Teaching and Professional Learning

Recommended Actions

The Commission recommends actions in three areas toward managing teachers and professional learning for effectiveness:

1. Increase the supply of well-prepared teachers of mathematics and science at all grade levels by improving teacher preparation and recruitment

By the federal government, states, and school districts

• Invest in the analysis of supply and demand for science and math teachers, especially in high-need school districts and schools

• Support recruitment programs for math and science teachers; experiment with scholarships and pay incentives

• Alter certification requirements to allow qualified candidates to enter teaching by innovative and rigorous alternative routes; enable museums, research institutions, and others to become teacher certifiers

• Develop integrated programs of professional learning and quality improvement for teachers of science and mathematics; engage all teachers in professional learning that enables them to incorporate science and math learning across the curriculum

• Make policy changes necessary to create an effective talent corps for schools, including principals and teachers, especially science and math teachers; encourage the dissemination of effective human capital management practices in areas such as teacher recruitment, hiring and retention, and compensation By colleges and universities

• Design innovative, tailored science and math preparation routes that encourage and facilitate science and math majors to enter teaching

• Study program effectiveness through evidence from the student achievement by graduates of all programs, including math and science preparation

• Follow the early career experiences of graduates and strengthen communication with schools and districts to inform preparation and support for novice teachers

• Upgrade and increase required science and math courses for all undergraduates

• Review undergraduate curriculum and instruction in science and math to determine whether teacher candidates, and all college students, are experiencing the kind of high-quality instruction that they will need to repeat as teachers

• Strengthen connections with schools and school districts to improve effectiveness through shared mechanisms, such as setting strategic goals for clinical placement, and by involving science and math faculty along with experienced teachers in programs for future and practicing teachers

• Develop innovative teacher preparation and residency programs with education entrepreneurs By businesses, nonprofit organizations, unions, and other partners

• Experiment with strategies to draw people with strong science and math backgrounds into teaching and increase their job satisfaction

• Press states to allow alternative credentialing by museums and other institutions

By philanthropy

• Support the strategic management of human capital with an emphasis on science and math teaching by states, districts, and educational entrepreneurs

• Support research on teacher recruitment and effectiveness, especially to identify factors relevant to science and math

• Support innovative strategies for new recruitment, retention, and certification pathways for science and math teachers