Pennsylvania's
Equitable Access to Excellent Educators
The
U.S. Department of Education (USDE) required each state to submit a state plan[1] by June 1, 2015. In guidance provided by
the USDE, "a state's plan must describe the steps it will take to ensure that "poor
and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by
inexperienced, unqualified, or
out-of-field teachers and the measures that it will use to evaluate and
publicly report on its progress with respect to such steps." (emphasis added)
On September 10, the Department announced the approval of 16 states' plans to
ensure equitable access to excellent educators, which
included Pennsylvania's
Equitable Access to Excellent Educators for All Children state plan. A copy of Pennsylvania's approved state plan
is available at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/equitable/pa.html
Work
groups, consisting of stakeholders and representatives from teacher preparation
entities, high poverty and high minority schools, education organizations and
associations, will be convened to develop plans for implementing activities and
strategies identified above. Additionally, a resource account (RA-EDEQUITY@pa.gov) is available for stakeholders, parents,
educators, and others to submit recommendations and feedback on the
implementation of Pennsylvania's equitable access state plan.
Pennsylvania's Theory of Action to
Ensure Equitable Access to Excellent Educators for All Children. Pennsylvania's
theory of action is built around four strategies, starting with strategically
improving the management of Pennsylvania's human capital in our
schools—especially in the poorest and highest minority schools--to enable them
to recruit, hire, retain and support a pool of highly effective, qualified,
fully certified teachers, principals and other school staff. Implementation of all strategies will be
monitored to identify which are more effective in mitigating Pennsylvania's
equity gaps; progress will be reported first to Pennsylvania's equity
stakeholders and second to the public; and adjustments will be made if desired
results are not achieved.
Activities will focus on eliminating the underlying
causes that result in Pennsylvania's eight equity gaps; a ninth gap dedicated
to incomplete, inadequate or data that cannot be readily accessed. The schematic below depicts Pennsylvania's
equity gaps, root causes, and activities. A complete list of the equity gaps follows.
[1] The plan is required by section
1111(b)(8)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).