How Are Rural School Districts Meeting the Teacher Quality Requirements of NCLB?

Author: Schwartzbeck, T.D., Price, C.D., Redfield, D., Morris, H., & Hammer, P.C.
Publisher: American Association of School Administrators
Publication Date: 2003

Description

(Written by Author/Publisher)
The American Association of School Administrators (AASA), in partnership with the Regional Educational Laboratory at AEL, conducted a nationwide online survey of more than 3,000 rural school superintendents in the spring of 2003 to gain information about how rural school districts are meeting the teacher quality requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The survey was conducted to assess the level of urgency—are rural teachers currently highly qualified?—as well as to ascertain the strategies in use to recruit and retain teachers in rural areas.

Analysis of the 896 responses provides insight into the challenges rural school system leaders face in staffing their schools. High on their list of concerns: (1) the negative effects of low salaries and social and geographic isolation and (2) teacher shortages in special education (K-12) and math, science and foreign languages (grades 7-12).

While survey respondents indicated that high numbers of teachers would be able to meet the federal criteria for being “highly qualified,” their responses also revealed a lack of clarity about what exactly that definition was, particularly for their own states. Superintendents also indicated fairly high levels of multiple-subject teaching and expressed a particular concern about middle school teachers, for whom a K-8 certification may no longer be enough. The smaller the school, the greater the concern.

Financial incentives such as bonuses and tuition reimbursement were the most frequently cited strategies for improving recruitment and retention. Also cited were training opportunities and a variety of recruiting strategies.