AN IDEAL TQ DATA SYSTEM - FIRST WAVE ELEMENTS

The first wave of data should include information about graduates/completers, those obtaining certification, and employment.

Graduation/Completion

Teacher preparation programs should collect fairly detailed data on their graduates. For example, programs should collect data on graduates’ race/ethnicity, age, gender, and program area (mathematics, elementary, etc). In addition, programs should endeavor to collect information such as GPA, SAT or ACT scores, and coursework completed.

Certified Teachers

Not only should teacher preparation programs collect data on program completers, but state education agencies should collect data on all teachers obtaining certification. Since SEAs administer the certification tests and collect the certification scores, the SEAs should collect and make available such information. The information collected and made available should include test-takers’ race/ethnicity, gender, date of birth, preparation program attended, type of preparation program attended (traditional undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or alternative), certification test scores, and all certificates obtained by an individual. Some states have interpreted FERPA in such a way that this information is confidential. However, FERPA would apply in these cases ONLY if taking and passing the tests is a requirement for graduation from an undergraduate program. Otherwise, FERPA is not applicable. SEAs should also require certain personal information be provided by prospective teachers in order to receive a certificate.  Such information should include race/ethnicity, gender, date of birth, full name, home address, home phone number, and e-mail address. While the state may not want to release contact information to the public, the state should use the contact information for research purposes and for contacting individuals with necessary information.

Employment of Teachers

Both teacher preparation programs and SEAs could collect data on the employment status and the employment location of graduates. However, teacher preparation programs must collect this data through surveys, which typically suffer from low response rates. SEAs, however, can compel school districts to submit teacher assignment data. In this way, SEAs can collect data on the employment location and status of every teacher in the state, thus allowing preparation programs. Some states, such as Texas and Louisiana, already collect such data, thus allowing researchers to examine teacher placement, employment, and retention as well as conduct assessments of the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs in increasing student achievement.

School Information

SEAs should collect and make available extensive data on schools and school districts.  At a minimum, the following information should be collected and made accessible through the web:

• School demographics
• School size and grade enrollment
• Expenditure data
• Enrollment and outcome data (e.g., SAT, ACT, AP, graduation rates, dropout rates, attrition rates)
• School achievement data by student demographics and grade level
• Test exemption data by student demographics and grade level

For example, Texas collects a wealth of data on schools and makes it available through the internet.

Last updated: March 17, 2006