Texans for Excellence in the Classroom recently released the results of two statewide surveys to measure voters’ and teachers’ support for recommendations to improve teacher effectiveness and foster educational excellence in Texas.
The poll showed that 75% of teachers support additional pay for highly effective teachers and those who teach in hard-to-staff schools.
“We are committed to empowering teachers with the tools they need to be effective, so we needed to hear from both voters and teachers themselves,” said Charles McMahen, chairman of Texans for Excellence in the Classroom, a group supporting the recommendations developed by the Governor’s Business Council. “Both voter and teacher support for the major tenets of the recommendations including was overwhelming.”
The Governor’s Business Council developed the report, “Excellence in the Classroom,” working with the nation’s leading education experts, researchers and teachers with years of classroom experience.
Both voters and teachers exhibited strong support for the major tenets of the Texans for Excellence in the Classroom plan. A summary of these responses follows:
providing additional pay to teachers evaluated as highly effective and who teach in hard-to-staff schools.
establishing a state education advisory committee to evaluate teacher training and professional development programs.
removing teachers who are persistently ineffective.
requiring state authorities to modify teacher certification tests to demonstrate whether the person being tested will be effective.
holding colleges of education accountable by evaluating teacher effectiveness.
fostering an atmosphere of competitive teacher certification through alternative programs.
revising education standards and school curricula.
1,003 voters in Texas were polled between September 20-26, 2006. The margin of error to these responses is +/-3.1%. The survey polled 404 teachers in Texas between January 3-7, 2007. The margin of error to these responses is +/-4.9%.
The “Excellence in the Classroom” report recommends strengthened standards and coursework aligned with those standards; improved collection of education data; improved tools to measure academic progress; dramatically improved teacher evaluation methods; increased pay for highly effective teachers; support for teachers through enhanced professional development; removal of persistently ineffective teachers; improved principal leadership; and improved teacher preparation.
