Study Flunks Idaho On Teacher Quality State Says It’S Working To Solve Problems Cited In Report

A national study grading teacher quality flunked Idaho and gave Washington a D-minus.

Education officials in both states say the report, released Wednesday by the national education newspaper Education Week, fails to give the states credit for ongoing efforts to strengthen their teaching forces.

The report, titled “Quality Counts 2000,” concludes that states overall fall short when it comes to attracting, screening and keeping good teachers.

The 50 states received an average C-minus grade in their efforts to improve teacher quality.

Idaho, along with three other failing states, had the worst rating of all - an F. Washington was close to the bottom with a ranking of 46th.

While Idaho education leaders acknowledged some problems cited by the report, they said Idaho is taking steps to ensure that beginning teachers are better-prepared in college, better-supported in the classroom and better-paid for their work.

“I see us making some movement in what I would consider a very positive direction to address some of these deficiencies. But it’s going to take some time to get where we ultimately want to be,” House Education Chairman Fred Tilman said.

State schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard said that because improvement initiatives are in the works, “Idaho actually deserves a grade of `incomplete.”’ The Education Week report found that nearly all states have loopholes that allow people to enter teaching who lack even basic skills. It also concluded that states are even less stringent when it comes to ensuring teachers know the subjects they teach.

“With the nation needing to hire about 2 million teachers in the next decade, states must make sure that the people who take those jobs are qualified to teach to the higher standards now expected of students,” said Virginia Edwards, editor of Quality Counts 2000, in a prepared statement.

Washington and Idaho are among the 11 states that do not require a basic skills test for teaching candidates. They also are among 24 states lacking any requirement to assess the performance of new teachers.

Also contributing to the low marks in Washington and Idaho is the fact that neither state requires middle school teachers to be endorsed in a subject area. And though the two states’ high school teachers do have subject-specific certificates, they are often assigned to teach classes outside of their field.

For example, more than 50 percent of Washington and Idaho math teachers didn’t major in math, the report shows.

The superintendents of North Idaho’s two biggest school districts, Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, could not be reached for comment.

However, for the past two years, the state has named a Coeur d’Alene School District teacher as its teacher of the year.

And in the Lakeland School District, Assistant Superintendent Ron Schmidt said teachers are working hard to get good results in the classroom.

“I’ve got a lot of pride in our personnel,” said Schmidt, who had yet not read the Education Week report. “We’ve got a lot of hard-working, dedicated instructors in the Lakeland School District, and we’re proud of them. We’ve got a lot of folks going the extra mile and beyond for kids.”

The study also found a high attrition rate among new teachers, with the academically gifted being the most likely to leave the profession.

The report says that nearly one in five teachers leave the profession after three years. And new teachers who scored the highest on college-entrance exams were twice as likely to leave.

“At every step of the way, the less academically able chose teaching,” the report says.

The study reveals a growing pay gap between teachers and other college-educated professionals, which widens as teachers get older.

Teachers in their 20s earn on average $22,700 a year, about $8,000 less than college graduates of the same age in other fields. The gap is worse for teachers from ages 44 to 50, who earn on average $39,000, about $24,000 less than others outside of teaching.

Washington and Idaho also are among the states that do not offer any incentives or bonuses to attract highly qualified teachers.

However, Washington state schools Superintendent Terry Bergeson wants to reward good teachers. She plans to ask lawmakers this session to pay a 15 percent bonus to teachers who achieve National Board Certification.

Lawmakers in Idaho, meanwhile, will consider Howard’s proposal for a 5.2 percent increase in the share of teacher salaries that the state finances.

“As we look at improving the profession, salary issues will be a key piece, but not the only piece,” Howard said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

Quality Counts 2000 is Education Week’s fourth annual state-by-state look at public K-12 education.

While this year’s report focused on teacher quality, Quality Counts also assesses how states are doing in other categories.

On the bright side, Idaho’s grade on “standards and accountability” improved to a C from last year’s D. Washington maintained a C-plus in the category.

Wendy Harris can be reached at (509) 459-5433 or by e-mail at wendyh@spokesman.com.

ONLINE The report is available on the Web at: www.edweek.org sreports/qc

The Associated Press contributed to this report.