Reshaping Teacher Policies to Improve Student Achievement

In this PACE Policy Brief, Julia E. Koppich puts forward a set of policy recommendations aimed at improving the quality of teaching in California’s schools. She argues that California can help to bring about sustained improvement in teaching and learning by experimenting with new policies in several areas, including professional development, evaluation, compensation, and the structure of teachers’ careers. Her policy brief includes descriptions of innovative programs in each of these areas that are now being implemented in school districts across the U.S. As Koppich notes, many of the changes that she proposes will have to be negotiated at the local level, in bargaining between school boards and teachers unions. The state can nevertheless play a critical role by providing incentives to support policy innovation, by carefully evaluating the effectiveness of alternative policies, and by developing partnerships and networks to share new knowledge about effective policies and practices.