A new paper from Public Impact titled Teacher Tenure Reform: Applying Lessons from the Civil Service and Higher Education examines lessons from higher education and the civil service and applies fresh thinking to offer new “elite” and “inclusive” tenure designs that could improve student learning and help grow the size and power of an elite teaching corps that reaches far more children. The report also provides a framework for policymakers who want to make tenure meaningful.
Discussions about tenure nearly always fall into the “keep it” or “scrap it” camps. This paper inserts a new way of thinking about the K-12 tenure debate. The report is available at http://www.publicimpact.com/opportunityculture.org/images/stories/teacher_tenure_reform-public_impact.pdf
On the same topic, the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released a video, narrated by Dr. Bill Frist, Chairman of SCORE and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, on the importance of reforming Tennessee’s tenure system as a way to improve teacher effectiveness.
“Teachers are the most important factor in determining how much a student learns,” said Dr. Frist. “A crucial step in ensuring there is a great teacher at the front of every classroom is reforming the way Tennessee grants tenure. Tenure should be a reward for excellent teachers and an incentive for others to improve. The legislation proposed by Governor Haslam and currently moving through the General Assembly will make tenure for teachers meaningful by clearly tying it to classroom performance.”
The video highlights recent statistics on teacher effectiveness and tenure, and encourages Tennesseans to sign a SCORE-sponsored petition supporting tenure reform at www.tenurereform.com.
Tenure reform is an issue being taken up in many states that currently have tenure laws. Examining possibilities and alternatives, and involving teachers in this critical reform effort are actions every state must take as they explore modifications to current policy.
