Other Publications
The New Teacher Project's recent research includes:

 

New: How Bold is "Bold"? Responding to Race to the Top with a Bold, Actionable Plan on Teacher Effectiveness

November 2009

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called the Race to the Top education’s “moon shot.” For states, it represents an historic opportunity to escape the gravitational pull of outworn policies and the failures of the past.

The challenge is meeting this opportunity with a reform plan that matches its vision and ambition. Now, as the Department of Education issues final guidance on Race to the Top and states begin to put together their Phase 1 applications, TNTP offers state applicants a blueprint for what we believe will be foundational to any winning Race to the Top proposal: a bold, coherent agenda for building a highly effective teacher workforce.

States that propose a series of disjointed initiatives or meet only the minimum requirements of the competition will not be successful—not only in the application process itself, but in achieving meaningful reform. How Bold is “Bold” provides a unifying framework and practical strategies that will enable states to establish and achieve clear teacher effectiveness goals.

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Teacher Hiring, Transfer & Evaluation in Los Angeles Unified School District

November 2009

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) operates an ineffective teacher evaluation system that ignores differences in teacher effectiveness, preventing schools from recognizing excellence, providing useful professional development, and remediating or dismissing consistently poorly performing teachers, according to a study by The New Teacher Project.

The TNTP study, underwritten by national foundations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was conducted in collaboration with LAUSD, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) in the summer of 2008. Researchers surveyed over 4,000 current teachers, prospective teachers and principals, and reviewed staffing data and contractual policies. Findings include:

  1. Ineffective evaluations: Less than 1 percent of LAUSD teachers are rated “Below Standard."

  2. Forced placements: 9 in 10 teachers favor “mutual consent” staffing policies, but teachers are still force-placed.

  3. Late hiring and inequitable attrition: 2 in 5 current teachers plan to leave the district in the next few years, but 1 in 3 new teachers is not hired until July or August.


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Interpreting “Race to the Top”: Summary & Analysis of USDE Draft Guidelines

August 2009

The New Teacher Project is encouraged to see the focus on better evaluation systems and teacher effectiveness data in July’s draft of the Race to the Top guidelines. The preliminary criteria reflect a real commitment to meaningful reform and echo many of the recommendations of TNTP’s recent report, The Widget Effect.

Now, districts and states face the challenge of responding to the guidelines with a smart teacher effectiveness agenda. To that end, TNTP has assembled a tool for education leaders and policymakers interested in pursuing Race to the Top reforms.

Interpreting Race to the Top includes:

  1. A succinct summary of Race to the Top application and selection criteria;

  2. An analysis of each of the four Race to the Top "assurances": standards, data systems, great teachers and leaders, and school turnarounds;

  3. Practical questions for districts and states to ask as they assess their progress and plans; and

  4. Preliminary analysis of each state’s current competitiveness for funding, given its existing policy framework.

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Teacher Staffing and Evaluation in Indianapolis Public Schools

July 2009

In the winter and spring of 2008-09, The New Teacher Project partnered with the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and the Indianapolis Education Association (IEA), at the request of The Mind Trust, to analyze district human capital policies and practices and make recommendations to increase the concentration of high-quality teachers in IPS schools. TNTP collected and analyzed survey and transactional data to explore the impact of IPS’ hiring, staffing and evaluation policies. The report concludes that changes must be made to specific district rules and practices, along with targeted provisions in the IPS-IEA collective bargaining agreement, to support effective teaching and learning in IPS. TNTP’s primary findings include:

  1. Layoff policies are based exclusively on seniority, despite teacher and principal preferences for other factors to be considered;

  2. Forced-placement and late hiring practices hamper the creation of effective instructional teams and destabilize schools;

  3. Inflated evaluations ignore teachers’ professional development needs; and

  4. Poor customer service frustrates teachers and principals in the staffing process.

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Strengthening School Staffing in Minneapolis Public Schools

May 2009

In the fall and winter of 2008-09, The New Teacher Project engaged in an extensive review of the human capital policies and practices of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), in partnership with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Foundation For Children. TNTP, in collaboration with MPS and the MFT, collected and analyzed survey and transactional data to explore a range of human capital topics, including: teacher recruitment, hiring, and staffing processes, teacher and principal evaluation processes, teacher and principal pipelines, and teacher retention. The analysis showed that flawed district practices and staffing policies are exacerbating school and teacher instability to an alarming degree, resulting in the loss of quality teachers and creating an untenable level of churn for teachers. MPS must change dramatically and immediately to remain sustainable as a district, especially in an increasingly challenging and competitive environment. TNTP's primary findings included:

  1. Significant instability for teachers and schools, exacerbated by current staffing rules and practices;
  2. Inability to use instructional performance to inform critical decisions because of inconsistently implemented and under-supported evaluation processes; and
  3. Strong agreement from both teachers and principals for the use of mutual consent practices when making staffing decisions around teacher placement.

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Teacher Hiring, Assignment and Evaluation in San Francisco Unified School District

February 2009

In the spring and summer of 2008, The New Teacher Project reviewed San Francisco's school staffing rules and evaluation processes in collaboration with San Francisco Unified School District and the United Educators of San Francisco. This analysis showed that inflexible school staffing policies and a flawed teacher evaluation system, common to many urban school districts, are causing dissatisfaction among teachers and school principals. Although San Francisco has made progress in recent years on improving teacher pay and hiring timelines, the identified shortcomings continue to hamper the district’s efforts to build, support, and retain a high-quality teaching force, especially in its highest-need schools. TNTP's primary findings included:

  1. Late hiring. San Francisco is able to attract a large applicant pool of prospective teachers, but loses quality candidates who grow frustrated with a late hiring timeline;
  2. Forced placements. Teachers and principals sometimes have no say in teachers’ school assignments, to their shared frustration; and
  3. Ineffective evaluations. Evaluations are ineffective at assessing performance, improving instruction and dismissing poorly performing teachers.

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Teacher Hiring, Transfer and Evaluation in Pueblo City Schools

October 2008

In the winter and spring of 2008, The New Teacher Project partnered with Pueblo City Schools (PCS) in Pueblo, Colorado, to analyze the district’s human capital policies and practices. TNTP’s analysis reveals that applicant shortages and needlessly rigid school staffing policies prevent CPS from building and maintaining strong instructional teams. These challenges arise from four specific areas of significant concern.

  1. Subject-specific applicant shortages and a late hiring timeline lead schools to fill vacancies with lower-quality candidates, or not at all;

  2. Contractual provisions governing position cuts cause schools to lose teachers they want to keep and create significant job insecurity for novice teachers;

  3. The current transfer process deprives some teachers of the ability to find satisfactory new placements, and also deprives schools of choice in filling vacancies; and

  4. The evaluation process does not effectively differentiate teacher performance or provide teachers with adequate feedback to improve.

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Teacher Hiring, Evaluation and Support in Thompson (CO) School District

August 2008

In the spring of 2008, The New Teacher Project partnered with the Thompson School District (TSD) in Loveland, Colorado, to analyze current teacher staffing practices in the district and make recommendations to build the concentration of highly effective teachers in TSD schools. TNTP’s analysis reveals that TSD’s recruitment, hiring, new teacher support, and evaluation policies and practices require reform in four key areas to meet the needs of all teachers and schools.

  1. Despite TSD’s status as a geographically desirable district, a large majority of middle- and high-school principals report an inadequate applicant pool (quality and/or quantity) for recent vacancies;

  2. District policy governing the hiring timeline has a mixed impact on schools’ ability to hire early and capture the highest-quality new teacher candidates;

  3. Current new teacher support offerings, especially the induction program, do not appear to meet the needs of recent hires, who desire increased opportunities for professional collaboration; and

  4. Weaknesses in the evaluation system undermine its purpose of providing all teachers with meaningful and relevant feedback.

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Teacher Hiring, Assignment and Transfer in Milwaukee Public Schools

September 2007

In the spring of 2006, The New Teacher Project reviewed the teacher hiring and school staffing policies and practices in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) with collaboration from the district and the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA). This analysis showed that the district and the union have made great strides in their joint efforts to create a more effective teacher hiring and evaluation model, but that current school staffing and teacher transfer practices continue to cause dissatisfaction among many teachers. These shortcomings hamper Milwaukee's efforts to build, support, and retain a high-quality teaching force, especially in its highest-need schools. TNTP's primary findings included:

  1. While Milwaukee has made strides by introducing more collaborative teacher staffing rules, a large number of vacancies continue to be filled through assignment by HR, without the consent of teachers or schools.
  2. The transfer option known as an "incompatibility transfer" (also called a Q9 transfer) is not successful, despite best intentions.
  3. MPS does not compete effectively for new teachers.
  4. MPS staffing rules and processes do not allow schools to select the teachers they need.
  5. Milwaukee's Teacher Evaluation and Mentoring (TEAM) process is well regarded but rarely used.
  6. HR must take steps to improve its new teacher hiring and teacher transfer processes.

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Teacher Hiring, Assignment and Transfer in Portland (OR) Public Schools

August 2007

Between November 2006 and June 2007, The New Teacher Project engaged in an extensive review of teacher staffing policies and practices in Oregon's Portland Public Schools (PPS). TNTP's analysis concluded that Portland currently operates under staffing rules that hamper the efforts of the district and teachers union to build and maintain the highest quality workforce. Specifically, the analysis illustrates that:

  1. PPS is not competing effectively with peer districts for the best new teachers;
  2. PPS teachers are often forced into positions they do not choose and schools are regularly forced to hire teachers they do not want and who may not be a good fit for the job;
  3. Teachers new to the district are treated as expendable; and
  4. PPS Human Resources faces internal procedural problems that can and should be alleviated in the near term.

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Teacher Hiring, Assignment and Transfer in Chicago Public Schools

July 2007

In the winter of 2006-2007, with support from the Joyce Foundation, The New Teacher Project conducted an extensive analysis of the current teacher staffing rules and processes in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). TNTP's research illustrated that Chicago faces many challenges common to urban school districts in its efforts to secure high-quality teachers, but also that the district benefits significantly from an unusually progressive set of school staffing policies and procedures. TNTP's four primary findings can be summarized as follows:

  1. Chicago is able to attract a large applicant pool of prospective teachers, but loses quality candidates who grow frustrated with a late hiring timeline;
  2. The majority of teachers and principals are satisfied with the current teacher transfer and reassignment processes;
  3. Top-performing teachers are vulnerable to being displaced because of a reassignment policy based on seniority rather than teacher quality or school fit; and
  4. The current CPS teacher performance evaluation system does not distinguish strong performers and is ineffective at identifying poor performers and dismissing them from Chicago schools.

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Improved Principal Hiring: Findings and Recommendations for Urban Schools

September 2006

In 2006, with support from The Broad Foundation, The New Teacher Project investigated the methods that urban school districts use to recruit, select and hire school principals. This working paper presents the basic findings of that investigation along with recommendations for how urban districts and schools can build model recruitment, screening, selection and hiring processes to obtain quality school leaders.

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Urban School Reform: Lessons from San Diego

April 2005

This study, led by Frederick M. Hess, brought together multiple education researchers, including The New Teacher Project, to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the San Diego Unified School District's reform efforts under former Superintendent Alan Bersin. It was intended to break new ground in understanding urban school improvement and to provide concrete new insights to guide the efforts of urban districts seeking to serve their students and answer the challenge of No Child Left Behind. TNTP contributed a chapter reviewing the policies and practices of the district's Human Resources department, focusing on reforms that improved the district's ability to recruit and hire new teachers.

Click here for more information on Urban School Reform: Lessons from San Diego, available from Harvard Education Press.

Contact Us
For more detail on our services contact us at info@tntp.org or call (718) 233-2800.

This is your opportunity to be bold, creative, think big and push hard on the kind of reforms that we know will create fundamental change.

Arne Duncan

Secretary of Education

June 2009