Teacher Preparation and Professional Development: 2000. E.D. Tabs. NCES 2001-088

Concerns about the quality of the nation's public education system have drawn attention to key elements of teacher effectiveness (Darling-Hammond 2000; Lewis et al. 1999; Mayer, Mullens, and Moore 2001; National Commission on Teaching and America's Future 1996). While there is little consensus on what constitutes high-quality teachers, past research has emphasized two broad dimensions of teacher effectiveness: (1) the level of knowledge and skills that teachers bring to the classroom, as measured by teacher preparation and qualifications, and (2) classroom practices. In 1998, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a survey to provide a national profile on the first dimension of teacher quality--teacher preparation and qualifications (Lewis et al. 1999). In 2000, NCES conducted a second survey on Teacher Professional Development and Training to revisit the issue of teacher preparation and qualifications and measure change since 1998. The 2000 survey repeated key indicators of teacher quality examined in the 1998 survey, in addition to exploring issues such as follow up to professional development. This survey was designed to provide a national profile of all public school teachers and examines three indicators of teacher quality: (1) teacher education; (2) teacher participation in formal professional development and collaborative activities related to teaching; and (3) teachers' feelings of preparedness for various classroom demands. In addition to presenting current findings on teacher professional development and training from the 2000 survey, this report makes comparisons with the 1998 data. The 2000 survey was conducted by NCES using the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS). The FRSS is a survey system designed to collect small amounts of issue-oriented data with minimal burden on the respondents and disseminate findings within a relatively short time period. Questionnaires were mailed to a nationally representative sample of 5,253 public school teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data have been weighted to yield national estimates. In addition to national estimates, selected survey findings are presented by the following teacher and school characteristics: (1) Teachers' years of teaching experience (3 or fewer years, 4 to 9 years, 10 or more years); (2) School instructional level (elementary, middle, secondary, combined); (3) School enrollment size (less than 500, 500 to 999, 1,000 or more); (4) School locale (central city, urban fringe/large town, rural/small town); (5) Percent minority enrollment in the school (5 percent or less, 6 to 20 percent, 21 to 50 percent, more than 50 percent); and (6) Percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (less than 35 percent, 35 to 49 percent, 50 to 74 percent, 75 percent or more). Two appendices present: (1) Methodology and Technical Notes; and (2) Survey Instrument.