New study grades states on school improvement and college readiness 

After taking a year off from awarding grades to states for their school improvement efforts, Education Week's "Quality Counts" report is back with 2008 state rankings that include a wide array of indicators.

The biggest changes in the new survey are in the category the authors call "the teaching profession," which covers areas such as accountability for quality, incentives to attract and retain talented teachers, and initiatives to support effective teaching throughout teachers' careers. Although these variables, which can be grouped together under the "human resources" label, are keys to school success, the report notes that "many experts say the current system for recruiting, developing, deploying and keeping teacher talent in the classroom is broken."

For example, the study faulted some states for not riding herd on teacher preparation programs. It found that only 30 states rate such programs based on the percent of their graduates who pass state licensing exams, and 18 states hold teacher-preparation programs accountable for the performance of their graduates in the classroom.
The report highlights the much-discussed problem of qualified teachers being unevenly distributed across schools and districts. "Low-income and minority students are far more likely than their white and better-off peers to be taught by teachers who are inexperienced or who lack majors in their subjects," it says. See chart below.

In ranking the states in the category of "teaching profession," South Carolina with an A- tops the list, followed by Arkansas with a B+. The vast majority of states, however, received marks of C+ or lower.

Salaries are another obvious variable in attracting and retaining high-quality teachers, and this year's report includes an analysis of how teacher salaries stack up against other professions. On average, "teachers earn 88 cents for every dollar earned in 16 comparable professions." While teachers in a handful of states earn more than their counterparts in other professions, those at the low end of the scale earn less than 79 cents on the professional dollar. Among the other occupations the report included: accountants, architects, counselors, editors, insurance underwriters, physical therapists and registered nurses. (College faculty were not part of the comparisons.)

Another disadvantage for teachers, the report points out, is that distribution of their salaries is more compressed, so that there is a smaller difference between average and top salaries. This means that compared with teachers, workers in other occupations have a greater chance to earn above-average salaries.

In addition to the category of teaching profession, "Quality Counts 2008" grades the states in five other areas: K-12 achievement; standards, assessment and accountability; transitions and alignment; school finance; and "chance for success," which covers everything from family income and parents' education to high school graduation and adult employment. Three states-Maryland, Massachusetts and New York-led the overall grade list with Bs.

The report draws on multiple sources of data, including an AFT analysis of state standards. The full report includes essays, analyses, and detailed charts with state rankings overall and on each of the six indices.