We have made good progress in the past decade in improving education in Texas. Yet, we have a long way to go to get to excellence. We simply cannot rest until we have an education system that assures that all young Texans graduate high school ready for college and the workplace.
The basic elements of this plan are to:
- Strengthen standards and align coursework and achievement tests with these standards;
- Improve the statewide collection of information about student, teacher, administrator, and school performance;
- Create the best tools to measure the academic progress of students in order to increase teacher effectiveness;
- Dramatically improve the evaluation of teacher performance;
- Pay more to teachers who perform well and who take on greater and more difficult assignments;
- Support and retain teachers through improved professional development and other proven academic programs;
- Remove persistently ineffective teachers,
- Improve principal leadership; and
- Improve teacher preparation to increase the supply of more effective teachers.
This proposal represents an integrated, cohesive approach to bolstering teacher effectiveness.
First, they will help teachers succeed by providing them clear standards and other support by which their teaching can be most productively structured.
They will provide necessary, timely, and relevant data to help educators make better decisions.
They will create better tools to measure the academic progress of students in order to help teachers improve their own performance.
They will improve the evaluation of teacher and principal performance and assure through policy that effective educators are properly rewarded, educators in need of improvement are properly helped, and persistently ineffective educators are properly removed.
They will provide the resources to reward educators who perform well and who take on greater and more difficult assignments.
They will establish the policies and practices to support and retain teachers through improved professional development and other proven programs.
They will improve teacher preparation programs to increase the supply of more effective teachers.
Let us have excellence in each and every classroom in Texas. Let us have an effective teacher in each and every classroom in Texas. If we do, we will make the greatest leap yet in assuring our children the education they require and deserve.
