or restructuring due to
successive years of not making AYP. Modifications that are in-progress
for implementation during the 2006-2007 school year will utilize more
real-time data, based on individual student identifiers and refined
teacher certification/assignment alignment, to provide LEA- and
school-level progress update reports that can be used for periodic
(monthly) monitoring and making mid-course corrections within the school
year.

In-progress and future refinements to the state's data system are
critical to successful implementation of the State Plan for Highly
Qualified Teachers and, particularly, to successful implementation of
the Teacher Equity Plan. The state's progress to date for developing and
implementing NCLB-mandated data requirements and the state's commitment
of resources to data-driven decision making are evidences of successful
completion and implementation of data system-related strategies.

[Data System Strategies]{.underline}

1.  Collect and report data on the distribution of core academic subject
    teachers, including:

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a.  the number and percentage of highly qualified teachers by LEA and
    school, by grade level (elementary or middle/secondary) and by core
    academic subject

b.  the number and percentage of core academic subject classes taught by
    highly qualified teachers by LEA and school, by grade level
    (elementary or middle/secondary) and by core academic subject

c.  the number and percentage of core academic subject classes taught by
    inexperienced teachers by LEA and school, by grade level (elementary
    or middle/secondary) and by core academic subject[^4]

> Alabama will cross-reference existing data sources to collect and
> report the number of inexperienced core academic subject teachers by
> LEA and school, by grade level and by core academic subject. The
> following process will be implemented:

1.  Data from the 2006-2007 LEA Personnel Data Collection will be
    analyzed in comparison to data collected in 2005-2006, 2004-2005,
    and 2003-2004 to ascertain the number, employing LEA, and school and
    teaching assignment of teachers who have taught a subject and/or
    grade level for less than three (3) full academic years. The results
    of this analysis will be stored in a database for further analysis.

2.  Results from the previous analysis will be refined by
    cross-verification with data stored in the ADE Teacher Certification
    Management System to eliminate teachers who have out-of-state or
    private school experience in the same subject and/or grade level.

3.  A report of the number and percentage of inexperienced teachers by
    LEA and school, by grade level, and by core academic subject will be
    generated and posted on the ADE web site with other reports of
    highly qualified teachers and equitable distribution of such
    teachers.

4.  Lists of teachers by school and teaching assignments will be
    generated for each LEA and distributed to ADE staff who are
    responsible for related technical assistance and monitoring
    activities.

5.  The report and working lists will be prepared and ready for use by
    December 1, 2006, and will be updated annually in subsequent years.

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d.  elements "a" and "b" and "c" for high-poverty schools, high-minority
    schools, and schools not making AYP -- individually, compared high
    to low, and in comparison to all schools

e.  the number and percentage of highly qualified teachers who are
    working under alternative certificates by LEA and school, by grade
    level (elementary or middle/secondary) and by core academic subject

f.  the number and percentage of core academic subject teachers who are
    **[not]{.underline}** highly qualified by LEA and school, by grade
    level (elementary or middle/secondary) and by core academic subject;
    and indication of how many and which teachers are:

    1.  certified and highly qualified, but assigned to a subject and/or
        grade not covered by highly qualified status

    2.  certified and assigned out-of-field

    3.  working under an alternative certificate, but not highly
        qualified

    4.  working under an emergency certificate

    5.  not certified

    6.  certified in special education only and assigned to teach one or
        more core academic subjects to students with disabilities

g.  the number and percentage of core academic subject teachers that
    participated in high-quality professional development during the
    previous school year (Currently, this information is collected
    manually and entered into an Excel spreadsheet by SDE staff.)

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2.  Collect and report data on core academic subject teaching vacancies
    that are difficult to fill with highly qualified teachers, by LEA,
    school, and grade level.

3\. Implement a statewide teacher application system to connect highly
qualified teacher applicants with teaching vacancies in LEAs with
high-poverty schools, high-minority schools, and/or schools not making
AYP. Advocate for enhancements to increase the value of this mechanism
as a recruiting tool for LEAs with hard-to-staff schools. The teacher
application system will be operational on December 1, 2006.

4\. Implement a statewide system for collecting, retrieving, and
reporting data on teachers and instructional leaders who participate in
high-quality professional development. In an effort to better monitor
the professional development being offered, the state now requires
educators to register for their professional development online
utilizing STI-PD.

5\. Continue working with SREB to research teacher turnover and
shortages in Alabama; and, subsequently, use findings to inform task
forces of the Governor's Commission on Teaching Quality.

6\. Advocate for development of mechanisms to periodically collect and
report data that depict patterns of teacher retention, turnover, and
mobility by LEA and school and by grade level and core academic subject

7\. Advocate for expansion, refinement, and implementation of a system
of "identifiers" for individual teachers and core academic subjects to
replace the state's current Local Education Agency Personnel System
(LEAPS) report.

8\. Advocate for data collection and reporting enhancements to link
student achievement data with teacher qualifications.

[Findings]{.underline}

Current data indicate that Alabama is making progress toward having all
core academic subject teachers highly qualified and toward having such
teachers more equitably distributed across the state. The data also
establish the need for continued and more targeted state actions to
ensure equitable distribution of highly qualified teachers while
increasing the supply and availability of such teachers, particularly,
to hard to staff local education agencies (LEAs) and schools. Following
are key findings from the August 2006 data:

-   At the end of the 2004-2005 school year, 85.0% of core academic
    subject **elementary** teachers were highly qualified. As of August
    2006, 93.7% of core academic subject elementary teachers are highly
    qualified; an increase of 8.7%.

-   During the past year, Alabama narrowed the gap from 10.1% to 3.7%
    between core academic subject classes taught by highly qualified
    teachers in high-poverty **elementary** schools (91.7%) and
    corresponding low-poverty schools (95.4.1%).

-   Among **elementary** schools, schools that are high-poverty,
    high-minority[^5], [and]{.underline} identified for school
    improvement are 5.1% more likely to have teachers who are not highly
    qualified when compared to all elementary schools. Students who
    attend a school that is high-poverty, high-minority,
    [and]{.underline} identified for improvement are 6.8% more likely to
    have teachers who are not highly qualified than their fellow
    students in low-poverty, low-minority schools that are not
    identified for improvement.

-   At the end of the 2004-2005 school year, 77.9% of core academic
    subject **middle/secondary** teachers were highly qualified. As of
    August 2006, 82.7% of core academic subject middle/secondary
    teachers are highly qualified; an increase of 4.8%.

-   During the past year, Alabama narrowed the gap from 17.1% to 8.2%
    between core academic subject classes taught by highly qualified
    teachers in high-poverty **middle/secondary** schools (80.3%) and
    corresponding low-poverty schools (88.5%).

-   The more recent and more accurate data reflects that Alabama's
    greatest inequity in distribution of highly qualified teachers is in
    middle/secondary schools that have a combination of variables:

    -   Among middle/secondary schools, schools that are high-poverty,
        high-minority, [and]{.underline} identified for school
        improvement are 14.2% more likely to have teachers who are not
        highly qualified when compared to all middle/secondary schools.
        Students who attend a school that is high-minority
        [and]{.underline} identified for improvement are 22% more likely
        to have teachers who are not highly qualified than their fellow
        students in low-poverty, low-minority schools that are not
        identified for improvement.

    -   Schools that are high-minority are 5.5% more likely to have
        teachers that are not highly qualified than schools that are
        high-poverty. This appears to be an indication that schools and
        LEAs have heeded the state's counsel to address the needs of
        high-poverty schools.

    -   Schools that are identified for school improvement and
        high-minority are 14.8% more likely to have teachers that are
        not highly qualified than schools that are identified for school
        improvement and high-poverty.

**See Attachments #1, #2, #3, and #4.**

**Goals and Strategies for Addressing Inequities in Teacher Assignment**

In keeping with Alabama's "good faith effort" to implement fully the
NCLB highly qualified teacher requirement, state staff are already
implementing the Teacher Equity Plan. While many actions described
herein are underway, it is anticipated that implementation of these
actions will extend beyond other components of the revised State Plan
for Highly Qualified Teachers which are scheduled for completion during
the 2006-2007 school year.

The ultimate purpose of Alabama's Teacher Equity Plan is to ensure that
all students in the state's public schools are taught by highly
qualified, experienced, and effective teachers toward the goal of having
all students on grade level in reading and mathematics by 2014. More
specifically, the plan is designed to target state and federal resources
to implement enhancement and/or corrective strategies to ensure that
students in high-poverty and/or high-minority schools and/or schools
that did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) are taught by highly
qualified and effective teachers.

In support of the plan's overall and targeted outcomes, the Alabama
Department of Education will continue working with the Governor's
Commission on Teaching Quality, the Governor's Education Policy Office,
the Alabama State Board of Education, LEA and school administrators and
teachers, and other education advocacy groups to secure and implement
supporting laws, regulations, policies, and practices. Further, staff
from the Alabama Department of Education will monitor monthly the
distribution of teachers among Alabama's schools, grades, and subjects,
to ensure that poor and minority students are not taught by unqualified,
inexperienced[^6], and out-of-field teachers at higher rates than other
students.

This plan describes strategies for increasing and ensuring equitable
distribution of highly qualified teachers around four basic tasks:
implementing teacher standards that are linked to student academic
achievement; identifying potential candidates and preparing teachers for
today's classrooms, providing high-quality professional growth
opportunities, and retaining a sufficient supply of highly qualified and
effective teachers.

**1.0 [High Teacher Standards]{.underline}**

Evidence of probable success: Teacher effectiveness, or teacher impact,
has been a frequent education research topic for many years and the
basic finding is clear: students learn more from "good" teachers. Some
of the most frequently cited research findings are from the work of
William Sanders, formerly of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville,
and his colleagues who demonstrated the impact of good teachers
initially and over time in sequential years of student learning and
assessed achievement.[^7] Other researchers have attempted to identify
attributes and skills that are consistently ascribed to "good" teachers.
These efforts have yielded few definitive findings; however, high
teacher verbal skills[^8] and a deep knowledge of subject matter[^9] are
consistent attributes of effective teachers.

Alabama's Governor's Commission on Teaching Quality, and other earlier
education advocacy and study groups, have grappled with defining and
describing "good" teachers in relation to articulating high teacher
standards. The Commission recently approved a set of research- and
evidence-based standards that are linked to Alabama's student academic
achievement standards and has forwarded their draft document to the
State Board of Education for review and, hopefully, soon approval. This
document describes five proposed standards -- Content Knowledge,
Teaching and Learning, Literacy, Diversity, and Professionalism -- for
Alabama teachers and provides a rationale and key indicators for each.
(The proposed standards may be accessed at:
<http://www.ti.state.al.us/>.)

The broad-based composition of the Governor's Commission as the
originating source of the *Alabama Quality Teaching Standards*, and
establishment of standards in state-level policy through approval of the
Alabama State Board of Education will ensure the success of their use.
The teaching standards will serve as a foundation for forthcoming
recommendations for a statewide teacher mentoring program, multi-level
certification, differentiated compensation, professional development
accountability, and revision to teacher preparation programs.

[High Teacher Standards Strategies]{.underline}

1.1 Upon adoption by the State Board of Education, the *Alabama Quality
Teaching Standards* will be disseminated to all LEAs and institutions of
higher education that have teacher preparation programs. Special
emphasis will be placed on ensuring that preparation programs
aggressively integrate the standards into their programs.

1.2 The Office of Leadership Development, a component of ADE's Classroom
Improvement Section, will develop a professional development module that
explains and supports the new standards. The session will be presented
to LEAs through each of the state's eleven Regional Inservice Centers.
This activity will emphasize the research basis of the *Alabama Quality
Teaching Standards* and the improvements that can be expected as a
result of consistent and thorough implementation.

1.3 The Office of Leadership Development, in conjunction with other
components of the ADE, will ensure that future professional development
offerings support and reinforce the tenants of the *Alabama Quality
Teaching Standards.*

**2.0 Teacher Preparation and Certification**

Evidence of probable success: All teachers must be well-prepared to
ensure academic success of all students in Alabama's public schools. In
addition to having deep and broad knowledge of their subjects, teachers
must know how to teach their subjects. Standards-based,
well-articulated, and meticulously implemented teacher preparation
programs are essential to ensuring, for example, that the Algebra I
instruction in School A is equivalent to Algebra I instruction in School
B and all other schools in the state. We cannot rely solely on the
academic content standards in the state's courses of study to achieve
equivalent instruction across classes, schools, and school systems.

During the past 10-12 years, studies of education programs and practices
in Alabama have yielded information and findings consistent with
research across the country. In 1999, the Governor's Commission on
Instructional Improvement and Academic Excellence in Alabama's Public
Schools was created by legislative action. After 15 months of intensive
work, that commission concluded that Alabama's teacher preparation
programs needed to be revamped to better prepare teachers for today's
student achievement expectations, student diversity, and other classroom
challenges. In response to recommendations, the State Board of Education
now requires teacher preparation programs to document, by student scores
that meet or exceed the state-approved minimum scores on appropriate
Praxis II tests, that teacher candidates demonstrate knowledge of
subjects they will be certified to teach as a pre-condition for
certification. Also, teacher preparation programs are held accountable
for their graduates based on teachers' scores on the state's
Professional Education Personnel Evaluation (PEPE). The higher education
report card provides a separate [program grade]{.underline} based on the
PEPE score earned by each first year teacher, according to the following
scale: to earn a program grade of A, 95-100% of new teachers must earn
the benchmark PEPE score; for a grade of B, 90-94% of new teachers must
earn the benchmark score; C = 85-89%; D = 80-84%; and F = 0-79%. No
action is required of an institution that receives a program grade of A,
B, or C. The State Superintendent of Education will recommend that the
Alabama State Board of Education rescind approval of a program that
receives a grade of D for two consecutive years, a grade of F for two
consecutive years, or a combination of a D and an F for two consecutive
years.

The [institution's grade]{.underline} is computed by totaling the number
of points earned by the separate programs (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0) and
dividing by the number of programs for which a grade was received. To
earn a composite grade of A, an institution must document that at least
95% of new teachers across all programs achieved the PEPE benchmark
score. To earn a composite grade of B, an institution must document that
90-94% of new teachers across all programs achieved the PEPE benchmark
score. To earn a composite grade of C, an institution must document that
85-89% of new teachers across all programs achieved the PEPE benchmark
score. To earn a composite grade of D, an institution must document that
80-84% of new teachers across all programs achieved the PEPE benchmark
score. If less than 80% of new teachers achieve the PEPE benchmark
score, the institution's grade is F. No action is required if an
institution's composite grade is A or B. If the institution receives a
grade of C, D, or F, the teacher education unit must develop and submit
an improvement plan to the State Superintendent and notify all
candidates admitted to the targeted program(s). The State Superintendent
will recommend that the Alabama State Board of Education rescind
approval of an institution's program if: (1) an institution receives a
grade of D for two consecutive years, a grade of F for two consecutive
years, or a combination of a grade of D and a grade of F for two
consecutive year, or (2) a unit grade of C, D, or F is not raised to at
least a B within two scholastic years after the unit's plan is
implemented.

Alabama has acknowledged the impact of instructional leaders on teacher
working conditions and, more specifically, the impact of effective
instructional leadership on reducing teacher turnover.[^10] Institutions
of higher education that have educator preparation programs are now
required to use the *Alabama Standards for Instructional Leaders* as a
basis for their programs of study. It is believed that effective
teachers are more likely to remain in a school with less desirable
working conditions if the school leaders are more effective. Further,
improving the effectiveness of school leaders will improve the working
environment for teachers and may have a stabilizing effect for teacher
retention in high-need schools.

In light of the critical role of teacher preparation programs, the
12-point vision of the sitting Governor's Commission on Teaching Quality
includes points specifically related to teacher preparation programs.
The Commission Task Force on Selection and Preparation is addressing
policy issues for revising teacher preparation program standards to
align with the proposed *Alabama Quality Teaching Standards* and to
develop a model of teacher education that is more clinical, i.e.,
designed to provide more opportunities for practical development and
alignment of academic theory and knowledge and teaching practice in
actual school settings.

[Teacher Preparation and Certification Strategies]{.underline}

1.  Advocate for development and funding for a loan/scholarship program
    for prospective core-academic subject teachers. (Early discussions
    recommend that a candidate receive a pre-specified amount of support
    for up to two years of full-time enrollment and the annual amount
    would increase after completion of all requirements for admission to
    a teacher education program. The loan pay-back amount would be
    reduced incrementally each year, up to five years, if the teacher is
    hired by and continues teaching in a high-poverty, high-minority,
    and/or low-performing school.)

2.  Actively promote and solicit participation in the Troops-to-Teachers
    Program which provides financial assistance to any qualified Armed
    Forces veteran who pursues certification through an alternative
    route and agrees to teach three years in a high-poverty LEA.
    Priority will be given to candidates who pursue certification in
    hard-to-staff subjects.

3.  Require and facilitate training to be conducted by the Federal
    Student Loan Assistance Program Office for student financial aid
    staff in specified institutions of higher education to increase
    their knowledge, understanding, and ability to provide sound
    guidance for potential teacher candidates.

4.  Conduct a formal study of the effectiveness of existing partnerships
    focused on teacher preparation for high-poverty, high-minority urban
    areas currently implemented at the University of Alabama at
    Birmingham. Explore means of replication, if it is determined that
    this program increases the number of highly qualified new teachers
    who are well-prepared to work in challenging environments.

5.  Advocate for development and funding of a tiered certification
    process with increasing salaries and responsibility and decreasing
    professional oversight and support as a teacher progresses through
    (currently conceptualized) certification phases of intern,
    novice/resident, professional, master, and expert/instructional
    specialist.

6.  Revise existing certification renewal requirements to simplify the
    process and facilitate re-entry into the workforce of highly
    qualified teachers who have demonstrated core academic subject
    teaching effectiveness.

7.  Require, facilitate, monitor, and conduct action research on
    implementation of *Alabama Standards for Instructional Leaders* in
    education administrator preparation programs in Alabama institutions
    of higher education.

8.  Advocate for teacher preparation programs, including development of
    a strong accountability component, to be clinically based so that
    teachers have ample opportunities to build effective pedagogical
    skills during the preparation process.

9.  Advocate for accountability of teacher preparation programs in
    linking education to their university arts and sciences counterparts
    in meaningful ways based on the *Alabama Quality Teaching
    Standards*.

    **3.0 Induction, Professional Development, and Teacher Mentoring**

Evidence of probable success: To ensure academic success of all students
in Alabama's public schools, teachers must continue to grow
professionally through participation in activities that are integrally
related to their classroom needs and that are aligned with state
academic content and student achievement standards. Each of the in-state
studies of education referenced herein have recommended that the state
take measures to increase the availability of high-quality professional
development and to strengthen requirements for teacher participation in
such activities. Based on a recommendation in the 2001 *Report of the
Governor's Commission on Instructional Improvement and Academic
Excellence* and NCLB's requirements for professional development, the
State Board of Education adopted the *Alabama Professional Development
Standards* in June 2002. These standards are based on standards and
definitions embraced by the National Staff Development Council and are
supported by research- and evidence-based literature.

Following are three examples of major professional development
initiatives that are currently implemented in Alabama:

-   **Alabama Reading Initiative** -- begun in the mid-1990's as a
    home-grown State Department of Education effort to improve reading
    achievement by improving teachers' ability to teach reading -- is
    now a fully state-funded, nationally recognized professional
    development initiative that has actualized its early vision of
    improved reading achievement.

-   **Alabama Mathematics, Science, and Technology Initiative** (AMSTI)
    -- modeled after the state's reading initiative and piloted in 2002
    in one of the state's eleven regional in-service regions, is
    well-supported by the current Governor and received \$15 million in
    the fiscal year 2006 state budget. Mathematics and science teachers
    in seven of the 11 regional in-service regions have now received
    training and continue to receive on-going support through AMSTI.
    Evaluation results indicate that students in AMSTI schools
    out-perform their non-AMSTI peers in the areas of mathematics,
    science, and reading on statewide academic assessments. Plans are in
    place to expand AMSTI until training and support sites are located
    in all eleven in-service center regions and all students in the
    state are served through the initiative.

-   **Alabama Teacher Leader Network** -- developed to provide
    opportunities for teachers, with guidance from their principals, to
    build leadership responsibilities, therefore building capacity for
    improving the quality of teaching in Alabama's schools. In 2004-2005
    the Teacher Leader Network was piloted in 66 Alabama schools that
    did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) on the spring 2004
    statewide assessments. The program is a three-year pilot with Year
    One focusing on school improvement; Year Two focusing on action
    research; and Year Three focusing on coaching and mentoring. Lessons
    learned from the pilot will enable the TLN to be expanded to all
    schools statewide during 2006-2007.

Similar emphasis has been placed on the importance of intensive,
high-quality teacher mentoring for teachers who are inexperienced, those
who are teaching based on emergency or alternative certificates, and
teachers in schools identified for academic improvement. Admittedly,
this is an area that needs considerable work in Alabama; however, some
progress has been made in recent years. As an outgrowth of a project
that was funded through a Teacher Quality Enhancement (Title II) grant,
the State Board of Education adopted *Alabama Standards for Effective
Teacher Induction and Mentoring* in June 2004. These standards are based
on the NCLB definition and criteria for high-quality teacher mentoring
and are supported by research- and evidenced-based literature. LEAs and
schools that use state or federal funds for teacher mentoring must use
these standards as a basis for their programs.

1.  Assign Peer Mentors (through the State Support Team) to schools
    identified for School Improvement/Corrective Action and beyond to
    provide model lessons and subject-specific, job-embedded
    professional development for non-highly qualified, inexperienced,
    and otherwise ineffective teachers. (Other Alabama Department of
    Education staff from the Federal Programs Section will broker and
    monitor similar assistance to schools identified for improvement for
    less than three years.)

2.  Conduct a statewide study to ascertain critical needs for teaching
    English language learners (ELLs). Based on findings, contract for
    services to develop and implement a multi-year training and
    mentoring program for core academic subject teachers so that their
    teaching practice is culturally relevant and employs knowledge,
    understandings, skills, and strategies needed to effectively teach
    core academic subjects to ELLs.

3.  Implement, as a temporary action, an on-line teacher mentoring
    program facilitated by the State Support Team to augment the
    immediate provision of teacher mentors and subject coaches in
    schools where data identifies inequitable distribution of highly
    qualified teachers.

4.  Implement, through the State Support Team and under the direction of
    the Accountability Roundtable, a system of teacher mentoring and
    subject coaching, that is based on individual teacher needs and
    assignments for teachers who are: inexperienced; assigned to teach
    core academic subjects in schools identified for improvement; hired
    through the Troops-to-Teachers program; hold alternative
    certificates; and/or otherwise identified as ineffective or not
    highly qualified.

5.  Advocate for development and funding of a statewide, state-required
    teacher induction and mentoring program.

6.  Continue, on the current schedule, expansion and full implementation
    of AMSTI and, through the authority of the Accountability
    Roundtable, require LEAs to use school improvement funds to support
    mandated participation of eligible teachers.

7.  Continue statewide implementation of the Alabama Reading Initiative,
    including training for new-hires and periodic recertification
    training; and, through the authority of the Accountability
    Roundtable, emphasize and require full participation and
    implementation in middle/secondary schools not making AYP.

8.  Target Teacher Leader Network expansion to high-poverty,
    high-minority and/or schools identified for improvement.

9.  Closely monitor development and implementation of state-required LEA
    professional development plans to ensure alignment with teacher and
    student needs reflected by highly qualified teacher and student
    academic achievement data.

10. Advocate for policy authority to require prior approval of teacher
    professional development and to require that such professional
    development be aligned with the *Alabama Quality Teaching Standards*
    and meet the definition and criteria of high-quality professional
    development in accordance with the *Alabama Professional Development
    Standards*.

    **4.0 Recruitment and Retention of Teachers in High-Need Schools**

Evidence of probable success: Some LEAs and schools are experiencing
teacher shortages as a result of increased enrollment, teacher
retirements, difficult working conditions, and rural/remote locations.
Some schools are seeking highly qualified, experienced teachers to
address academic achievement problems. Since, highly qualified and
effective teachers are in high demand everywhere, attracting and
retaining them is of utmost importance. In addition to increasing the
supply and further developing teachers, state policy-makers are working
on mechanisms to ensure that highly qualified, effective teachers remain
in Alabama and that adequate numbers choose to work in the state's
hardest to staff schools. To attract and keep good teachers in
less-desirable settings, factors that are valued by such teachers --
e.g., instructional leadership, working conditions, and compensation --
have to be improved or accentuated.[^11]

Alabama has a salary matrix that establishes a minimum salary based on a
teacher's education level and the number of years teaching experience.
Since funds for teacher salaries are allocated through a state budget
appropriation based on the salary matrix, the Alabama Department of
Education has encouraged LEAs to use available federal funds to provide
financial incentives to attract and retain highly qualified teachers.
Acknowledging that this strategy alone is grossly insufficient, the
sitting task forces of the Governor's Commission on Teaching Quality are
developing recommendations that will address multiple paths and
differentiated compensation based on varying responsibilities in the
teaching profession. It is anticipated that one recommendation or set of
recommendations will relate to a state-required, state-funded teacher
induction program that will be tied to tiered certification. Related
research shows consistently that high-quality induction and early
mentoring significantly increases the retention rate of teachers[^12]
and is cost-effective.

In the absence of a hoped-for state-funded induction system, the Alabama
Department of Education is strongly encouraging LEAs and schools to use
available state and federal funds to implement teacher induction
programs that are based on the state-adopted standards and the model
developed and piloted through the state's Title II-funded Teacher
Quality Enhancement grant.

1.  Assist LEA staff in developing community partnerships that will
    provide community-based incentives to highly qualified core-academic
    subject teachers who agree to work in hard-to-staff schools and live
    in the schools' communities.

2.  Develop training modules and conduct training for local board of
    education members, LEA and designated school staff, and staff from
    selected state educational organizations on developing and
    implementing effective policies, procedures, and practices for
    recruiting, hiring, and retaining highly qualified teachers;
    particularly in LEAs that are identified as having hard-to-staff
    schools.

3.  Advocate for the annual salary supplement for teachers who are
    certified through the National Board for Professional Teaching
    Standards be contingent upon agreement to teach for a specified
    number of years in a low-performing or otherwise hard-to-staff
    school or subject.

4.  Conduct annual "refresher" training to reduce rater "drift" for
    school administrators who are teacher evaluators. Require such
    training for evaluators identified for re-training by the
    Accountability Round Table, State Support Team.

5.  Secure assistance from the Federal Student Loan Assistance Program
    Office to develop and conduct a campaign to publicize and provide
    current, detailed information about federal student loan assistance
    programs to LEAs; particularly, to those with communities that have
    hard-to-staff schools.

6.  Advocate for development and funding for a teacher financial
    incentive program to provide an end-of-year bonus to each highly
    qualified, experienced core academic subject teacher who agrees to
    teach in a high-poverty, high-minority, and/or low-performing
    school. (Early discussions recommend that the bonus be tied to AYP
    so that the bonus amount increases annually, up to a pre-specified
    maximum amount, for each consecutive year of employment in the same
    school that continues to make AYP.)

7.  Collaborate with area education foundations and state agencies to
    develop a campaign for working with local chambers of commerce,
    county commissions, city councils, and other local stakeholders to
    develop community-based incentives to attract and retain highly
    qualified teachers. LEAs with significant teacher turnover that
    results in relatively high numbers of inexperienced and otherwise
    not highly qualified teachers will be the target audience for this
    activity.

8.  Advocate for modifications to retirement benefits restrictions to
    facilitate re-entry of highly qualified, effective retired teachers
    into the workforce to be hired in specified hard-to-staff schools.

9.  Continue development and advocate for expansion funds for ACCESS
    Distance Learning in Alabama. (ACCESS distance learning provides
    high school students in Alabama public schools access to advanced
    diploma courses, additional electives, and advanced placement
    courses in schools that currently cannot provide these opportunities
    due to lack of highly qualified and experienced teachers. ACCESS
    teachers must be both highly qualified and experienced in teaching
    their assigned on-line subjects/courses.)

    **Monitoring to Ensure Progress Toward Equitable Distribution of
    Highly Qualified Teachers**

Using the state's data system, Alabama will track teacher
qualifications, teacher assignments, student population demographics,
and academic accountability over time at the state level and at the LEA
and school levels. These data will be reported publicly through annual
report cards and will be used to ascertain the degree and effectiveness
of implementation of (1) the State Plan for Highly Qualified Teachers,
including the Teacher Equity Plan, and (2) LEA Plans for Highly
Qualified Teachers. Data will also be used to identify the need for
making mid-course corrections and to support the development of
additional policies to address stubborn or residual inequities in the
distribution of highly qualified, inexperienced, and out-of-field
teachers.

Following are monitoring strategies that will be employed during the
2006-2007 school year and beyond to ensure that state actions described
in Alabama's State Plan for Highly Qualified Teachers (Revised-July
2006) (and modified in September and November 2006) are effectively
implemented. These same strategies will be used by Alabama Department of
Education staff to monitor implementation of LEA Plans for Highly
Qualified Teachers and, more specifically, to examine the issue of
equitable teacher assignment when monitoring LEAs through the
Comprehensive State Monitoring reviews. Particular attention will be
given to LEAs that data indicate need corrective actions to remedy
inequitable distribution of highly qualified and experienced teachers
and, more specifically, the LEAs in that group that are high-poverty,
high-minority, and/or identified for school improvement.

1.  Information Systems Services staff will generate and disseminate to
    designated Department of Education staff monthly reports of teacher
    qualifications and assignments -- by LEA, schools within the LEA,
    grade range, and core academic subject.

2.  The Teacher Education and Certification Director will disseminate
    monthly reports, with administrative annotations of comparisons to
    the previous month's report, to designated Department administrators
    and to field staff. Summaries will highlight assignments of
    non-highly qualified teachers, including those who are: assigned
    out-of-field, working under emergency or alternative certificates,
    and/or [inexperienced]{.underline}.

3.  Field staff will use progress report summaries during monthly
    on-site technical assistance and monitoring work sessions with LEA
    staff to review progress toward implementation of LEA Plans for
    Highly Qualified Teachers. Field-based staff will address,
    specifically, assignments of [inexperienced]{.underline} and
    otherwise non-highly qualified teachers to ensure that progress is
    being made toward achieving highly qualified staff and that
    high-quality teacher mentoring and/or subject-specific coaching is
    being provided in each case.

4.  Field-based staff will submit formal monitoring updates to a team of
    Department of Education staff biannually. The ADE team will review
    monitoring reports, discuss challenges and solutions, and re-direct
    resources to accomplish desired goals.

5.  Cases on non-compliance that are not remedied immediately by the LEA
    through established technical assistance, monitoring follow-up, and
    (when needed) additional state support, will be forwarded to the
    Deputy State Superintendent of Education-Professional Services
    Division for administrative action.

In addition to the strategies described above, the Alabama Department of
Education will continue use of the state, LEA, and school report card
system to monitor and publicly report progress of LEAs toward reaching
and maintaining the goal of having all core academic subject teachers
highly qualified. It is believed that actions and strategies planned by
the Governor's Commission on Teaching Quality and described in this plan
will increase the number of highly qualified teachers and will target
access to those teachers to LEAs with hard-to-staff schools. The
Governor's Commission on Quality Teaching commenced work on January 17,
2006, and is expected to fully implement its recommendations over a
period of five years.

[^1]: *What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future*, National
    Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 1996

[^2]: *Teaching and Learning: Meeting the Challenge of High Standards --
    A Report to the People of Alabama.* Montgomery, AL: A+ Education
    Foundation. 1999, p. 3

[^3]: R. Ingersoll, cited in National Commission on Teaching and
    America's Future*, No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children*
    (Washington, DC: NCTAF, 2003), pp. 27, 37.

[^4]: An "inexperienced" teacher is one who has taught a subject and/or
    grade level for which he/she is properly certified for less than
    three (3) full academic years.

[^5]: "High-minority" is the top quartile of schools when all schools in
    the state are ranked from the highest to lowest percentage of
    students identified by the state's demographic identifiers as
    "minority." "Low-poverty" is the bottom quartile of schools from
    that ranking method.

[^6]: For the purpose of identifying teachers as "inexperienced" and
    are, thereby, the target audience for induction and/or teaching
    mentoring, an "inexperienced" teacher is one who as taught for less
    than three (3) full academic years.

[^7]: Sanders, W. L. & Rivers, J. C. (1998). Cumulative and residual
    effects of teachers on future student academic achievement. In
    Education Trust, *Thinking K-16: Good teaching matters: How well
    qualified teachers can close the gap*.

[^8]: Ehrenberg. R. G. & Brewer, D. J. (1995). Did teachers' verbal
    ability and race matter in the 1960s? Coleman revisited. *Economics
    of Education Review, 14* (1), 1-21.

[^9]: Goldhaber, D. D. & Brewer, D. J. (1999). Teacher licensing and
    student achievement. In M. Kanstoroom and C. Finn (Eds.), *Better
    teachers, better schools*, (pp.215.238). Washington, DC: Thomas B.
    Fordham Foundation.

[^10]: Ingersoll, R. (2001, January*). Teacher turnover, teacher
    shortages, and the organization of schools*. Seattle: University of
    Washington, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy.

[^11]: Kirby, S., Naftel, S., & Berends, M. (1999). *Staffing at-risk
    school districts in Texas: Problems and prospects*, pp. 57-58. Santa
    Monica, CA: Rand.

[^12]: Smith, T., & Ingersoll, R. (2004). "What are the effects of
    induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover?" *American
    Educational Research Journal, 41*(2).