Missing the Mark: States' Teacher-Equity Plans Fall Short
Abstract
This July, the U.S. Department of Education required that all states submit Teacher-Equity Plans in addition to their highly qualified teacher data. The plans were to address whether poor and minority children are more likely to get unqualified, inexperienced, and out-of-field teachers.A new Education Trust analysis of these teacher-equity plans finds that most states failed to properly analyze data, and all but two fully complied with the requirements and offered specific plans to remedy inequities. The report poignantly states that, "we cannot continue to pretend that we're committed to closing achievement gaps while turning a blind eye to the practice of throwing brand new teachers into schools with poor and minority students without a cadre of more experienced teachers to guide them, to support them, to induct them into the school and into teaching."