Overview

With roots extending back to the early 20th century, concern about the quality of America’s teaching force is nothing new. Growing evidence over the last 25 years supports a link between teacher quality and student achievement.

As a result, the last decade brought an explosion of policy activity aimed at improving teacher quality. Policies established at the federal, state, local and institutional levels focus on ensuring that teachers are qualified to teach the subject matter at hand and that institutions and agencies preparing and certifying these teachers are held accountable for their programs.

In a new ETS Policy Information Center report titled Teacher Quality in a Changing Policy Landscape: Improvements in the Teacher Pool, ETS researcher Drew Gitomer examines the relationship between improvements in the academic quality of America’s teaching force and the recent unprecedented policy focus on improving teacher quality. Gitomer revisits an earlier study of teacher quality to compare the academic quality of prospective teachers in a recent cohort to that of an earlier cohort.

Report findings are available for download:

• Briefing Agenda (PDF)
• Full Report (PDF)
• Press Briefing Slide Presentation (PDF)
• Press Release  

We invite you to learn more by contacting ETS via e-mail.