NCTQ Brief Calls for Closer Tracking of Teacher Supply, Demand
To keep members informed, AACTE regularly monitors and reports on the activity of the National Council on Teacher Quality that could affect educator preparation programs. Visit our NCTQ resource page for additional information.
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released an analysis and set of recommendations for states to track teacher shortages and surpluses.
According to the “Databurst” brief, 29 states have data systems in place that collect teacher production data from educator preparation programs, but only eight states link the data to district-level hiring information. NCTQ states that “it is incumbent upon states to develop explicit policies that hold teacher preparation accountable for meeting local hiring needs.”
After highlighting “promising and noteworthy” practices in various states and regions, the report provides five recommendations to states:
- Collect teacher labor market data at the local level
- Collect data on teacher preparation program graduates, including completion rates and certification area, as well as data on hiring and retention
- Explicitly connect program supply data to district-level demand data to identify areas of shortage and surplus
- Use existing data to predict potential areas of over and under production in future years
- Require preparation programs to set parameters around the number of candidates that can be prepared in each certification area based on existing and predicted need
NCTQ also recommends that states implement policies that would attract more candidates to the profession and to do so, that they evaluate compensation structures along with considering the use of part-time teachers for high-need subjects. To read the full assessment and determine how your state scores, click here.
Tags: data, shortage, teacher quality
