Carnegie/IAS: Strategic Management of Human Capital

Strategic Management of Human Capital

Through its Strategic Management of Human Capital (SMHC) project, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is spotlighting the importance of comprehensive human capital strategies and providing districts with strategies to develop and implement their own. Since January 2008, CPRE has convened a task force to map the human capital terrain, identify innovative practices, and build political will for reform.

Recruiting top talent at every level of a school or district is crucial, as are aligned approaches to placement/induction, professional development, compensation, and retention. CPRE-SMHC has identified districts that have implemented effective mechanisms in these areas:

New York City has expanded its pipeline of high-quality science/math teachers by sourcing 30 percent of new teachers from alternative certification programs. These teachers have produced improved student achievement in high-poverty schools, especially in math/science. (Boyd et al. [2007], The Narrowing Gap in New York City Teacher Qualifications and its Implications for Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools)

Long Beach has developed a partnership with the two largest credentialing programs in its area to prepare and recruit local teacher candidates to serve in Long Beach schools.
Chicago partners with the New Teacher Center, which pioneered what is considered the vanguard teacher mentoring program, to provide full-time mentors who observe new teachers in their classrooms and offer regular feedback using a set of formative evaluation tools.

Long Beach focuses its professional development programs on enhancing teacher content knowledge, developing teacher skills in differentiating instruction, and using data to shape instructional practices. The district bases its offerings on annual assessments of teacher needs.

In addition to centrally offered professional development around the district’s core curriculum, New York City provides a “marketplace” of professional development services delivered through school support organizations selected by schools.

Chicago is using a federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant to implement the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) model, which includes performance-based compensation and multiple career paths for teachers.

In addition to having negotiated a 43 percent teacher salary increase over the period from 2002 to 2008, New York City provides financial group performance awards to high-need schools based on improvements in student achievement.