NCTQ

Teacher pension plans are underfunded by $717 billion (yes, you read that right). As @ChadAldeman explains in a new guest article for @NCTQ, seven out of every ten dollars paid into teacher pension plans today goes toward paying down past debt and buys no additional retirement security for anyone teaching today. States still have to pay those debts, but he makes a compelling case for retirement models that keep costs in check and free up more money for salaries. nctq.org/research-insights/t…

Teachers themselves are asking for this, too. New survey data from @Ed4Excellence shows 79% of teachers support extra pay for those in hard-to-staff schools. Yet the number of states offering it has dropped from 28 to 13 since 2022… so state policy is moving away from something teachers clearly support as well. e4e.org/national-teacher-sur…

This trend may not be unique to teaching (I’d venture to say most people are feeling the pinch), but we’re going to lose quality prospective and in-service teachers if it keeps moving in the same direction. Districts can’t pull more money out of thin air, but they can at least be more strategic to make the best use of the funds they have, like front-loading pay to support retention in the early years rather than holding larger raises until late in their career.

Incredibly sobering results. There's plenty to debate about what drove the declines, including excessive tech and AI use. But we can't let the debate over what went wrong distract from what our students need now: effective teachers and strong instruction.

ICYMI, my team is hiring. We’re looking for someone with senior leadership experience in a teacher preparation program or an organization that supports program improvement to design and manage NCTQ’s new Transforming Teacher Prep initiative. In this project, we’ll award one-year grants to 6-8 institutions that are ready to implement research-informed strategies in their teacher prep programs – whether that means redesigning coursework, improving clinical experiences, strengthening data use, or building better district partnerships. The right candidate has a proven understanding of how change happens within institutions of higher education. Please help us spread the word and share this listing with your networks! nctq.org/about/careers/

This is bad advice from Williams 👇 The answer to a teacher shortage isn’t a lower bar – especially since English learners already face huge academic disparities. Their teachers need specialized training in language acquisition to support them, and licensure is how we gauge whether they have it. States and districts that want to tackle EL teacher shortages without compromising quality can start by reviewing how they allocate funds and directing more toward paying these teachers competitively and fairly. According to @NCTQ data, only 16% of states and 20% of large districts offer these teachers higher pay, and most incentives are too small to influence teachers’ decisions. nctq.org/research-insights/s…

Many teacher prep programs have remained largely unchanged despite major shifts in instructional expectations, student needs, and technology resources. My team at @NCTQ wants to help change that by working in partnership with innovative teacher prep programs. We’re looking for the right person to lead a new project we’re calling Transforming Teacher Prep, which will fund and support a small cohort of institutions making bold, research-informed changes to how they prepare teachers. If you have senior leadership experience within a teacher preparation program or organization that supports program improvement (e.g., technical assistance partner, state education agency), we want to hear from you! Send a resume to [email protected] by August 14. Here’s the JD for more details: nctq.org/about/careers/

This is a hard time to lead a school district. Between declining enrollment, shrinking budgets, and rising costs across every line item, superintendents and their HR directors are being forced to make staffing decisions that carry enormous consequences for students and teachers. Who do you choose to retain in the face of layoffs? How do you address chronic shortages in special education, math, and science? Which incentives actually help recruit and retain teachers? Too often, those calls are made without clear evidence or a good sense of what's worked in other places, simply because that information has been hard to find, verify, and use. That’s why @NCTQ built the District Policy Pathfinder, which tracks teacher policies across 100+ districts nationwide, lifts up effective policies, offers reliable comparative data, and provides evidence-based answers to districts' toughest human capital management questions. If you're trying to figure out how other districts are handling pay, benefits, planning time, or evaluation right now, or what effective teacher policies look like, this resource is worth your time. nctq.org/research-insights/s…

Big day! @NCTQ just launched the District Policy Pathfinder, a free resource designed to help school district leaders make informed teacher policy and procedural decisions, with credible data in one place rather than a dozen. How does your district’s starting salary compare to others? What does the research say about strong leave policies, and which districts have them? How often do most districts observe teachers in the evaluation process? Compass, Pathfinder’s BETA chatbot, helps you quickly answer questions like these, compare your district to similar ones, and find models worth replicating. Unlike other AI tools, it only draws from verified NCTQ data and research -- and backs every answer with data you can trace back to original sources (like districts’ contracts, handbooks, and salary schedules). We’re excited to get this resource out in the world. If you care about attracting and keeping great teachers, I hope you'll dig in, see what Pathfinder + Compass can do, and help us get it into the hands of the district leaders, advocates, and researchers who will benefit from using it. We’re eager for your feedback!

Some news: Next week, @NCTQ is launching our new District Policy Pathfinder to help school district leaders find clear, credible guidance on effective teacher policy without the usual scramble. No more digging between 20+ tabs right when capacity is tightest, during negotiations or a narrow decision window. You'll be able to quickly compare your district to similar ones, find models worth replicating, and back every recommendation to your board or union with credible, source-linked evidence. I can’t wait to share this tool -- more to come from us next week!

A colleague recently told me that teaching debunked reading methods in higher education should be considered “consumer fraud” at this point. The phrase is provocative, sure. But what else should we call it when aspiring teachers pay thousands of dollars to learn methods that fail children, and institutions continue selling those methods long after the evidence has discredited them? nctq.org/research-insights/w…