The third annual report on states is out today from the National Council on Teacher Quality and the results are a pretty harsh indictment of most states’ teacher policies. Florida, which earned a C grade, was the top scorer, and only seven other states were graded a C-minus.
Every other state failed to rise above an overall score of D plus, and Maine, Montana, and Vermont flat-out flunked.
The report is chock full of details on each state’s relative strengths and weaknesses when it comes to preparing teachers, identifiying and retaining the good ones, and finding and rooting out the bad ones.
Teacher quality is in the bright spotlight right now as states’ applications for a piece of the $4 billion Race to the Top prize are scrutinized, so the report’s timing is opportune, or perhaps inopportune, if you’re one of the bottom-dwelling states.
Links to some local coverage of states’ grades can be found here, here, and here.
And for incisive analysis from Ed Week’s resident teacher policy expert, see my colleague Stephen Sawchuk’s post on the report here.
