Commentary
Arizona Capitol Times
April 18, 2008

Teacher ID bill will help improve Arizona student performance
By Dr. Sybil Francis
Executive Director, Center for the Future of Arizona

Each year, the state of Arizona spends hundreds of millions of dollars on K-12 education and on improving student achievement. But how do we know what is working and what’s not? A bill before the Arizona legislature will help answer this question.

House Bill 2787, which passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate, would enable the collection of critically needed data to help us make better education policy decisions and improve student outcomes. Focused on teachers, it represents one more step – an important one – along a path toward better data for improved decision-making for education. The information would shed light on how our teachers are doing, the challenges they face, their decisions to stay in teaching or not, and what helps them to be successful in the classroom. Passage of this legislation would accomplish this by establishing a data base on teacher training, performance in the classroom, and working conditions, while at the same time protecting teacher privacy.

Significantly, teachers themselves are advocates of this bill because they understand the importance of the availability of quality information to advancing their profession. Universities are supporters because the data can help them improve teacher training programs. Business leaders want data systems like this because they see the connection to improved student results. These stakeholders are stepping up to the plate in support of this bill.  I urge state senators to do the same.

Here is a sampling of what the “Teacher ID” bill would enable:

 

• Identify schools that are improving student outcomes, and find out how teachers are contributing to their success. This information could be used to identify best practices that could be replicated in other schools.
  
  
• Provide invaluable information about teacher training, retention and ongoing professional development, including:
  
  
• Which aspects of teacher education or training programs are the most promising for raising student achievement.
  
  
• The percentage of teachers remaining in teaching after three, five or 10 years. What is driving their decisions to stay in teaching or not, and what can we do to address these issues?
  
  
• The number of teachers being produced in Arizona, their areas of certification, and where they are teaching. We need better information in these areas as our state’s education needs evolve.
  
  
• Areas where teachers could most benefit from professional development opportunities. Rewarding professional development experiences can be important factors in teacher retention, as well as contribute to teacher performance and student achievement.

 

Arizona is not alone in working toward more robust data systems for education. The Data Quality Campaign (DQC), a national, collaborative effort supported by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,  outlined 10 data elements critical to a quality state education data system, including, for example, basic student information that permits analysis of student demographic and performance trends. For the past several years, the Governor’s P-20 Council and its Committee on Data and Graduation Rate, which I chair, have advanced adoption of these critical data elements.

We need a state education data system that will enable policy-makers, school officials, and the public to develop and support education policies that address the evolving needs of our education system. The next logical step is to establish a statewide teacher data system that can lead the way to improved teacher training, retention, performance and ultimately improved student achievement. I urge the legislature to join teachers, universities, and business leaders in supporting this effort.

Dr. Sybil Francis is the executive director of the Center for the Future of Arizona. She also chairs the Data and Graduation Rate Committee of the Governor’s P-20 Council, which seeks to improve education in Arizona, and prepare students for success in college and the modern workforce.