National Comprehensive Center For Teacher Quality

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The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) is a national resource to which the regional comprehensive centers, states, and other education stakeholders turn for strengthening the quality of teaching—especially in high-poverty, low-performing, and hard-tostaff schools—and for finding guidance in addressing specific needs, thereby ensuring highly qualified teachers are serving students with special needs. What's New Save the Date for the Next TQ Connection Discussion

After a summer hiatus, the TQ Connection is back! Mark your calendar for the next online discussion: Teacher Preparation and Response to Intervention in Middle and High Schools. When: September 28–October 2, 2009. Our guest expert will be available to answer questions from 3 to 4 p.m. Central Time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and 11 to 12 p.m. Central Time on Thursday and Friday. Where: http://www.tqsource.org/forum/ Join us starting Monday, September 28, as we discuss teacher preparation and RTI at the middle and high school levels. Dan Reschly, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University will serve as the week's expert and will facilitate discussion about the unique challenges of implementing RTI at the middle and high school levels, including specific examples of scientifically based interventions within all tiers as well as a review of tools and resources designed to evaluate current teacher preparation and professional development practices. Come discuss the issues with colleagues, share your ideas, and have your questions answered.

The TQ Research & Policy Brief, Teacher Preparation for Response to Intervention in Middle and High Schools, is suggested as a prereading resource. To check out other RTI discussions, visit http://www.tqsource.org/forum/. New Resources Relating to Teachers of English Language Learners

The TQ Center has released a suite of resources focused on policy and practice related to the preparation and certification of ELL teachers. These resources, which help ensure the effectiveness of the teaching workforce to address the needs of this population, are as follows:

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Teaching English Language Learners: A Complex System

This Policy-to-Practice Brief provides an overview of the different components necessary for supporting English language instruction. It focuses on the impact of these components on the preparation and recruitment of teachers of English language learners.

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Preparing Teachers of English Language Learners

This TQ Connection Issue Paper addresses the challenges of preparing general education and ELL teachers for classroom contexts that include a diverse array of languages and cultures. The paper also includes an Innovation Configuration for evaluating teacher preparation programs and professional development in this area.

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Certification and Licensure for Teachers of English Language

Learners This policy database provides an overview of state-level policies related to ELL teacher certification and licensure currently in place across the country. New TQ Research & Policy Briefs

Following are the newest TQ Research & Policy Briefs developed by the TQ Center:

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The Distribution of Highly Qualified, Experienced Teachers:

Challenges and Opportunities This brief offers a discussion of the research base relating to the equitable distribution of teachers and provides strategies for addressing this challenge. It includes a discussion of policy responses to equitable distribution challenges and their relative cost-effectiveness; ways for states to identify districts and schools needing targeted assistance with attracting and retaining these teachers; data that states and districts should be collecting and analyzing to assess the effectiveness of new programs; and strategies currently being used by states to improve teacher distribution.

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Teacher Preparation for Response to Intervention in Middle and

High Schools This brief provides an overview of the response to intervention (RTI) decision-making process and describes its applications in middle and high school schools. It also emphasizes preparing preservice and inservice teachers to use the RTI process to improve classroom and school results.

Announcing the Fourth Annual What Works Conference: “Beyond Highly Qualified: The Development and Distribution of Highly Effective Teachers and Leaders”

October 28–30, 2009 The Fairmont Washington, D.C. The recent transition in federal administration presents new goals and opportunities for teacher quality. This conference is a must for federal and state policymakers, regional comprehensive centers, and practitioners who want to learn about the latest research on and strategies for addressing teacher effectiveness and equitable distribution so that they can make informed and strategic decisions about educator quality from a systems perspective. Conference sessions will focus on these topics as well as school leadership, response to intervention, and the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on states. Keynote presenter Sir Michael Barber from McKinsey & Company will discuss why teacher quality matters now more than ever. Understanding and Implementing Section 2141(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

This brief provides an overview of the 2141(a) and 2141(c) provisions of ESEA and leads state education agencies through a series of steps to consider for meeting the requirements. The brief also provides examples of steps states have taken in meeting the 2141 requirements.