AN IDEAL TQ DATA SYSTEM - FOURTH WAVE ELEMENTS

Facilities and Resources

Recent research has shown that facilities and resources are important components of a school’s working conditions that affect both teacher attrition and student achievement. Click here for helpful resources.
 
Further, there is a fairly large body of research connecting facilities and resources to student achievement.  However, few states collect data on these important facets of the education system.  SEAs could have districts provide data on both facilities and resources.  In terms of facilities, variables such as average classroom size, usability of heating and cooling systems, availability of natural lighting and adequate lighting, use of portable classrooms, exterior environment, and building age.  Linda Darling-Hammond and Karen Hawley Miles found several years ago how resources are distributed and utilized affected student achievement.  Thus, SEAs could have districts collect information on the use of teacher and student time, class sizes, school-level expenditures, course offerings, professional development opportunities, and instructional and non-instructional supplies.

Hawley-Miles is now the president of Education Resource Strategies (ERS), a non- profit organization that supports leaders of urban public school systems in creating strategic plans for improving school performance and in rethinking district and school level resources to match their goals. The analytical tools of ERS can identify where resources are spent and to what effect and how they can redeployed to improve teacher and student learning. Click here for more information.

Non-education Employment Data

While a number of states collect employment data across a variety of job categories, rarely is this data linked to teacher employment data.  Such data can be extremely useful in examining the reasons why teachers leave the profession—such as for higher salaries—and from what professions people enter the profession. One key data source is the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 50,000 households managed by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for over 50 years and provides a great deal of data on the overall labor force, including employment, unemployment, earnings, and hours of work, with demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, marital status, and educational attainment. Click here for more information.

Last updated: March 17, 2006