getting the best people into the toughest jobs

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Getting the Best People into theToughest JobsChanges in Talent Management in Education

Allan Odden April 2013

WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.O



Getting the Best People intothe Toughest JobsChanges in Talent Management in Education

Allan Odden April 2013



1 Introduction and summary

5 A look back: Education-talent management at the close

the 20th century

9 Education reform understated the importance of talent

13 Rumblings of change in education-talent management

19 Educator-talent management reform solidifies

23 A new world of talent management in education: Puttin

strategic talent management at the center of education

policy and practice

29 Challenges ahead

33 Reasons underlying monumental changes in talent

management

37 Conclusion

39 About the author

41 Endnotes

Contents



Introduction and summary | www.americanprogress.

Introduction and summary

I is indispuable ha eachers and principals have he greaes impac on suden

learning.1 Unorunaely, he educaion sysem has hired and enured housands

o ineecive eachers and principals, paricularly in high-povery urban and rural

schools. As a consequence, hese schools have low levels o suden learning.

o remedy his problem, he naion is engaged in muliple aciviies o ge eec-

ive eachers ino all classrooms and eecive principals ino all schools hrough

more “sraegic managemen” o educaion alen. Sraegic alen managemen isan approach ha manages all human resource programs—recruimen, selecion,

placemen, developmen, evaluaion, enure, promoion, dismissal, and compen-

saion—around a se o eeciveness merics ha capure insrucional pracice

and suden-learning growh. Te heory is ha eecive principals should manage

schools in ways ha aciliae eachers’ acquiring he insrucional experise hey

need o make hem and he school eecive—ha is o say, successul in dramai-

cally boosing suden learning.

Te issue o sraegic alen managemen in educaion leap ono he policy and

pracice agenda quie recenly. Ye in a shor ime period, huge changes in policy

and pracice have occurred. From a se o disjoined policies and even-worse prac-

ices, a comprehensive and holisic view o sraegic alen managemen in educa-

ion is developing, suppored by new and ambiious ederal and sae policies and

rapidly changing local pracices. Admitedly, policy design sill needs signican

calibraion, and local implemenaion is ar rom complee. Bu he landscape o

how eachers and principals—he educaion alen—are managed is dramaically

changing. A once-haphazard mix o approaches is moving oward many more sra-

egic sysems ha are designed o ensure ha only eecive eachers and principals

are recruied, enured, reained, and well-compensaed—paricularly in urban andpoor rural communiies.

Tis paper examines he evolving landscape o alen managemen in educaion,

which is broken ou in ve secions:



2 Center or American Progress | Getting the B est People into the Toughest Jobs

• Secion one: alen managemen, or lack hereo, in educaion a he close o he

20h cenury

• Secion wo: Educaional change ha began a he dawn o he 21s cenury

•Secion hree: Rumblings o change ha evolved ino comprehensive new ed-eral and sae human-capial managemen policies and local pracices

• Secion our: Rumblings o change ha coalesced ino a oundaion o change

across he counry and he new world o alen managemen

• Secion ve: Why he ocus on alen evolved and quickly assumed such a

prominen role in he naion’s educaion policy and pracice agendas

In par, due o posiive sae and local response o ederal requiremens or new

educaion programs such as Race o he op, School Improvemen Grans, heeacher Incenive Fund, and No Child Le Behind waivers, saes and disrics

are ideniying and using new channels or recruiing beter alen ino he naion’s

schools, especially high-povery schools in urban and rural areas. Saes and

school disrics are also developing new ways o evaluaing eachers—mehods

ha use a measure o insrucional pracice and evidence o suden learning, and

in some cases suden surveys on he academic environmen. Saes and disrics

are hen using hese new merics o deermine wheher or no o enure eachers,

as a condiion or promoion, o implemen new salary schedules, and or dis-

missal—insead o senioriy.

Tough here is seady progress oward designing and implemening all hese new

policies and pracices across he counry, here is also opposiion, and he road

orward will cerainly be bumpy. o be successul, hese iniiaives need o also

solve some major challenges such as making he new evaluaion sysems aordable;

ensuring ha he scores ha eachers receive on heir evaluaions derive rom “cu”

scores ha are se a rigorous levels in order o accuraely ideniy he mos eecive

and mos ineecive eachers; deciding where o pu he oughes requiremens or

enering he eaching proessions so he alen ha ows rom he new recruimen

sources are no shu o; and embedding all his in an eecive school improvemensraegy ha is linked o he new Common Core Sae Sandards Iniiaive.

A he oundaion o every one o hese reorms is an acknowledgemen across

policy communiies and shared by a growing number o advocaes on he ground



Introduction and summary | www.americanprogress.

ha alen ruly maters. In spie o he coninuing need o improve curriculum

rigor, und educaion appropriaely, provide qualiy developmen and suppor o

eachers, and improve parenal suppor, he undeniable ac remains: Tere are

oo ew smar and capable people safng he mos challenging schools—people

who will work relenlessly o ensure ha all sudens learn. Tis acor is he

impeus or he rapidly changing landscape o human-capial managemen ha isimpacing all sages o he educaor pipeline.

Among he recommendaions we oer is making enry o he proession difcul

a every poin o ensure ha only he op alen mees he enry sandards—based

on rigorous assessmens o conen knowledge and by implemening a rigor-

ous “bar exam,” which should assess boh insrucional experise and impac on

suden learning—or he ull proessional license o be required o every novice

eacher a some poin aer hree o ve years o eaching. Tis approach suppors

boh radiional and alernaive pahways ino he proession, while also ensuring

ha only demonsrably eecive eachers earn he ull proessional license andhen enure—whaever heir pahway ino he proession.



A look back: Education-talent management at the close o the 20th century | www.americanprogress.

A look back: Education-talent

management at the close of the

20th century

eachers and principals have he greaes impac on suden learning.

Unorunaely, our public educaion sysem, unil recenly, seleced and enured

housands o ineecive eachers and principals. Te resul was low levels o su-

den learning, paricularly in high-povery urban school and rural schools. Tough

he curriculum and insrucion in a classroom are criical pars o improving he

impac o schooling, he alen eaching his curriculum, as well as he alen man-aging school sysems, are also criical, and more sraegic alen managemen has

only recenly sepped ono he educaion policy and pracice agenda sage.

As he 20h cenury closed, hardly anyone alked abou alen managemen in edu-

caion, le alone sraegic alen managemen. Personnel adminisraion characer-

ized he approach o eacher and principal supervision and managemen—he ocus

was jus on geting licensed eachers ino classrooms and principals ino schools

wih litle, i any, atenion o heir eeciveness.2 Few, i any, personnel-adminisra-

ion policies and programs were linked o anyhing sraegic in school sysems. Te

personnel direcor rarely sa on he superinenden’s cabine. eacher and principal

recruimen were oen back-ofce asks. And qualiy reviews mosly involved ensur-

ing ha each individual had a license or cericae appropriae o he ask.

Alhough here were sudies noing ha eacher qualiy had declined,3 especially

in urban disrics,4 here was litle analysis o why ha qualiy had declined. In

repors published more han a decade ago, here rarely was discussion o poor o

nonexisen recruimen policies and pracices in urban disrics, and scan recogni-

ion ha urban hiring pracices largely were he acors behind ciy disrics oen

hiring poorly qualied individuals or eaching posiions. Furher, here was litleanalysis o he major pipelines o eacher alens ha or many urban disrics were

he lowes-qualiy insiuions o higher educaion wih equally dismal eacher- and

adminisraor-raining programs. Repor conclusions simply noed he lower qualiy

o eachers in hose disrics bu provided almos no assessmen o he causes.




As recenly as 2007 when educaion reormer Michelle Rhee was named chancel-

lor o Washingon, D.C., Public Schools, here was sill he assumpion across he

counry ha urban disrics—no only in he Washingon, D.C., school disric bu

also in mos large urban disrics—were unable o atrac op eacher alen.5 Bu

wha Rhee discovered, and knew even beore her appoinmen, was ha he disric

usually had several applicaions or every job opening—abou 2,500 applicans orhe 250 open eaching jobs in 2007—and ha he applican pool included scores o

eachers rained a qualiy insiuions. Te Washingon, D.C., school disric, how-

ever, did no begin reviewing applicans or ha school year unil he end o Augus

when mos qualiy applicans had already been oered jobs by oher disrics or had

simply given up on he disric. As a resul, he disric had o hire rom he “leover”

pool o applicans—basically he applicans ha no oher disric waned.6

Recruimen was no he only broken human-resource managemen pracice

o schools. A decade ago he view o mos eachers and adminisraors was ha

nearly all eacher- and principal-evaluaion sysems were no worh he ime orenergy spen on hem—a view ha was suppored in he ndings and conclusions

o several sudies o such sysems.7 Personnel-adminisraion exbooks addressed

evaluaion issues mosly in erms o process and airness bu rarely in erms o

subsance such as how o measure eacher insrucional pracice or principal

eeciveness.8 A he close o he 20h cenury, i was rare or a eacher or principal

evaluaion o seriously address wha eachers or principals should know and be

able o perorm, le alone assess evidence o impac on suden learning.

Tough sae laws specied when enure—coninuing conrac, due process,

or similar wording, all meaning essenially he same hing as enure—needed

o be conerred, no sae law specied he evidence on which enure should be

based, and ew, i any, local school disrics had rigorous requiremens or he

subsanive basis on which enure would or would no be awarded. 9 As a resul,

however rained and however eecive, mos eachers received enure aer wo

o our years on he job.10

In shor, recruimen was haphazard wih litle atenion o acquiring demonsra-

bly able eachers or adminisraors; evaluaion did no disinguish beween eec-

ive and ineecive eachers or principals; and enure was provided o boh almosauomaically. O course, wihou evaluaion sysems ha could parse eachers

and principals ino caegories o eeciveness or qualiy, here was litle evidence

on which o deny enure or o dismiss eachers—one reason why he dismissal

process was usually cosly and rarely successul.



A look back: Education-talent management at the close o the 20th century | www.americanprogress.

Promoion and pay, which are also criical aspecs o he human-resource sys-

em, were inormed almos exclusively by an educaor’s longeviy a a disric

or in he eld. Senioriy was he prime acor or boh eacher and principal

promoion ino posiions o leadership or pracice. A eacher’s years o experi-

ence was he major acor ha deermined wheher a eacher could move rom

one school o anoher, leading o a siuaion where senioriy rumped machingschool need wih eacher experise or desire o “buy ino” a paricular school’s

insrucional approach. And he basis by which boh eachers and principals

were paid did no align wih eeciveness, as neiher educaion degrees nor

years o experience—excep or more han hree o our years o experience—

are linked o greaer success in boosing suden learning.11



Education reorm understated the importance o talent | www.americanprogress.

Education reform understated the

importance of talent

Tough here was wide acknowledgemen o poor eacher qualiy in many urban

school sysems,12 ew educaion reorm iniiaives had educaion alen or is

managemen as heir cenral elemens. Insead, he more common view was ha

educaion sysems wih high concenraions o sudens rom poor and ehnic-

minoriy backgrounds simply could no atrac he bes and brighes eachers and

adminisraors, le alone compeen educaion sa o heir schools.

While here were eors o srenghen eacher-raining programs, here was litleatenion given o educaion-alen managemen once individuals enered he sys-

em. Mos educaion-reorm eors were direced a changing a variey o accoun-

abiliy, scal managemen, and governance srucures such as:

• Atracing more money o low-spending school sysems• Adoping more rigorous curriculum sandards ogeher wih improved assess-

men o suden achievemen• Devolving auhoriy or decision making o schools• Changing educaion governance o allow more charer schools, greaer choice o

public schools, or even provide vouchers o privae schools• Giving mayors conrol o big-ciy school sysems• Adoping perormance-pay sysems• Enhancing accounabiliy or suden achievemen such as holding sudens back i

hey did no mee cerain achievemen levels by key ransiion poins in schools

In a ew insances school sysems began “reconsiuing” low-perorming schools

by changing he people in hem bu rarely were hese iniiaives ocused on he

underlying causes ha resuled in ineecive eachers and principals working in

hese schools. Te goal was o simply ge a new se o eachers and principals, bureconsiuion largely ignored he sysem ha had allowed he school o have such

ineecive educaor alen in he rs place. Moreover, mos school reconsiuion

policies were highly conenious, wih he educaion sysem usually arguing ha

i was unair o kick he aduls—he eachers and adminisraors—ou o low-




perorming schools and rejecing he noion ha a major roo o he problems o

hese consisenly-low perorming schools was ineecive educaor alen.

Despie all ha, here were glimmerings o change. wo new organizaions

emerged during his period: each For America and Te New eacher Projec,

or NP. Boh organizaions were cenrally ocused on recruiing op alen inohe naion’s school sysems, paricularly in urban and rural disrics. Tese groups

recruied and hen seleced brigh individuals wih high poenial bu who lacked

radiional eacher preparaion o become eecive eachers in he educaion

sysem. Teir sraegies were quie conenious and generally unsuppored by he

broader educaion or policy sysems a he ime.

Founded by Wendy Kopp in 1990, each For America operaed on he premise

ha he key acor or low-suden perormance in urban school sysems was he

qualiy o he eacher alen in he classroom. o address he problem, each or

America creaed a sraegy o nd ha qualiy alen and ge hem ino classroomsin high-povery urban and rural communiies.

In a ew shor years, each For America became highly successul in recrui-

ing graduaes rom he op colleges in he counry, including he universiies o

Harvard, Princeon, Brown, Duke, Norhwesern, and Sanord, o name a ew,

and placing hem in eaching posiions in high-need ciy schools. Over ime,

each For America dramaically increased he number o individuals recruied

each year—rom an iniial group o 500 o 5,800 in 2012—and oday also recruis

rom he naion’s op public research universiies.13 each For America was—and

sill is—enormously successul in making eaching in high-povery schools a

highly sough opporuniy among he “bes and brighes” young individuals in

he counry. Being seleced or he each For America program has become a

mark o disincion among he cadre o smar and capable individuals who atend

hese high-ranking colleges and universiies.

oday each For America works in 46 regions in he Unied Saes, which com-

prise hundreds o schools ha enroll housands o sudens, and produces almos

6,000 eachers a year.14 A each For America recrui’s commimen iniially was

or jus wo years, hough in 2010 he organizaion repored ha 61 perceno is members remained in eaching posiions beyond ha wo-year commi-

men.15 each For America has idenied he core problem o ciy schools as a

lack o high-qualiy alen—high-academic abiliy as measured by SA or oher

college-enrance exam scores—and has gured ou how o ge ha alen ino



Education reorm understated the importance o talent | www.americanprogress.o

high-povery classrooms, a phenomenon he public-educaion sysem isel had

no hough possible and somehing no addressed sysemically by he higher-

educaion esablishmen.

A spin-o organizaion begun by each For America alums, iniially led by

Michelle Rhee, ocused on addiional avenues or geting op alen ino he samehigh-povery classrooms. In 1997 NP began recruiing “early career chang-

ers,” individuals who had enered highly paid and high-powered posiions in law,

managemen consuling, nancial services, and oher such proessions. Many o

hese individuals burn ou wihin he rs ve years on he job and look elsewhere

or work ha is more meaningul and saisying, i lower paid. Adoping many o

he same recruiing sraegies as each For America, including he use o adveris-

ing signs in New York Ciy subway rains and saions seeking individuals looking

or inellecually challenging and meaningul work, NP developed sunningly

eecive mechanisms or recruiing housands o individuals ino ciy classrooms.

All o NP’s recruis had op college raining, including many wih degreesand experise in mah, science, and saisics—exacly he elds or which urban

disrics had rouble nding qualied eachers.16

Since is incepion, NP has recruied and rained approximaely 26,000

eachers hrough is eaching Fellows and NP Academy programs, includ-

ing roughly 1,780 in 2012.17 Is New York Ciy eaching Fellows program oers

he bes example o is scale: Since 2000 New York Ciy eaching Fellows has

atraced more han 190,000 applicaions and supplied a oal o 17,000 eachers

o high-need New York Ciy schools.18 Te nearly 10,000 New York Ciy eaching

Fellows currenly working in he New York Ciy school sysem represen approxi-

maely 11 percen o all New York Ciy public-school eachers, including one in

our mah eachers and one in ve science and special educaion eachers.19

In par because each For America and NP recrui during he spring or each-

ing posiions beginning in he all, he organizaions can only provide raining

during he summer and, as a resul, are severely criicized by he educaion esab-

lishmen or providing heir new recruis wih insufcien preparaion. Tese crii-

cisms, however, ignore he ac ha he bulk o he eachers hese alened recruis

replace are some o he less-eecive eachers, as shown by muliple research sud-ies over his pas decade.20 Wha’s more, he criicisms ignore he success hese

organizaions have in recruiing some o he bes alen in he counry ino urban

schools, a probabiliy ha mos in he educaion sysem—boh public schools and

colleges and universiies—had no considered o be high. Indeed, more han hal




o each For America recruis remain in public educaion ar beyond he iniial

wo-year commimen, and a number o ormer recruis have launched new school

sraegies, including he Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, Aspire, and oher

charer school models.21

As he 20h cenury was winding down and he 21s cenury was dawning, helandscape o public-school alen managemen could be bes described as edu-

caional mismanagemen. I was a mix o anemic and disjoined policies and

pracices ha were characerized by ineecive recruimen programs, vacuous

evaluaion sysems, he virual giving away o enure, promoion and dismissal

based more on senioriy han eeciveness, and pay linked o litle, i anyhing,

sraegic o he sysem. Tese “personnel adminisraion” approaches o alen

managemen produced legions o ineecive eachers and principals in mos urban

and many rural disrics ha led o low suden achievemen, irrespecive o cur-

riculum, governance, or spending.

o be sure, he shoddy personnel adminisraion pracices did no ypiy every

disric, paricularly many suburban disrics. Furher, several disrics undoub-

edly had solid programs in one or more o heir human-resource managemen

programs. And here were also muliple eors creaed o improve he pre-service

raining and eacher-licensure sysems. Bu he poin is ha educaion alen and

is managemen was no a he op o disrics’ pracice or policy agendas, and

mos human-resource managemen policies and pracices were quie ineecive,

wih a ocus on process raher han subsance. As or each For America and

NP, he wo organizaions ha had gured ou how o nd and place op alen

ino urban and poor rural classrooms, here was scan accepance, as well as wide-

spread opposiion o heir programs and policies.

As he 21s cenury began, rumblings o change in approaches o educaor alen

sared o emerge. An impeus or he change in schools’ approach o alen came

rom he privae secor, which recognized ha he successul companies o he

uure would be in a global compeiion or op alen.22 Tis propelled he idea

ha alen matered. Te consensus was ha he mos successul companies would

need o ge very sraegic abou acquiring, developing, and reaining alen, which

was seen as being key o implemening a company’s sraegic vision. Wihou opalen, i was surmised, he execuion o sraegic plans would no happen.



Rumblings o change in education-talent management | www.americanprogress.o

Rumblings of change in education-

talent management

As par o such sraegic hinking, some companies began o resrucure all o heir

alen managemen programs—recruimen, developmen, evaluaion, promo-

ion, dismissal, and compensaion—around he compeencies heir workorces

needed. Subsequen research showed ha such a sraegic approach o human-

capial managemen led o higher levels o organizaional perormance.23 Furher,

jus as he nancial operaions o companies had previously moved rom an

accouning approach o a more scienic approach o nancial managemen, so

oo were here eors o dene a “science” o human-resource managemen wihaligned merics.24 In sum, numerous privae-secor companies began o elevae

alen managemen in heir sraegic agendas and creaed posiions such as chie

alen ofcer o signal he imporance o his new ocus.

Awareness and changes wih respec o educaor-alen managemen also began

o emerge around a decade ago. In 2003 NP conduced a sudy o recruimen

pracices in several urban disrics wih a surprising conclusion: Te inabiliy o

hire qualiy eachers and principals was largely a resul o poor or nonexisen

recruimen pracices raher han ha o he shorcomings o he applican pool.25

NP’s sudy ound ha mos urban disrics had subsanial numbers o appli-

cans or open posiions bu did no communicae wih applicans when heir

applicaions were led. In mos cases, he disrics did no begin o review appli-

caions unil lae Augus, when mos qualiy applicans had already aken oher

jobs or had given up on he urban disric, which mean ha disrics had o pick

rom he scan group o applicans sill looking or a eaching job in lae Augus or

early Sepember. Te sudy recommended ha disrics move up he recruimen

calendar, begin he applicaion review process early in he year, communicae

immediaely wih all applicans and coninue communicaion wih qualied can-

didaes, ake afrmaive acion o keep applicans wih special skills—mah andscience eachers or male elemenary school eachers, or example—coninuously

ineresed, and make job oers beore he end o he school year. Te NP sudy

began o change he undersanding abou how urban disrics could acquire op

eacher and principal alen and ha he abiliy o do so was mosly in heir hands.




Tough each For America and NP operaed almos as demonsraion proj-

ecs o show why alen managemen matered and how alen could be recruied,

addiional approaches o beter managing educaion alen were emerging such as

new and more sraegic approaches o eacher compensaion. Tese new proposals

sough o base annual pay increases on insrucional pracice and experise, called

knowledge and skills, and o augmen hem wih school-based bonus programsriggered by suden-achievemen gains. Te conerences and design seminars

organized by he Universiy o Wisconsin branch o he Consorium or Policy

Research in Educaion, or CPRE, which sared in 2000, began spreading knowl-

edge abou how new approaches o eacher compensaion could be designed and

acceped by eachers, as all he ideas i was proposing had been veted by he wo

naional eacher unions several years beore he conerence series began.26 Tese

conerences and seminars showed how new compensaion srucures could be

driven by merics derived rom he wo prime sraegic goals o he educaion:

improved insrucional pracice and improved suden achievemen.

Likewise, he eacher Advancemen Program, creaed by he Milken Family

Foundaion, also began o address he pay issue, as did he Communiy raining

and Assisance Cener. Bu i was he Consorium or Policy Research in

Educaion’s work ha laid he oundaion in he lae 1990s and in he very rs ew

years o he 21s cenury.

Anoher sep oward nixing he old personnel adminisraion programs and

building more sraegic approaches o educaion-alen managemen came rom

new ways o measuring insrucional pracice, or eacher eeciveness as i was

laer labeled. Tree eniies orged his new ground: he Naional Board or

Proessional eaching Sandards, he Connecicu Beginning Educaor Suppor

and raining Program, or BES, and he work o he Educaional esing Sysem

incorporaed ino Charlote Danielson’s book on eacher evaluaion.27 Tese

sysems acually provided subsance as o how eachers could be evaluaed, cre-

aed sysems o measure wha eachers knew and were able o do, and provided

muliple merics o eacher eeciveness. Iniially, reormers waned he resuls o

be used or a wo-iered licensure sysem, as well as or Naional Board recogni-

ion o pracice o high and rigorous sandards. Bu he Consorium or Policy

Research in Educaion showed he merics also could be used o operae new eacher salary srucures or which major pay increases would be provided when a

eacher’s insrucional pracice me he sandards o a higher level o perormance,

as indicaed by he merics o hese new evaluaion sysems.28




A ourh rumbling acion was he emergence o longiudinal daa sysems rack-

ing individual suden perormance over ime, as well as linking sudens o heir

classroom eachers. Tese sysems allowed labor marke economiss and oh-

ers o analyze acors linked o suden-learning gains and o provide empirical

evidence o “eacher eecs.” More specically, hese new daa sysems, largely he

resul o requiremens o he ederal No Child Le Behind Ac, allowed research-ers o show ha eachers had very dieren and wide-ranging impacs on suden

achievemen, wih approximaely 10 percen o 20 percen o eachers having

exraordinary impacs (moving suden learning wo o hree years during one

academic year), anoher 10 percen o 20 percen producing anemic impacs wih

sudens acually dropping behind ohers in learning over an academic year, and

wih he vas bulk in he middle wih modes achievemen impacs.29

Wih mos analyss using “value-added” merics, sudy aer sudy began show-

ing ha some eachers produced posiive and ohers negaive value added, wih

he implicaions ha hese resuls should be used o deermine promoion anddismissal, pay increase and decrease, and enure and no enure decisions.30 Value

added is a saisical procedure ha idenies he degree o which a eacher

produces above or below average gains in suden perormance aer conrolling

or acors ouside he eacher’s conrol such as demographics. I is he mos-used

meric o show suden growh.

Wih suden-oucome daa, scores o labor-marke economiss began sudying

muliple aspecs o he eacher labor marke, wih he ndings rom all sudies

implying signican change in how eachers and principals should be managed.

Te sudies documened:

• A lack o eacher qualiy in urban disrics• Te disparae impac o eachers on suden learning in disrics and saes

across he counry • Te oucomes o muliple iniiaives o provide incenives o eachers in

subjec-area shorages• Te greaer classroom eeciveness o each For America and NP eachers

compared o eachers recruied rom he lower-qualiy colleges and universiies

ha had radiionally provided he bulk o new eachers o many urban disrics• Simulaions o suden perormance increases ha could be made by replacing

ineecive eachers wih eecive eachers• Many oher aspecs o he educaor labor marke31




A new research collaboraive called he Naional Cener or Analysis o

Longiudinal Daa in Educaion Research, or CALDER, became a ocal poin

or his research. Te implicaion was ha value-added, or some oher meric o

eacher impac on suden learning, should be a major elemen o new approaches

o managing eachers and principals—merics ha were unavailable unil hese

new longiudinal daa sysems emerged.

Te pracice communiy also weighed in as leadership in several urban disrics

began o address hese alen issues in more sraegic ways. Reorm-oriened

superinendens such as Arne Duncan, who served as he chie execuive ofcer

o Chicago Public Schools beore being named secreary o he Deparmen o

Educaion in 2009; ormer New York Ciy schools Chancellor Joel Klein, appoined

in 2002; ormer Alana school Superinenden Dr. Beverly Hall, appoined in 1999;

and ohers developed sraegic parnerships wih each For America and NP

or new approaches o recruiing beter eacher alen ino heir school sysems.

Tese same disrics also parnered wih a new organizaion, New Leaders or New Schools—since renamed “New Leaders”—o recrui a new breed o perormance-

oriened principals. Oher disrics parnered wih he Naional Insiue or School

Leaders, or NISL, anoher naional organizaion or recruiing and raining a per-

ormance-ocused group o principals. Tese parnerships implicily acknowledged

ha he radiional higher-educaion pipelines hese disrics relied upon or eacher

and principal alen were no good enough and ha despie criicisms, he alen

rom each For America, NP, New Leaders, and he Naional Insiue or School

Leaders had a greaer chance o being eecive in classrooms and school buildings.

Oher superinendens such as Carl Cohn wih he Long Beach Unied School

Disric, appoined in 1992; om Payzan wih he Boson Public Schools,

appoined in 1995; and Duncan, creaed new organizaions—he Boson eacher

Residency and Chicago Academy or Urban School Leadership—and/or par-

nered wih heir local higher educaion insiuion—Caliornia Sae Universiy,

Long Beach and he Long Beach schools—o prepare eachers wih he skills

needed o each in heir disrics. Research showed hese sysems had considerable

success in no only alering he alen landscape in heir school sysems bu also in

boosing suden perormance.32

In 2000 he Aspen Insiue began neworking hese superinenden reormers

hrough he Aspen Collaboraive—a group o urban superinendens ocused on

improving educaor alen and suden achievemen—hus providing a orum

or discussing and advancing hese new approaches o acquiring and managing




educaor alen. Moreover, his group began using he erms “alen,” “human capi-

al,” and “sraegic alen managemen” as hey addressed hese human-resource

managemen concerns, new policies, and reormed pracices, which included

he beginnings o using value-added measures in evaluaion sysems and new

approaches o perormance pay or eachers and principals.33

Simulaneously, several naional oundaions—including he Carnegie

Corporaion o New York, he Bill & Melinda Gaes Foundaion, he Joyce

Foundaion, he Michael and Susan Dell Foundaion, and several ohers ha

were more locally ocused—concluded ha educaor alen and is managemen

was a major educaion-reorm issue and ha resources needed o be deployed o

help creae he insiuions and policies o build new alen-managemen sysems.

Tese oundaions began o work in collaboraion wih one anoher o suppor

hese new approaches o alen acquisiion and managemen in educaion and he

organizaions such as each For America, NP, and New Leaders, which were

helping launch and execue hese approaches.

Tese eors were bolsered by he Broad Foundaion—a group ha ocuses on

improving urban public educaion—which began a program o rain a new cadre

o reorm, perormance, and sraegic alen-managemen-oriened superinen-

dens who generally did no come rom radiional educaion organizaions. Broad

Foundaion graduaes quickly wen on o lead urban disrics in he wake o he

aoremenioned leading reormers in places such as Balimore; Prince George’s

Couny, Maryland; Los Angeles Unied; and Gwinnet Couny, Georgia, o name

a ew. Te Broad Foundaion also creaed a program called Broad Residens or

individuals who had law degree, maser’s degree in business, and/or public policy

degrees o ake more middle-level managemen posiions in cenral ofces o

urban disrics. Many Broad Residens ended up in human-resource managemen

deparmens and several were quickly elevaed o he newly creaed posiions o

chie alen ofcer and chie human capial ofcer, aking key posiions on he

superinenden’s cabine.

Te George W. Bush adminisraion also creaed he eacher Incenive Fund wih

hundreds o millions o dollars provided or urban disrics and saes o creae

new eacher-compensaion elemens, providing incenives or eachers in subjec-area shorages such as mah and science o each in high-povery schools, and o

improve suden perormance beyond radiional gains over an academic year.




In sum, he sleeping gian o personnel adminisraion began coming ou o

is hibernaion in he rs years o he 2000s wih huge changes being made in

muliple areas—recruimen, evaluaion, compensaion, and more—by many

individual acors, organizaions, and oundaions across he counry. Te reorm

rumblings and collaboraion among he naional oundaions, he superinendens

in he Aspen Collaboraive, and oher reorm groups and organizaions—eachFor America, NP, New Leaders, and he Consorium or Policy Research in

Educaion—began coalescing ino a wave o change over alen and is manage-

men, which more leaders were conceding was criical o he successul implemen-

aion o all oher educaion reorms.

Tese changes were no wihou conroversy. No everyone sancioned he

approaches o alen recruimen by each For America, NP, or New

Leaders—none o which direcly used he radiional universiy-raining chan-

nels. In addiion, no everyone waned o use value-added measures in eacher

evaluaions or even use he new evaluaion merics or consequenial decisionsor eachers. Te Broad Foundaion-rained superinendens were no welcome in

every urban disric. New approaches o eacher compensaion were no uni-

ormly embraced. And i was no jus he eachers unions ha raised objecions o

hese reorms—so oo did he leaders o many o he oher educaion organiza-

ions a he naional and sae level, as well as members o he American Educaion

Research Associaion and he Naional Academy o Educaion.

Bu hese examples reec he changes ha began o occur during he early years

o his cenury—hey occurred across he enire counry, had he nancial backing

o many o he larges oundaions, including he emerging and dominan Gaes

Foundaion, and were addressing wha was becoming recognized as a core educa-

ion reorm issue: educaor alen and is sraegic managemen.



Educator-talent management reorm solidiies | www.americanprogress.o

Educator-talent management

reform solidifies

Abou six years ago, hese muliple and somewha disparae iniiaives in educaor-

alen managemen began o solidiy, even hough conroversy surrounded nearly

every individual iniiaive.

Probably he “lighing rod” acion suggesing ha hese new ideas abou alen

managemen in educaion were aking roo was he summer 2007 appoinmen

o Michelle Rhee as he chancellor o he Washingon, D.C., Public Schools. A

ormer each For America eacher, ounder and hen-chie execuive ofcer o NP, and never having been a school adminisraor—le alone a op cenral

ofce sa adminisraor—Rhee ook he helm o he Washingon, D.C., school

disric and immediaely began implemening change. She parnered wih each

For America, NP, and New Leaders or eacher and principal recruimen and

also moved up he disric’s recruimen calendar, as she knew many alened indi-

viduals had hisorically applied or posiions wih he disric bu acceped oher

poss because he disric ailed o conac hem in a imely manner.

Addiionally, Rhee closed low-perorming schools and resrucured he school

budge. She pu ar, music, and physical educaion eachers ino elemenary

schools so ha eachers a all levels would have ime during he regular school

day or collaboraive work using suden daa. She hired a naional exper on

proessional developmen, who was paricularly skilled in working wih each-

ers o help hem use suden daa o modiy lesson plans and insrucional unis.

Wihin a year, Rhee had creaed a new eacher-evaluaion sysem, wih 50 percen

o eacher evaluaion based on a measure o insrucional pracice and 50 percen

on suden achievemen, and began negoiaing o use i in a new pay sysem

or eachers, as well as a basis or erminaing ineecive eachers.34 Te reorm

package was a new sraegy o acquire beter alen, reain only he mos-eeciveeachers in he disric’s lowes-perorming schools, and move ou hose insruc-

ors who were ineecive. In shor, she pu alen and is sraegic managemen as

he lead iem on her reorm agenda.




Tese moves, however, were me wih conroversy. Te naional American Federaion

o eachers union involved isel in disric negoiaions and subsequenly sued he

Washingon, D.C., Public Schools o prohibi he use o he new evaluaion sysem

o manage eachers. Rhee le he chancellor’s pos aer only hree years when her

mayoral supporer—ormer Mayor Adrian Feny—was no re-eleced o ofce in

par because o he “radical” naure o Rhee’s reorms. Bu he key cenral ofce sa she recruied remained, and hey coninue he disric’s alen reorms.

Jim Kelly, he ounding presiden o he Naional Board or Proessional eaching

Sandards, along wih he auhor o his repor, creaed he Sraegic Managemen

o Human Capial ask Force, wih suppor rom he Carnegie Corporaion o

New York, and he Ford, Gaes, and Joyce oundaions. Te ask orce included

leaders rom mos o he naional educaion organizaions—Naional Educaion

Associaion, American Federaion o eachers, American Associaion o School

Adminisraors, Council o Chie Sae School Ofcers, Council o Grea Ciy

Schools, Naional Associaion o Secondary School Principals, American Associaion o Colleges or eacher Educaion, he superinendens menioned

in he previous secion, he presidens o each For America, NP and New

Leaders, and several oher prominen educaion and poliical hinkers and lead-

ers, including hen-Gov. im Pawleny (R-MN), who chaired he ask orce, and

ormer Gov. Jim Hun (D-NC).

Te purpose o his eor was o prominenly place a sraegic approach o educa-

ion-alen managemen on he naion’s educaion policy and pracice agenda. A

rs eor was publishing case sudies o new and successul approaches o alen

acquisiion and managemen in he leading alen-reorm disrics—Boson,

Chicago, Fairax Couny, Virginia, Long Beach, Caliornia, and New York Ciy—

and o he naional alen developmen and recruimen organizaions—each For

America, NP, and New Leaders.35 Te projec held naional meeings proling

hese eors, oulined wha sraegic alen managemen in educaion should be,36

creaed neworks o sae and local disrics engaging in such reorms, and issued

alen managemen reorm documens.37

In he second year o he Sraegic Managemen o Human Capial ask Force,

hough launched much earlier, NP released is comprehensive sudy o eacher-evaluaion sysems in urban disrics around he counry. iled “Te

Widge Eec,” he sudy ound ha he eacher-evaluaion sysems sudied ideni-

ed upward o 98 percen o all eachers were saisacory or even accomplished,

even when suden perormance was dismal.38 Te sudy received naional aten-



Educator-talent management reorm solidiies | www.americanprogress.o

ion and underscored he vacuous naure o ypical eacher-evaluaion sysems,

which did no rea eachers dierenly by heir documened eeciveness bu

as “widges” irrespecive o heir success in he classroom. Te sudy concluded

by saing ha key o changing how alen was managed in educaion were more

robus evaluaion sysems ha arrayed educaors on a mulilevel scale o eecive-

ness. Wihou such merics, he sudy argued, i would be hard, i no impossible,o sraegically manage—enure, dismiss, reward, and compensae—eachers and

principals, or produce a air disribuion o eecive eachers across all schools.

Tese eors were oruiously and signicanly bolsered in lae 2008 by he

elecion o Presiden Barack Obama, especially when he appoined hen-Super-

inenden o Chicago Public Schools Duncan as U.S. Deparmen o Educaion

secreary.39 ogeher, hese wo naional leaders placed all he key elemens o

sraegic managemen o educaion alen on he naional agenda, rs hrough

our key assurances governors made in 2009 when acceping he rs package o

general simulus dollars, and second hrough he Race o he op program.40

Saes applying o win unds hrough Race o he op were required o describe

how hey would change recruimen policies, redesign eacher evaluaion o

include evidence o eacher impac on suden learning as a signican elemen,

aler enure sipulaions o be based on eacher eeciveness, creae perormance-

pay sysems, and include a alen renewal aspec or school urnaround srae-

gies. Race o he op was ollowed by he Deparmen o Educaion’s School

Improvemen Grans program ha had sraegic alen managemen a is core,

and hen was an exension o he eacher Incenive Fund program.

For he rs ime, hese ederal acions provided a broad, comprehensive, and

coheren policy umbrella or how alen should be managed in educaion by align-

ing all key elemens rom preservice raining o disric recruimen, evaluaion,

enure, dismissal, and pay around merics o eacher and principal eeciveness.

In his process, he ocus o he No Child Le Behind Ac on “highly qualied”

eachers, which had emphasized credenials, shied o a ocus on “highly eec-

ive” eachers and principals as assessed hrough new, robus eacher and principal

evaluaion sysems ha included measurable resuls.

Tis solidiying o he change in educaion-alen managemen was accompanied

by he rise o new naional “expers” on hese issues. When wriing aricles on

his opic, reporers a Education Week , he naional newspaper devoed o cover-

ing educaion, began o conac and quoe people such as im Daly, presiden




o NP, and Kae Walsh and Sandi Jacobs, boh wih he Naional Council on

eacher Qualiy, along wih alen-managemen-reorm superinendens. All o

hem suggesed, among oher new policy posiions, ha educaor recruimen had

o change or urban disrics; ha eacher-evaluaion sysems needed reorm and

o include suden daa as a signican aspec o such evaluaions; ha peror-

mance pay was needed o insure ha he mos eecive eachers were paid whahey were worh; and ha sae policies on licensure, enure, evaluaion, and pay

needed reorm o bolser hese local pracices.

Furher, aricles in Education Week and elsewhere abou managemen in educaion

began o echo all o he hemes lised above and argue ha all programs o alen

managemen—licensure, recruimen, selecion, placemen, evaluaion, enure,

promoion and dismissal, and compensaion—needed o be aligned and managed

around a se o eeciveness merics produced by new evaluaion sysems. Tis

perspecive was reinorced by a new book, Strategic Management of Human Capital

In Education, on wha sraegic managemen o human capial in educaion could be,41 wih he hope ha he book would replace he more radiional “personnel

adminisraion” books used in universiy-based adminisraor-raining programs.

Bu as policy changes muliplied and were reeced across he counry by relaed

changes in local disric pracice, resisance srenghened. Some claimed ha hese

new iniiaives were op down and were being orced ono eachers, principals,

and educaion sysems, and argued ha more collaboraion was needed o hone

policy and pracice. Ohers opponens claimed ha i was unair o hold eachers

accounable or suden-perormance growh by using suden-learning gains in

new eacher evaluaion sysems. Criics emerged over he merics being used o

assess suden growh, arguing ha he errors associaed wih value added or oher

measures o growh were oo large o use or consequenial decisions or eachers

and adminisraors. Ye ohers insised ha he pace o change should slow as he

Grea Recession had eroded educaion budges, eliminaing he money needed o

und hese new eors. And nally, many in he educaion sysem—boh eachers

and adminisraors—saw his push or “perormance managemen” as an unwar-

raned criique o he educaion sysem blaming i and is key workers—eachers

and principals—or he lack o suden-perormance gains across he counry. In

shor, muliple pockes o resisance exised across he counry jus as hese new approaches o alen managemen seemed o be solidiying.



A new world o talent management in education | www.americanprogress.o

A new world of talent management

in education: Putting strategic talent

management at the center of educationpolicy and practice

Despie resisance, his new world o sraegic alen managemen in educaion has

developed a rm oundaion buil upon he iniiaives jus described. Tere has been

subsanial, widespread, and posiive sae response o Race o he op. Tis ongoing

compeiive gran program oered subsanial sums o money o saes ha pledgedo design and implemen sweeping changes in policy and pracice on he alen

managemen ron. Bu only a small number o saes would be unded o do so.

Neverheless, more han wo-hirds o he saes submited Race o he op propos-

als. Saes conrolled by Democras and Republicans won he gran unding, and

virually no sae complained ha he unding was disribued unairly.42

Furher, he sae proposals promised:

• Changes in licensing sysems o allow each For America, NP, New

Leaders, and oher nonradiional raining program recruis o obain iniial

licenses o pracice• Creaion o longiudinal daa sysems ha linked sudens o eachers and

schools so growh merics or eachers and schools could be calculaed• Revised eacher and principal evaluaion sysems ha used suden-growh

measures as a subsanial aspec o he evaluaion• Use o he new evaluaion merics or educaor enure, promoion, dismissal,

and perormance pay srucures• urnaround sraegies or low-perorming schools ha allowed or signican

replacemen o eacher and principal alen in he process• Expanded school choice wih ewer limis on he number o charer schools




Such promised change in policy and pracice was hardly imaginable a decade ago, so

he posiive response o he requiremens o Race o he op was quie sunning.

Tese changes were suppored by a group o Democras commited o educaion

reorm, including ormer Govs. ed Srickland (OH) and Phil Bredesen (N)—a

rs-round Race o he op winner—and curren Gov. Andrew Cuomo (NY). Anorganizaion called Democras or Educaion Reorm, suppored and urged many

sae lawmakers o push similar changes in sae legislaures.43 Also, he Cener or

American Progress began issuing a series o repors bolsering hese same eors.44

Wha’s more, Republicans also bough ino his agenda, including Gov. Chris

Chrisie (R-NJ) and ormer Florida Gov. Charlie Cris (who was a Republican

a his ime). In shor, educaion alen-managemen reorm garnered biparisan

suppor a he levels where educaion policy was mos oen designed and where

enorcemen o such policies was likely o reside.

Te srengh o sae suppor or hese comprehensive and ambiious changes ineducaion alen managemen was again displayed in 2012 hrough sae responses

o he requiremens or waivers rom No Child Le Behind accounabiliy require-

mens. o earn a waiver, a sae no only needed o design new accounabiliy

sysems or schools and disrics ha would be linked o suden achievemen in

he Common Core curriculum sandards, bu saes were also required o presen

proposals o change all elemens o human resource managemen in educaion,

including new eacher and principal evaluaion sysems and he use o he me-

rics rom hese sysems or eacher enure, placemen, disribuion, promoion,

dismissal, and compensaion. Despie hese rigorous requiremens, mos saes

requesed waivers, promising alen-managemen reorms wihou he incen-

ive o addiional money hey migh have received rom Race o he op, School

Improvemen Grans, or eacher Incenive Fund programs.

oday abou 40 saes and Disric o Columbia are designing, piloing, or imple-

mening new eacher and principal-evaluaion sysems. For eachers, he reorms

include ambiious eors o measure a eacher’s insrucional pracice and include

evidence o suden-learning gains ha comprise up o 50 percen o he overall

evaluaion score.45 Tough many saes are acing challenges in hese developmen

eors—he sizable coss o direc observaions o eachers, or example—hey coninue o move orward in designing and implemening hese sysems.

Moreover, Ohio inends o use he merics in a muliiered licensure sysem. o

be awarded enure, eachers will need o demonsrae ha heir eeciveness has




risen o a level above ha needed or he proessional license. Oher saes are

considering similar eors o use he eeciveness merics or muliiered licen-

sure sysems, wih a beginning level or new eachers, a higher level or he proes-

sional license, an even higher level or enure, and hen perhaps one o wo levels

above ha or advanced pracice. Saes and disrics are also designing new salary

srucures driven largely by hese eeciveness merics, which will link eacher pay levels o eeciveness levels, hus aligning pay wih perormance.

Te 2012 expansion o he eacher Incenive Fund program required disrics o

rs creae “a vision o eecive insrucion and is improvemen” and hen o design

an overall alen-managemen program—recruimen, placemen, evaluaion, en-

ure, promoion and dismissal, and compensaion—wihin which new approaches

o perormance pay or eachers and principals would sraegically.46 Tis more

comprehensive approach o perormance pay again enshrined a comprehensive and

sraegic approach o educaor alen managemen as a cenerpiece o ederal policy.

Te naional oundaions gave urher impeus o hese ederal reorms. In an

eor o provide exisence proos or his new oundaion o alen managemen,

he Bill & Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided large sums o money o our edu-

caion sysems—Hillsborough Couny, Florida; Memphis, ennessee; Pitsburgh,

Pennsylvania; and a consorium o charer school operaors in Caliornia—o

design and implemen all o hese relaed alen-managemen reorms o docu-

men how i can be done a he disric level.

In addiion, in 2012 several oundaions helped creae he Urban Schools Human

Capial Managemen, designed o provide echnical assisance o many oher

cuting-edge urban disrics—Balimore; Boson; Denver; Gwinnet Couny,

Georgia; New York; and Prince George’s Couny, Maryland; among ohers—ha

are all similarly engaged in robus and comprehensive alen managemen reorms

o recruimen, evaluaion, enure, promoion, disribuion, and compensaion.47

Tere is considerable acion on all hese iems in close o hree-ourhs o he saes

and in scores o local disrics—mosly urban disrics where he human-capial

managemen sysems were signicanly broken and in need o major change.

Moreover, alen-managemen reormers coninue o ake on leadership posiions

in a number o saes and disrics. Deborah Gis, who worked wih Michelle Rhee

as he sae superinenden o educaion in Washingon, D.C., soon hereaer

became Rhode Island commissioner o elemenary and secondary educaion,




and began sponsoring reorms similar o hose in he Disric o Columbia.48 Kevin

Human, he commissioner o he ennessee Deparmen o Educaion, is a ormer

execuive or each For America and he rs ormer each For America corps

member o become a chie sae school ofcer.49 Anoher ormer each For America

corps member, Cami Anderson, was named superinenden o Newark Public

Schools in 2011, where she recenly negoiaed a new eacher conrac wih a new evaluaion sysem and pay package similar o he sysem in Washingon, D.C. Public

Schools.50 Furher, here are growing numbers o ormer each For America each-

ers who have gone on o become principals. each For America and NP have

signicanly expanded heir operaions o include more ciies, as well as recruiing

up o our imes he numbers o eachers as compared o ve years ago.51

Adding o his developing oundaion, he wo naional eachers unions are work-

ing publicly and behind he scenes o move hese reorms orward. Te Naional

Educaion Associaion, which previously had a policy ha prohibied he use o

suden es scores in eacher evaluaions, revised is policy and now encourages dis-rics and saes o design new sysems ha use such daa. Te American Federaion

o eachers, hough visibly prominen in opposing he Rhee-designed reorms in

Washingon, D.C., is working in many local disrics o more collaboraively design

alen-managemen reorms, including evaluaions ha include suden daa and o

use hese resuls or placemen, promoion, enure, and compensaion.

Despie he developing srong oundaion or sraegic alen managemen in educa-

ion, he road orward is no wihou is bumps. Te Chicago eachers Union, an

afliae o he American Federaion o eachers, wen on srike or nearly wo weeks

in he all o 2012, where a key issue was eacher evaluaion and he use o suden

scores in he evaluaion sysem.52 Te presiden o he Chicago eachers Union led a

reorm backlash movemen a he 2012 annual meeing o he American Federaion

o eachers, criicizing is presiden or working on and supporing hese iniiaives

in oher school disrics. ony Bennet, a alen-managemen reormer and superin-

enden or public insrucion in Indiana, was voed ou o ofce in November 2012,

due in large par o his suppor or hese reorms—alhough in early December he

was appoined o be Florida’s new educaion commissioner, a sae leader in school

alen-managemen reorms. Similarly, educaion-reorm laws ha included al-

en managemen were voed down in Idaho and Souh Dakoa in he November2012 elecions. And eachers in Seatle walked ou in early 2013, opposing he

requiremen o adminiser new benchmark assessmens ha would be used in

eacher-evaluaion sysems. o be clear, he pah orward when i comes o school

alen-managemen reorms will be one o bumps, i no poholes.




Neverheless, a oundaion or change is being buil, he landscape o alen man-

agemen in educaion has changed, and i is highly unlikely ha hese changes will

be compleely undone. Mos saes are revamping eacher and principal evalua-

ion sysems, using a combinaion o measures o pracice and evidence o impac

on suden-learning growh—and someimes suden surveys. And new research

shows ha such merics can be valid, sable, and reliable.53

Saes inend o use hemerics rom he new sysems or decisions regarding enure, promoion, compen-

saion, and perhaps or muliiered licensure sysems as well. Many disrics across

he counry are creaing local policies and pracices ha mirror and implemen

sae iniiaives, showing ha i is no jus he policy communiy bu also praciio-

ners moving orward on hese agendas.

Clearly, he goal is o dramaically ransorm he backwaers o wha have been

“personnel adminisraion” aciviies ino sraegic human-capial-managemen

sysems in educaion or which all key programs—recruimen, placemen,

disribuion, developmen, evaluaion, enure, promoion, dismissal, and com-pensaion—are aligned around merics ha assess insrucional eeciveness and

suden-learning growh—he win key goals o oday’s educaion sysem, he

later being he prime goal and he ormer being he means o ha goal.

Tough such ransormaion in hese key elemens o educaion sysems was

deemed impossible nearly a decade ago, as Jim Kelly, he ounder and rs presi-

den o he Naional Board or Proessional eaching Sandards, wroe in 2011,

“America is able o make such major ransormaions despie no having a cenral

educaional governing sysem.”38



Challenges ahead | www.americanprogress.o

Challenges ahead

Alhough i appears ha alen-managemen sysems in educaion are changing

or he beter, one mus no assume ha everyhing can or will happen overnigh.

No only is here he resisance menioned above, bu here are oher signican

challenges as well.

One such challenge is he cos o he new evaluaion sysems. Creaing he new

suden daa sysems and calculaing he dieren growh measures is prety sraigh-

orward—hough here are argumens concerning he bes growh merics o use.Bu he process required o gaher evidence o insrucional pracice is much more

dauning. Mos saes oday require disrics o conduc muliple live observaions

o eachers and such approaches require eiher hiring large numbers o observers—

Hillsborough Couny, Florida, or example, hired abou 250 eachers o conduc

such observaions on a ull-ime basis—or burdening principals wih such asks,

which will consume large percenages o heir ime and erode heir abiliy o lead

schools. Boh approaches are cosly and many argue neiher is susainable in large

par because boh approaches require signican ongoing raining o ensure ha he

observaions produce valid and reliable resuls or eachers.

Te hope among many is ha educaion sysems will adop video echnologies

o gaher such evidence as a way o rein in coss. eachscape is one provider o a

modes cos sysem.55 Tough each video episode mus be scored o appropriae

rubrics, rained expers, including possibly accomplished eachers, could do he

scoring and be paid on a piecemeal basis. Clearly, he ime allocaion and dollar

cos o he evaluaion sysems need o be modes.

Anoher challenge is he propensiy o saes o decenralize o disrics many o he

specic design elemens o he new evaluaion sysems, including deermining he“cu poins” ha deermine wheher an individual is ineecive, developing eecive,

eecive, highly eecive, or exremely eecive. Due in par o he srong equiy

culure ha permeaes mos school sysems, he disinclinaion o make disincions

among eachers or principals on he basis o heir eeciveness has resuled in many




disrics seting cu poins ha make mos eachers eecive or higher, even when

hey produce below average improvemens in suden learning. Consider he case o

he Florida Deparmen o Educaion, which recenly repored ha more han 96.5

percen o eachers in he sae have been idenied as eecive or above. I should

be noed, however, ha he percenage o sudens perorming a he procien

or advanced levels is nowhere near as high. Similarly, in Michigan and ennessee,adminisraors raed 98 percen o eachers as eecive. In Georgia 94 percen o

eachers received avorable raings.56 Likewise, in hese saes oo, suden-achieve-

men raes come nowhere near hese loy levels. Clearly, considerable recalibraion

is likely o be required in order or he new sysem o provide meaningul merics

ha can aid in he sraegic managemen o he eachers and principals evaluaed.

A hird challenge is relaed o he pressure rom he educaion esablishmen

o make he iniial enry ino eaching more rigorous. Hiking requiremens or

admission ino eacher-raining programs is a solid sraegy; i would weed ou

ineecive alen, which has been he major source o new alen or many urbansysems as discussed above. Bu cauion should be exercised concerning eors o

hike requiremens or he iniial eaching license, as compared o he requiremens

or he proessional eaching license, which is usually conerred aer wo o our

years o eaching. Sandards or he proessional license should be very rigorous,

allowing only hose who show hey mee he eeciveness sandards needed o

become ully licensed eachers.

Bu eors o creae an assessmen similar o he bar exam, which is used by he

legal proession, o aord enry ino he eaching proession should be viewed

wih cauion. Such an exam would probably eliminae mos o he alen recruied

by each For America and NP since he summer raining o heir recruis

would unlikely be sufcien or he new recruis o pass a rigorous assessmen o

pracice. And hose organizaions’ successul eors o ge op alen ino urban

classrooms would be undercu. Furher, each For America provides is recruis

wih inensive raining and coaching during heir rs wo years o eaching, some-

hing some urban disrics provide ha mos unorunaely do no. Tis coaching

ensures ha he new recruis quickly acquire an array o eecive insrucional

pracices. Likewise, NP has insiued one o he rs rigorous precerica-

ion screens or eacher cericaion. During 2011 and 2012 approximaely 2,000eachers rained by NP were required o demonsrae eeciveness in he

classroom—as measured by a combinaion o classroom observaions, suden

surveys, principal raings, and where possible, suden academic growh daa—in

order o be recommended or sae licensure. Research shows ha he each For



Challenges ahead | www.americanprogress.o

America and NP recruis produce litle, i any, decrease in educaional produc-

iviy and oenimes signicanly ouperorm individuals who have come hrough

radiional higher educaion programs.57 I would be oolish o esablish require-

mens ha cu o his ow o alen ino urban sysems.

Cerainly, i can be argued ha he iniial eaching license should be based moreon rigorous assessmens o conen knowledge and ha he rigorous “bar exam,”

which would assess insrucional experise and impac on suden learning, should

be used o coner he ull proessional license and be required o every novice

eacher a some poin aer hree o ve years o eaching. O course, given his

perspecive on iniial enry i could be argued, “Why no make enry difcul a

every poin?” Tere are ways o ensure ha only op alen mees iniial enry san-

dards, hus supporing he alen acquisiion sraegies o each For America and

NP, while also ensuring ha only demonsrably eecive eachers earn he ull,

proessional license and hen enure, whaever heir pahway ino he proession.

Finally, as he resisance in Seatle reecs an aversion on he par o educaors o

adop assessmens jus or evaluaion purposes; here is he challenge o embed all

o hese alen managemen eors—as he eacher Incenive Fund regulaions

require—in a vision o eecive insrucion and academic improvemen, which

are he ocus o he Common Core Sae Sandards Iniiaive. Te educaion sys-

em needs o keep is prime ocus on wha i akes o make all sudens college and

career ready. Accomplishing ha goal cerainly requires eecive eacher and prin-

cipal alen and i will require no only new summaive assessmens aligned wih

he Common Core Sae Sandards, bu also shor-cycle assessmens ha eachers

need or insrucional improvemen and many oher elemens. Te assessmens

used in eacher evaluaion should ow rom insrucional pracices shown o be

eecive in suden learning. Te improvemen process and no he evaluaion sys-

em should drive educaor acions—evaluaion should simply deermine wheher

he improvemen process works—and or he purposes o his paper, wheher he

alen-managemen sysem is producing eecive eachers and adminisraors.

Tere are oher challenges as well, bu unless he educaion sysem coninues

o recrui a signican porion o he bes and brighes—hose graduaes wih

he op academic scores and abiliy—ino our schools—as he op academically perorming counries do inernaionally—and hen ensure ha he necessary

evaluaion sysems, providing ruly meaningul merics, are developed and operae

smoohly a an aordable cos, he overall goals o sraegic alen managemen

will be difcul o atain.



Reasons underlying monumental changes in talent management | www.americanprogress.o

Reasons underlying monumental

changes in talent management

Las, i is air o ask why such major changes in alen and is managemen have

occurred so quickly. Tough here is no deniive answer o his quesion, he

hree acors deailed below migh help o explain his phenomenon.

Te rs acor is relaed o he ac ha he message coming rom he naional

educaion alen organizaions—each For America, NP, and New Leaders,

or example—ha “alen maters” became acceped across wide specrums o

he educaion and policy communiies—and bolsered by privae-secor orga-nizaions ha are also ocused on alen. Tis perspecive was in conras o he

educaion sysem ha believed ha poor suden achievemen was primarily he

resul o some combinaion o lack o curriculum rigor, insufcien unding, large

class sizes, anemic proessional developmen, inadequae paren suppor, oo litle

collaboraion, or he misguided belie by some ha children rom low-income

amilies simply could no learn a higher levels. Te naional alen organizaions

argued ha while hese issues were no insignican, he core issue was insufcien

alen—here were jus oo ew smar and capable people in he mos challenging

schools who would relenlessly work o make sure ha all sudens learned.

o make a ooball analogy: John Harbaugh, he coach o he 2013 Super Bowl

Champion Balimore Ravens, could no ake a eam comprised o Division III

college players o he Super Bowl; a eam o such players, individuals who migh

have real skills, do no have he alen o succeed in he NFL regardless o he level

o coaching, qualiy o equipmen, or srengh o an suppor. Similarly, eaching

in urban and povery-sricken rural schools is difcul and inellecually chal-

lenging work. I akes he mos alened individuals in he counry o succeed in

hese school environmens, working relenlessly every day o succeed. Yes, hese

individuals need insrucional experise, bu as a raw oundaion hey need heinellecual power o gure ou how bes o organize heir classrooms and each

he curriculum eecively o all sudens—mos o whom come o school every

day wih muliple issues, social and oherwise, ha make learning challenging.




Forunaely, he naional alen organizaions have gured ou how o recrui

he bes and he brighes young alen in he counry ino he mos challenging

schools, which is sep one in making hese schools successul and giving sudens

he bes chances o learn. I did no hur ha a abou he same ime hese naional

alen organizaions were creaed, he imporance o alen was also being recog-

nized in he corporae world, hough i ook more han a decade or he impor-ance o alen per se o be recognized as a core soluion o improving our schools.

wo addiional characerisics o hese naional alen organizaions should be also

noed. Te rs being ha hese organizaions are naional in ocus, as compared o

colleges and universiies—he radiional pipelines or eachers and principals—

which are a bes regional, and more oen han no, local, sources o alen. Tus, he

naional alen organizaions have he advanage o ocusing heir alen-recruimen

eor naionally and a scale while a he same ime concenraing on meeing he

needs o he places mos lacking educaor alen—high-povery urban and rural

school disrics. And he second rai common o naional alen organizaions is heac ha hey are no universiies and as such hey don’ have o produce reams o

research proving and documening heir conclusion ha he lack o alen is a key

acor in he modes levels o success coming rom educaion reorm.

Te second acor explaining why alen managemen now ops he educaion

policy agenda is ha he alen perspecive has been sancioned by several inuen-

ial educaion reormers—progressive superinendens, governors, and legislaors

menioned previously—individuals who have atraced naional press coverage

as hey aced o redress educaor alen shorcomings. Furher, hese sae, local,

and school leaders were hen reinorced in heir reorm belies by a newly eleced

presiden—Barack Obama—who agreed wih heir diagnosis and heir prescrip-

ion. Once in ofce, he presiden wased litle ime in appoining Arne Duncan

as U.S. secreary o educaion, who as he superinenden o he Chicago Public

Schools adoped he alen agenda or he disric. Such poliical sancion a he

highes level o his new approach o educaion reorm was powerul—boh sym-

bolically and subsanively.58

I should also be noed ha he leaders menioned above were no he only ones

who gave subsanive and symbolic suppor o he imporance o alen as a key oeducaion reorm. Leadership and suppor also have been provided by housands

o ormer each For America eachers who now work in leadership posiions, and

in hose poss sancion he same approach o educaor alen and is managemen.

each For America has an annual naional conerence or is corps members who



Reasons underlying monumental changes in talent management | www.americanprogress.o

have le eaching, bu who are working locally—in paren/eacher organizaions,

as members o local school boards, as advisors o sae governors, as leaders o

civic groups such as he Roary, and in similar sae organizaions—o advance

educaion alen reorm. o encourage his ype o involvemen, each For

America now provides leadership raining, equipping heir recruis and alumni

wih highly deailed inormaion abou he workings o educaion sysems so hey can advocae or and suppor even more ambiious versions o educaion improve-

men, including helping o mee he core issue o rs acquiring op alen.

Tough hese reorm-minded individuals are boh Democra and Republican, he

bulk are Democras and as such have creaed a new cadre o reormers wihin he

Democraic caucus ha ully embraces his dieren view o educaion reorm.

A hird acor behind his shi o alen-managemen reorm undoubedly has

been he esing regime o he No Child Le Behind Ac, which requires disrics

o es sudens in reading and mah every year or grades hree hrough eighand once during grades 10 hrough 12 and repor he resuls no only or all

sudens, bu also or “subgroups” o sudens, including hose rom ehnic and

racial, non-English-speaking, and povery backgrounds. Te ess have no only

documened much lower achievemen levels in urban and poor rural disrics, bu

also wide achievemen gaps beween majoriy and higher-income sudens, and

hose o ehnic minoriy, lower-income, and non-English-speaking backgrounds.

When saes began o link sudens wih he eachers who augh hem he esed

subjecs, hese longiudinal daa sysems allowed analyss o documen wide di-

erences in learning growh across classrooms, wih many urban and poor rural

classrooms showing he lowes level o growh. Tese resuls combined heigh-

ened public ineres in he acors underlying hese achievemen deciencies, as

well as dierenial eacher eecs, reinorcing he emerging ineres in educaor

alen as a core problem.

Finally, hese alen reormers soon garnered suppor o he naion’s larges

privae oundaions, as well as new oundaions creaed by successul ech enre-

preneurs—he Michael & Susan Dell Foundaion, or example—all o which

suppored he idea ha alen was key and ha perormance-based managemen

characerized he mos eecive organizaions, including in heir human-capial-managemen sysems as well. Tough oher acors have undoubedly conribued

o he quick ascension o alen-managemen reorm o he op o he educaion

policy and pracice agendas, he above are srong conribuors.59



Conclusion | www.americanprogress.o

Conclusion

Tere is a clear undersanding across policy communiies ha he aspiraions

o curren educaion reorms, especially he goal o preparing all sudens o be

college and career ready hrough eecively eaching curriculums ha are aligned

wih he Common Core Sae Sandards Iniiaive, can only be atained i he

alen in our classrooms and school buildings is up o he ask. Likewise, here

is an acknowledgemen ha here are oo ew smar and capable people safng

our mos challenging schools—specically, schools serving poor urban and rural

communiies. Te upsho: alen ruly maters.

Tis undeniable ac is he impeus or he rapidly shiing landscape o human-

capial managemen ha is impacing all sages o he educaor pipeline. Te good

news is ha alen managemen in educaion is changing in sraegic ways and he

oundaion ha has been buil hrough boh public and privae iniiaives makes i

highly unlikely ha i will reurn o he broken and disjoined personnel adminis-

raion sysems ha characerized educaion jus a decade ago.



About the author | www.americanprogress.o

About the author

Allan Odden is he direcor o Sraegic Managemen o Human Capial, or SMHC,

a projec o he Consorium or Policy Research in Educaion. He is also proes-

sor emerius o educaional leadership and policy analysis a he Universiy o

Wisconsin-Madison and co-direcor o he Consorium or Policy Research inEducaion, a consorium o he Universiy o Wisconsin-Madison, Universiy o

Pennsylvania, Harvard Universiy, Universiy o Michigan, Norhwesern Universiy,

eachers College a Columbia Universiy, and Sanord Universiy. Allan was

ormerly a proessor o educaion policy and adminisraion a he Universiy o

Souhern Caliornia. He is an exper on he sraegic managemen o human capial

in educaion, eacher compensaion, eacher evaluaion, educaion nance, school

urnaround, eecive resource allocaion and use, resource reallocaion, school-

based managemen, and educaional policy developmen and implemenaion.



Endnotes | www.americanprogress.o

Endnotes

1 Thomas J. Kane and Douglas O. Staiger, “Estimating Teacher Impacts on Student Achievement: An Experi-mental Evaluation.” Working Paper 14607 ( NationalBoard o Economic Research, 2008); Jonah E. Rocko,“The Impact o Individual Teachers on Student Achieve-ment: Evidence rom Panel Data,” American Economic

Review 94 (2) (2004) : 247–252; P. Sander Wright, SharonP. Horn, and William L. Sanders, “Teacher and ClassroomContext Eects on Student Achievement: Implicationsor Teacher Evaluation,” Journal of Personnel Evaluationin Education 11 (1) (1997): 57–67.

2 L. Dean Webb and Scott Norton, Human Resources Administration: Personnel Issues and Needs in Education (New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2009 ).

3 Phil Schlechty and Victor Vance, “Recruitment, Selec-tion and R etention: The Shape o the Teaching Force,”The Elementary School Journal 83 (4) (1983): 480–487.

Though the measures o quality were primitive—ullycredentialed or not, or SAT and ACT scores—mostagreed that although rough, the measures were su-fcient to document teacher quality decline.

4 Don Boyd and others, “The Narrowing Gap in NewYork City Teacher Qualifcations and its Implicationsor Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools” (Washington: The Urban Institute, 2008); NationalCommission on Teaching and America’s Future, “WhatMatters Most: Teaching in America” (1996).

5 Michelle Rhee, Radical: Fighting to Put Students First (New York: HarperCollins, 2013).

6 Personal communication with Michelle Rhee, summer2007.

7 Kenneth D. Peterson, Teacher Evaluation: A Comprehen-sive Guide to New Directions and Practices (ThousandOaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2000).

8 Webb and Norton, Human Resources Administration.

9 Tenure is used as a generic term or tenure, continuingcontract status, due process, etc.

10 See the annual reports rom the National Commissionon Teacher Quality, available at http://www.nctq.org.

11 Allan Odden and Carolyn Kelley,Paying Teachers for What They Know and Do: New and Smarter Compensation Strate-gies to Improve Schools (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press,1997).

12 National Commission on Teaching and America’sFuture, “What Matters Most.”

13 Donna Foote, Relentless Pursuit (New York: Knop, 2008);Scott Eidler, “Deerring Six Figures on Wall Street or

Teacher’s Salary,” DealBook, January 2, 2013, availableat http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/deerring-

six-fgures-on-wall-street-or-teachers-salary/.

14 Teach For America, “Where We Work,” available at http://www.teachoramerica.org/where-we-work;Eidler, “De-erring Six Figures on Wall Street or Teacher’s Salary.”

15 Teach For America, “Retention Report” (2010), availableat http://www.teachoramerica.org.

16 Anabel Aportela and Michael Goetz, “Strategic Manage-ment o Human Capital: The New Teacher Project”(Madison, WI: Consortium or Policy Research in Educa-tion, 2008).

17 TNTP, “Teaching Fellows,” available at http://tntp.org/

what-we-do/training/teaching-ellows.

18 NYC Teaching Fellows, “Our Impact,” available at https://www.nycteachingellows.org/purpose/impact.asp(lastaccessed March 2013).

19 Ibid.

20 Gary Henry and others, “Portal Report: Teacher Prepara-tion and Student Test Scores in North Carolina” (ChapelHill, NC: University o North Carolina, Carolina Instituteor Public Policy, 2010); George H. Noell and KristinA. Gansl, “ Teach or America Teachers’ Contributionto Student Achievement in Louisiana in Grades 4-9:2004–2005 to 2006–2007” (Baton Rouge: Louisiana De-partment o Education, 2009), available at http://www.nctq.org/docs/TFA_Louisiana_study.PDF;TennesseeHigher Education Commission “2010 Report Card onthe Eectiveness o Teacher Training Programs” (2010);

Zeyu Xu, Jane Hannaway, and Colin Taylor, “Making aDierence? The Eects o Teach or America in H ighSchool” (Washington: The Urban Institute and CALDER,2008), available at http://www.urban.org/Uploaded-PDF/411642_Teach_America.pd.

21 Teach For America, “Retention Report.”

22 Edward E. Lawler III, Talent: Making People Your Competi-tive Advantage (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008).

23 T. Russell Crook and others, “Does Human Capital Mat-ter? A Meta-Analysis o the Relationship Between Hu-man Capital and Firm Perormance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 96 (3) (2010): 443–456.

24 John Boudreau and Peter Ramstad, Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital (Cambridge, MA: Harvard

Business School Press, 2007).

25 Jessica D. Levin and Meredith Quinn, “Missed Op-portunities: How We Keep High-Quality Teachers Out o Urban Classrooms” (New York: The New Teacher Project,2003).

26 Odden and Kelly, Paying Teachers for What They Know and Do.

27 Andrew Porter, Allan Odden, and Peter Youngs, “StateLeadership in Teacher Licensure,” Educational Policy 17(2) (2003): 217–236; Charlotte Danielson, EnhancingProfessional Practice: A Framework for Teaching (Alex-andria, VA: Association or Supervision and CurriculumDevelopment, 2007).

28 Odden and Kelley, Paying Teachers for What They Know

and Do.

29 Sander Wright, Horn, and Sanders, “Teacher andClassroom Context Eects on Student Achievement”;Brian Rowan, Richard Correnti, and Robert Miller, “WhatLarge-Scale, Survey Research Tells Us About TeacherEects on Student Achievement: Insights rom theProspects Study o Elementary Schools,”Teachers Col-lege Record 104 (8) (2002): 1525–1567.

http://www.nctq.org/

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/deferring-six-figures-on-wall-street-for-teachers-salary/


http://www.teachforamerica.org/where-we-work


http://www.teachforamerica.org/

http://tntp.org/what-we-do/training/teaching-fellows


https://www.nycteachingfellows.org/purpose/impact.asp


http://www.nctq.org/docs/TFA_Louisiana_study.PDF


http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411642_Teach_America.pdf










http://www.teachforamerica.org/





http://www.nctq.org/




30 Douglas Harris, Value-Added Measures in Education (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2011).

31 Eric A. Hanushek, “Teacher Deselection.” In Dan Goldha-ber and Jane Hannaway, eds., Creating a New TeachingProfession (Washington: Urban Institute Press, 2008).See also various analyses and research reports romCALDER, available at http://www.caldercenter.org.

32 Julie Koppich and Connnie Showalter, “StrategicManagement o Human Capital: A Cross Case Analysiso Five Districts” (Madison, WI: Consortium or Policy

Research in Education, 2008). For more inormation, seeStrategic Management o Human Capital cases, avail-able at http://www.smhc-cpre.org.

33 Rachel Curtis and Judy Wurtzel, Teaching Talent: AVisionary Framework for Human Capital in Education (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2010).

34 Sam Dillon, “A School Chie Takes on Tenure, Stirring aFight,”The New York Times, November 12, 2008, p. A1.

35 “Strategic Management o Human Capital,” available athttp://www.smhc-cpre.org(last accessed March 2013).

36 Allan Odden and James Kelly, “Strategic Managemento Human Capital in Public Education” (Madison, WI:Consortium or Policy Research in Education, 2008).

37 Strategic Management o Human Capital, “Taking

Human Capital Seriously : Talented Teachers in EveryClassroom, Talented Principals in Every School” (2009).

38 Daniel Weisberg and others, “The Widget Eect: Our Na-tional Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Dierencesin Teacher Eectiveness” (New York: The New TeacherProject, 2009).

39 Secretary Arne Duncan, The White House Blog, avail-able at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/Secretary%20Arne%20Duncan.

40 The our assurances were: adopting college and career-ready academic standards and aligned assessments;developing longitudinal data systems rom preschoolthrough postsecondary education; increasing teachereectiveness and ensuring an equitable distribution o eective teachers; and turning around the lowest-perorming schools.

41 Allan Odden, Strategic Management of Human Capital InEducation (New York: Routledge Press, 2011).

42 U.S. Department o Education, “Race to the Top Fund– States’ Applications, Scores and Comments or Phase1,” available at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetoth-etop/phase1-applications/index.html.

43 Scott Laband, “Creating a Winning Legislative Cam-paign: The Colorado Story” (Washington: Democrats orEducation Reorm, 2011).

44 For example, see Craig Jerald, “Movin’ It and Improvin’ It:Using Both Strategies to Increase Teaching Eectiveness”(Washington: Center or American Progress, 2012).

45 Daniela Doyle and Jiye Grace Han, “Measuring TeacherEectiveness: A Look ‘Under the Hood’ o Teacher Evalu-

ation in 10 Sites” (New York; New Haven, CT; and ChapelHill, NC: 50CAN, ConnCAN, and Public Impact, 2012);Sara Mead, “Recent State Action on Teacher Eective-ness: What’s in State Laws and Regulations?” (Wash-ington: Bellwether Education Partners, 2012); GlendaPartee, “Using Multiple Evaluation Measures to Improve

Teacher Eectiveness: State Strategies rom Round 2 o No Child Let Behind Act Waivers” (Washington: Centeror American Progress, 2012).

46 U.S. Department o Education, “Teacher Incentive Fund,”available at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/teacherin-centive/index.html.

47 See “The Urban Schools Human Capital Academy,” avail-able at http://ushcacademy.org/.

48 Rhode Island Department o Elementary and Second-ary Education, “Biography o the Commissioner,”available at http://www.ride.ri.gov/Commissioner/biography.aspx.

49 Tennessee Department o Education, “About the Com-missioner,” available at http://www.tn.gov/education/AboutCommissioner.shtml.

50 Newark Trust or Education, “A brie bio o Newark’sNew Superintendent,” May 4, 2011, available at http://newarktrust.org/what-were-learning/69-bio-o-newark-superintendent-cami-anderson.html; StephenSawchuk, “Approved Newark Teachers’ Contract Creates

Two-Tiered Salary Schedule,” November 15, 2012, Teacher Beat blog, available at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2012/11/newark_teach-ers_approve.html

51 Teach For America has increased the number o corpsmembers rom an initial 500 in its frst year to almostsix times that number now. Furthermore, Teach ForAmerica and TNTP recruits now comprise close to 50percent o new math and science teachers in many

urban districts. By ocusing on high-poverty schools inurban and rural districts, Teach For America and TNTPhave managed to operate “at scale” or these locationseven though the number o new teachers they produceis a small percentage o the total needed all across thecountry.

52 Motoko Rich, “As the Chicago Strike Goes On, the MayorDigs In,” The New York Times, September 18, 2012, p. A1.

53 Measures o Eective Teaching Project, “Ensuring Fairand Reliable Measures o Eective Teaching” (Seattle:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2013). Supportingreports available at http://www.metproject.org.

54 Odden, Strategic Management of Human Capital inEducation.

55 “Teachscape,” available at http://www.teachscape.com/

(last accessed March 2013).

56 Stephen Sawchuk, “Teachers’ Ratings Still High DespiteNew Measures,” Education Week, February 6, 2013.

57 Henry and others, “Portal Report”; Noell and Gansl,“Teach or America Teachers’ Contribution to StudentAchievement in Louisiana in Grades 4–9”; TennesseeHigher Education Commission, “2010 Report Card onthe Eectiveness o Teacher Training Programs”; Xu,Hannaway, and Taylor, “Making a Dierence?”

58 One could also argue that movies such as “Waiting orSuperman” and articles on h ow hard it is to dismissineective teachers, such as the Steven Brill article inthe Atlantic Monthly on the “rubber room” in New York City schools, helped create support or these initiativesamong the proessional elites in the country.

59 Political scientists argue that agenda-setting entailsidentiying a problem, having a solution to the prob-lem, and getting political champions or the new policyissue, which seems to have happened with the talentissue in education.

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http://www.smhc-cpre.org/


http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/Secretary%20Arne%20Duncan


http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase1-applications/index.html


http://www2.ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/index.html


http://ushcacademy.org/

http://www.ride.ri.gov/Commissioner/biography.aspx


http://www.tn.gov/education/AboutCommissioner.shtml


http://newarktrust.org/what-were-learning/69-bio-of-newark-superintendent-cami-anderson.html



http://www.metproject.org/

http://www.teachscape.com/

http://www.teachscape.com/

http://www.metproject.org/








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