How do we improve access to effective teachers in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas?

Challenge

The Comprehensive Center Network (CC Network) provides capacity-building services to state educational agencies (SEAs), regional educational agencies (REAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools that improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, and improve the quality of instruction.

The CC Network represents 5-year grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. Awardees include 19 Regional Comprehensive Centers and 1 National Comprehensive Center. These 5-year grants provide services to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Education, and U.S. Territories and outlying areas.

The Region 14 Comprehensive Center (CC) works with its states to increase human, organizational, policy, and resource capacity to address equity issues in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

In light of persistent gaps in disadvantaged students’ access to effective educators, the Arkansas Department of Education is evaluating equitable access to effective educators using a Workforce Stability Index.

As is the case nationally, there is little racial diversity in the teacher workforce in Louisiana. It is addressing its gap between teachers of color and students of color by focusing on recruitment and training.

Texas also experiences inequities in relation to student performance and access to effective educators and is analyzing and using district equity plans to design improvement strategies.

Solution

Westat has a track record supporting education stakeholders to design and implement equity-focused initiatives to improve equitable access to effective educators. Our expert data and research teams in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas work with clients to:

• Provide professional learning to identify and analyze data using innovative data visualization techniques
• Facilitate alignment of programs and initiatives with components of a coherent talent development system
• Develop evidence-based resources to address racial, socioeconomic, and geographic inequities
• Provide strategic communication expertise regarding ways to align messaging around various initiatives

For more information about our other projects and our strong equity focus across initiatives, visit the Region 14 Comprehensive Center web page.

Results

All our initiatives support improving human, organizational, resource, and policy capacity that will sustainably impact these agencies and their partners.

In Arkansas, this means they will increase recruitment, development, support for, and retention of effective educators statewide and increase student access to effective educators, especially for disadvantaged populations.

In Louisiana, we will work to ensure all educators demonstrate culturally responsive and sustaining competencies in their practice, and, as a result, students experience stronger learning in classrooms and schools.

In Texas, our teams are working to increase access to and retention of effective educators for economically disadvantaged students and African American and Hispanic students.