The Ohio Education Opportunity Act:

Invests in Quality Teachers through Better Preparation, Training and Development

In 2009, Governor Strickland and the state legislature passed the most comprehensive education reform law in the country. House Bill 1, known as the Education Opportunity Act, creates a foundation for Ohio’s long-term progress by investing in children and their education. The law places an emphasis on teaching and learning in the classroom; a new school funding system that provides equal opportunity; stronger parent, school and community partnerships; and greater academic and fiscal accountability.

The Ohio Education Opportunity Act prioritizes teaching and learning in the classroom by investing in quality teachers through better preparation, training and development.

Investing in Quality Teachers Matters:

  • Years of research confirms that teacher effectiveness is the single most important predictor of student achievement. 1
  • A quality teacher has a greater impact on student achievement than common barriers to academic achievement such as ethnicity and poverty. 2
  • Developing quality teachers early on in their careers is critical: Within the first three years of teaching, educators without induction or support programs are twice as likely to leave their schools. 3
  • Studies have shown that students assigned highly effective teachers for three years in a row made more than twice the academic gains of comparable students assigned less experienced teachers. 4

The Ohio Education Opportunity Act:

Develops a statewide residency training program for new teachers based on the same type of supervised, quality training that new doctors receive.

  • The four-year residency program provides Ohio educators with the coaching, guidance and mentoring that is foundational for effective teaching and learning.
  • States with residency programs report high levels of success. For example, research on the Boston Teacher Residency Program shows that the teacher retention rate (after three years) for those who have completed the program is 87%, compared with a 50% retention rate nationally for teachers in urban schools. 5

Establishes a career ladder that recognizes and rewards teachers’ skills, training and accomplishments.

  • Career ladders improve teacher quality by providing new roles for teachers that come with additional responsibilities and pay as they increase their knowledge and skills.
    6

Makes additional school time available to educators for collaboration, mentoring and professional development.

  • Research has shown that the effectiveness of high school teachers improves when they are able to collaborate and work together in groups to build a culture of shared responsibility and to improve student achievement. 7

Creates the “Teach Ohio” program to recruit high school students to become educators.

  • Like other states, Ohio faces teacher shortages in critical study areas such as math, science and English. These shortages are greater in poorer and rural school districts. The recruitment program will help raise the profile of the teaching profession and encourage high-performing students to become teachers.

Authorizes scholarships for Ohio Teaching Fellows who agree to work in hard-to-staff schools and subject areas.

  • Teachers who work in hard-to-staff schools tend to be newer to the teaching profession, have less training in the subjects they teach, and generally have less teaching experience than those who teach in more affluent areas. 8
  • Provides Additional Funding Assistance to Teachers for Training

REFERENCES

1. Measuring and Improving the Effectiveness of High School Teachers. Issue brief. Alliance for Excellent Education, Mar. 2008. Web. http://www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherEffectiveness.pdf

2. http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-preparation-research

3. “ECS Education Policy Issue Site: Teaching Quality–Induction Programs and Mentoring.” Education Commission of the States–Helping State Leaders Shape Education Policy. Web. 09 June 2010. http://ecs.org/html/issue.asp?issueid=129&subIssueID=80

4. Measuring and Improving the Effectiveness of High School Teachers. Issue brief. Alliance for Excellent Education, Mar. 2008. Web. http://www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherEffectiveness.pdf

5. “BTR Impact.” Boston Teacher Residency. Web. 09 June 2010. http://www.bostonteacherresidency.org/btr-impact/

6. Measuring and Improving the Effectiveness of High School Teachers. Issue brief. Alliance for Excellent Education, Mar. 2008. Web. http://www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherEffectiveness.pdf

7. Measuring and Improving the Effectiveness of High School Teachers. Issue brief. Alliance for Excellent Education, Mar. 2008. Web. http://www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherEffectiveness.pdf

8. Qualified Teachers for At-Risk Schools: A National Imperative. Rep. National Partnership for Teaching in At-Risk Schools, 2005. Web. http://www.tqsource.org/publications/partnership.pdf

 

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