NGA Report Urges Tougher Standards for Educators

Authors underscore that governors' backing is key to human-capital focus.

Washington

The nation’s governors should promote a higher-quality educator workforce by retooling key leverage points on state and local systems for recruiting, training, and retaining talent, a new report concludes.

Such changes should include setting or raising minimum-entry standards for teacher- and principal-training programs; strengthening such programs by improving their emphasis on student achievement; and designing performance-based pay and professional career ladders to keep effective educators in the field, says the report , which was released here last week by the Center for Best Practices , the consulting wing of the Washington-based National Governors Association.

The notion of improving systems for training, compensating, and developing teachers and principals has gained much attention recently through the Strategic Management of Human Capital task force . Organized last year, the smhc partnership has brought together superintendents, union leaders, and governors to identify and share best practices...