Teacher Quality Roadmap: Improving Policies and Practices in LAUSD is an in-depth study conducted by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Designed as a tool to highlight what is and is not working in LA schools, the report compares LAUSD’s policies with both surrounding districts and similar districts around the nation. The report also identifies local and state legislative reforms that would facilitate district efforts to attract and retain highly effective teachers. This report follows other NCTQ district spotlights:
With just over half of the 680,000 students graduating on time in LAUSD, the country’s second biggest school district, systemic change is required in order to make way for effective teachers and overall student achievement.
What the NCTQ report found is that key policies must be reformed, changes that our teachers and principals have stressed they want and need, in order to drive an effective educational system where our students can learn and thrive.
Los Angeles Unified School District has seen modest gains in educational achievement over the past ten years, but further reform is needed:
• Only 52 percent of students graduate high-school on time; In contrast, 70 percent of students statewide graduate
• The needs of minority students are lagging even further behind. While Latinos make up 73 percent of LAUSD’s students, their graduation rate is only 40 percent
• Only 11 percent of LAUSD’s 9th grade students are proficient in Algebra 1, one of the key indicators of high school success
This data-driven look at the state of teacher policies in the Los Angeles Unified School District explores LAUSD’s contract with its teachers, as well as District practices and state laws that shape the work rules for teachers. Additionally, NCTQ analyzed LAUSD human resource data; conducted a district-wide survey of over 1,500 teachers and principals; and held focus groups with teachers, principals and parents. The analysis is framed around five standards for improving teacher quality. The five standards— staffing, evaluations, tenure, compensation and work schedule—are supported by research and best practices from the field.
Among the report’s findings:
> Teacher assignment policies are flawed: Current contractual requirements force principals to hire teachers who may not be a good fit in their buildings, and lay off teachers based on seniority rather than the performance.
> LAUSD teacher evaluation policies don't work: The evaluation instrument focuses too much on teacher behaviors and not on how those behaviors impact student learning. Teachers are observed by only their principal—and only once every other year, too infrequently to serve as a meaningful factor in shaping student performance.
> Criteria for teacher tenure must be modified: Although LAUSD has made tenure a more meaningful designation in recent years by requiring principals to actively approve a teacher for tenure, California law impedes the district's ability to do more on this front.
> Teacher compensation structure should be reviewed: LAUSD spends 25 percent of its teacher payroll ($519 million) to compensate teachers for completing additional coursework, even though such coursework has not been shown to improve student achievement.
> Standard work schedule must be defined: The contract sets an expectation of an 8-hour work day, but teachers are not required to be on-site for this entire period, consequently teacher planning time and opportunities for collaboration with colleagues, are given short shrift.
Recommendations provided in the NCTQ, Teacher Quality Roadmap include:
*LAUSD needs to improve their recruiting, pre-screening and staffing practices to attract and keep the strongest teachers in the District
o Improve applicant recruitment and screenings by HR to ensure candidates sent to schools are of high caliber
o Eliminate the "priority placement" list (also called the "must place" list), which forces LAUSD to compromise on its commitment to mutual consent staffing
o Give principals the right to refuse hiring a specific teacher, regardless of whether a teacher is transferring voluntarily or involuntarily
o Determine who gets laid off by weighing by multiple factors, including teacher effectiveness
*Teacher evaluations must be regular and include multiple measures, including student achievement
o Make student performance the preponderant factor in teacher evaluations
o Include multiple measures in teacher evaluations, such as value-added data on teacher performance, classroom observations by principals and content experts
o Conduct evaluations on an annual basis
*Tenure should be meaningful and offered after more than the current two years of teaching
o Hold tenure reviews to determine whether teachers are awarded tenure
ß California is one of only eight states that provide tenure after two years; the state legislature should extend the probationary period for teachers to earn tenure from two years to at least four years
o Award teachers who earn tenure a significant salary increase
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