Book Description

The 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized "Blueprint for Change," building off last year's "Yearbook" goals and recommendations. State teacher policy addresses a great many areas, including teacher preparation, certification, evaluation and compensation. With so many moving parts, it may be difficult for states to find a starting point on the road to reform. To this end, this paper provides a state-specific roadmap, organized in three main sections. Section 1 identifies policy concerns that need critical attention, the areas of highest priority for state policymakers. Section 2 outlines "low-hanging fruit," policy changes that can be implemented in relatively short order. Section 3 offers a short discussion of some longer-term systemic issues that states need to make sure stay on the radar. In the 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook", Minnesota had the following grades: (1) Delivering Well Prepared Teachers (D); (2) Expanding the Teaching Pool (D-); (3) Identifying Effective Teachers (D); (4) Retaining Effective Teachers (C-); and (5) Exiting Ineffective Teachers (F). Minnesota has an overall grade of D- for 2009. In the last year, many states made significant changes to their teacher policies, spurred in many cases by the Race to the Top competition. Based on a review of state legislation, rules and regulations, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has identified the following recent policy changes in Minnesota: (1) The state now requires that all new elementary teachers pass the Teacher Licensure Examination (MTLE) elementary education content test, which includes the equivalent of a stand-alone science of reading assessment; and (2) The state's new certification test also includes a separate subtest in which mathematics accounts for 75 percent of the exam questions. Minnesota stated that its Board of Teaching has been working steadily on a number of critical policy matters worthy of recognition within the context of this report. The state indicated that these policy changes are "complex" and are being worked on with significant stakeholder engagement to ensure that the final outcomes (rules and/or statutes) are both viable and sustainable. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 5 figures.) [For the related reports, see "Blueprint for Change: National Summary. State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2010" (ED515614) and "State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2009. Minnesota" (ED511917).].