A Moving Target: The Problem of Defining Teacher Quality

With No Child Left Behind Legislation, the United States Department of Education defined a Highly Qualified Teacher as a teacher who has earned a bachelor degree, full state certification, and demonstrated competency as defined by the state in each core academic subject he or she teaches (USDOE, 2002). The Obama Blueprint for Education (USDOE, 2010) introduces the term Teacher Effectiveness, a measure that places emphasis on the assessment of student outcomes, but the Blueprint maintains the requirements for Highly Qualified Teacher. There is a problem of shifting and indistinct definitions of teacher quality. As educators, we are accustomed to the creation and use of rubrics to assess knowledge, skills, and dispositions of learners, yet a consistent U.S. Federal rubric to assess Teacher Quality or Teacher Effectiveness is lacking. It is a challenge for teacher educators to create on target professional development for pre-service or in-service teachers when the target keeps moving. Defining Teacher Effectiveness is particularly challenging in diverse multicultural teaching contexts with compounding issues such as English Language Learner (ELL) adaptations and culturally relevant pedagogy. This exploratory case study describes teachers’ perceptions of Highly Qualified Teacher criteria and interventions that are being pilot tested to define and support Highly Effective teacher professional development in the Pacific.