New Generation of Educators Initiative: Reform Focus at Comprehensive Grant Sites

This first analysis of the early NGEI work at comprehensive grant campuses shows that collectively campuses are working across points on the pipeline to address the need for teachers who are better prepared to effectively teach to the new standards. While the bulk of the NGEI reform efforts are targeted at teacher preparation program reform, we see NGEI campuses reaching as far back as high school to cultivate early interest in, and preparedness for, teaching in response to local conditions such as limited candidate pools.Within teacher preparation, the early NGEI work of campuses is primarily clustered around the reform of the teacher preparation program coursework and clinical work (reflecting the first and third Key Transformation Elements). Partnerships with districts are at various stages of development and, in several cases, are focused primarily at the school level. A few campuses are reforming the formative feedback process for candidates through their NGEI work (Element 4). Work with district partners on the identification of the key skills, knowledge, and dispositions of well-prepared new teachers (Element 2) and work on continuous improvement based on data on candidates and program completers (Element 5) are less prominent in the NGEI work to date.As campuses clear the hurdle of launching their reforms in the summer and fall and look toward the next phase of NGEI funding, the evaluation (WestEd/SRI) and the facilitation (ConnectEd) teams are poised to provide support to grantees on the Key Transformation Elements that are not yet fully developed across all comprehensive sites, that is:* Partnerships with K–12 district partners to align programming as much as possible.* Shared understandings with K–12 district partners about the key knowledge, skills, and dispositions of a well-prepared new teacher that are used to inform teacher preparation program elements.* Feedback to candidates on their mastery of prioritized skills during preparation.* Data on candidate progress toward mastery of identified knowledge and practices during their training and after program completion.Specifically, ConnectEd is available to assist with implementation coaching and support for comprehensive campus teams and can support the work with K–12 partners.In addition to providing ongoing formative evaluation work across the comprehensive grant sites, the WestEd/SRI team can provide technical support for grantees to assist with the development of high-quality data on candidate progress toward mastery of identified knowledge and practices during their training and after program completion. The data inventories that the evaluation team developed for each campus show that there are opportunities to: a) enhance the quality of existing data, b) improve access to those data, and c) develop new data sources targeted toward the measurement of prioritized skills and knowledge for formative feedback to candidates. In the coming months, the evaluation team will also be seeking opportunities to bridge the system-level work described above in Box 1 with campus efforts to strengthen systems for continuous improvement.

Impact Philanthropy to Improve Teaching Quality: Focus on High-Need Secondary Students

Offers models for improving teachers' skills, including through apprenticeships and in-school mentoring; for creating an environment for great teaching through better leadership and whole-school reform; and guidance for donors on the policy environment

Head of the Class: A QualityTeacher in Every Pennsylvania Classroom

"Head of the Class: A Quality Teacher in Every Pennsylvania Classroom" makes recommendations for how state policy can increase and support Pennsylvania's supply of qualified teachers. The report emphasizes that quality teaching is key to student achievement and that the state must act to ensure the presence of a qualified teacher in every Pennsylvania classroom at all times

Civic Associations That Work: The Contributions of Leadership to Organizational Effectiveness

Why are some civic associations more effective at advancing their public agendas, engaging members, and developing leaders? We introduce a multi-dimensional framework for analyzing the comparative effectiveness of member-based civic associations in terms of public influence, member engagement, and leader development. Theoretical expectations in organization studies, sociology, political science, and industrial relations hold that organizations benefiting from either a favorable environment or abundant resources will be most effective. Using systematic data on the Sierra Clubs 400 local organizations, we assess these factors alongside an alternative approach focusing on the role of leaders, how they work together, and the activities they carry out to build capacity and conduct programs. While we find modest support for the importance of an organizations available resources and external environment, we find strong evidence for each of our three outcomes supporting our claim that effectiveness in civic associations depends to a large degree on internal organizational practices.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 36. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons From Exemplary Leadership Development Programs

Presents eight case studies of effective school leadership training programs and provides the key characteristics of high-quality training to help states and districts address long-standing weaknesses in the way principals are prepared for their jobs