Reliable, Timely Data

CPRE data brief - Making Connections for Youth in Washington State: The Role of Data in Developing Sound Public Policy, by Dan Goldhaber

Creating a Comprehensive Teacher Data System "Having a well-developed staff data system would help educators and policymakers answer many questions about the teaching profession and the impact staff have on student achievement." Click here to learn how a staff data system benefits teachers and students.

During the past eight years, Washington has set ambitious student learning targets and enacted accountability measures that give 296 school districts a common focus for the first time in state history. The Essential Academic Learning Requirements and the Grade Level Expectations outline what all students in K-12 public schools should know and be able to do. The Washington Assessment of Student Learning holds students and educators responsible for assuring that all students meet those goals. State and local efforts have brought new instructional strategies and new curriculum materials into schools all over Washington. Our tenacious focus on student learning is paying dividends every day.

While this intense focus on students and on common statewide learning targets has been both important and timely, another critical aspect of the educational system -its 57,000 teachers - has not enjoyed the same level of focus or support. Research and common sense tell us that the quality of teaching is the single most important factor in student achievement. Yet, there has been little concerted effort to understand the current conditions of teaching in Washington or to promote policies and practices that support the powerful teaching required to help students meet state standards. It is time to pay close attention to who is teaching in Washington, how well they are prepared, the nature of the instruction they provide, and how well they are supported in their very important work. And we need this information school by school and classroom by classroom, not generalized and aggregated to a level that masks local characteristics.

CSTP sponsors research designed to maximize use of the data Washington currently collects while identifying gaps between the data we have and the data policymakers need. CSTP's research focuses on understanding teaching and learning in Washington's classrooms with the intention of using that understanding to advocate for changes in policy and practice that would assure quality teaching. Recognizing the complexity of this challenge, CSTP is in the process of using existing data sources and creating new tools to describe:

CSTP concurs with the Southeast Center for Teacher Quality that "states should collect comprehensive data on a range of teacher recruitment, preparation and professional development efforts, as well as teacher working conditions, to assess progress towards building a high quality teacher development system."

To see CSTP's most recent information about teachers and teaching in Washington, click on Commissioned Research or click here.