Education has not described in its annual performance plan how it will  coordinate various crosscutting teacher quality activities supporting its  goal of improving student achievement. Our previous work has identified  using strategic and annual plans as a practice that can help enhance and  sustain collaboration. For example, Education found  instances in 2 of our site visit states of grants being awarded by state  agencies for higher education that included an ineligible partnership. Education Conducts a Variety of Teacher Quality Improvement Studies and Provides Assistance to States and Districts through Regional and National Service Providers, Which Coordinate in Various Ways

In addition to providing grants for teacher quality, Education has  conducted evaluations for some of its 23 teacher quality programs,  although little is known about the effectiveness of these programs. Information from the  evaluation and research is provided mainly through various vehicles on  the Internet, and Education directs research and assistance to states and  school districts through a system of regional and national providers. Education officials reported that these regional and national providers  coordinate to provide this assistance to states and school districts. Education Conducts a Variety of Evaluations of Program Operations and Their Outcomes, but Evaluations Have Been Done or Are Under Way for about Two-fifths of the Teacher Quality Programs

Education conducts various types of evaluations, such as process or  implementation, outcome, and impact, which are intended to inform  policymakers, program managers, and educators about program  operations, how well programs are working, and which programs or  interventions are having the greatest impact. States Face Several Challenges in Collaborating Internally to Improve Teacher Quality; Education Provides Some Assistance to Help Address These Challenges

State agency officials cited limited resources and incompatible data  systems as the greatest challenges to their collaborative efforts within the  state to improve teacher quality. Resistance to change, sustained  commitment, and state governance structure also affected their efforts to  collaborate. State officials said that some of their objectives for  data systems are to link student and teacher data, or to link data from the  K-12 education system and the postsecondary education system, to inform  and measure teacher quality policy efforts. Nevertheless, state officials reported through our  surveys that these coordinating bodies also face challenges to enhancing  collaboration, including having limited resources and needing to set  priorities and allocate roles and responsibilities. L. No. Another $250 million is provided for the State Longitudinal Data  Systems grant program in the Recovery Act that could help states defray  costs associated with these efforts. To help accomplish this goal, Education distributes billions of  federal dollars and provides research and other assistance for teacher  quality activities through multiple offices and statutorily authorized  programs. While Education has engaged in some coordination to share  information and expertise within the department, and from time to time  has established and completed broader collaborative efforts, coordination  among all the relevant offices does not occur on a regular basis. Without clearly articulated strategies and sustained  collaborative activities, Education may be missing important opportunities  to leverage its financial and other resources, align its activities and  processes, as well as develop joint strategies to assist states, districts, and  institutions of higher education in improving teacher quality. School districts. Appendix IV: Institute of Education Sciences’ Sponsored Research on Teacher Quality, 2003–2009

Improving Instruction Through Implementation of the Partnership  Instructional Coaching Model  The Effects of Teacher Preparation and Professional Development on  Special Education Teacher Quality  The Influence of Collaborative Professional Development Groups &  Coaching on the Literacy Instruction of Upper Elementary Special Education  Teachers  Impact of Professional Development on Preschool Teachers’ Use of  Embedded-Instruction Practices  Integrating Science and Diversity Education: A Model of Pre-Service  Elementary Teacher Preparation  Using Video Clips of Classroom Instruction as Item Prompts to Measure  Teacher Knowledge of Teaching Mathematics: Instrument Development and  Validation  Standards-Based Differentiated ELD Instruction to Improve English  Language Arts Achievement for English Language Learners  Enhancing Knowledge Related to Research-Based Early Literacy Instruction  Among Pre-Service Teachers  The Pathway Project: A Cognitive Strategies Approach to Reading and  Writing Instruction for Teachers of Secondary English Language Learners   Content-Focused Coaching for High Quality Reading Instruction  Do Lower Barriers to Entry Affect Achievement and Teacher Retention: The  Case of New York City Math Immersion  Early Childhood Hands-On Science Curriculum Development and  Demonstration Project  National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE):  Preschool Teacher Professional Development Study   National Center for Performance Incentives  Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research  (CALDER)
Replication and Outcomes of the Teaching SMART Program in Elementary  Science Classrooms  Identifying the Conditions Under Which Large Scale Professional  Development Policy Initiatives are Related to Teacher Knowledge  Instructional Practices, and Student Reading Outcomes  Embedded Classroom Multimedia: Improving Implementation Quality and  Student Achievement in a Cooperative Writing Program  Enhancing the Quality of Expository Text Instruction Through Content and  Case-Situated Professional Development  Teaching Teachers to Teach Critical Reading Strategies (CREST) Through  an Intensive Professional Development Model  Examining the Efficacy of Two Models of Preschool Professional  Development in Language and Literacy  A Randomized Controlled Study of the Efficacy of Reading Apprenticeship  Professional Development for High School History and Science Teaching  and Learning  Assessment of Pedagogical Knowledge of Teachers of Reading  Connecting Primary Grade Teacher Knowledge to Primary Grade Student  Achievement: Developing the Evidence-Based Reading/Writing Teacher  Knowledge Assessment System  Algebra Connections: Teacher Education in Clear Instruction and  Responsive Assessment of Algebra Patterns and Problem Solving  The Relationship Between Mathematics Teachers’ Content Knowledge and  Students’ Mathematics Achievement: Exploring the Predictive Validity of the  Praxis Series Middle School Mathematics Test  Professional Development in Early Reading  Improving Teacher Quality to Address the Language and Literacy Skills of  Latino Children in Pre-Kindergarten Programs  Can Literacy Professional Development be Improved With Web-Based  Collaborative Learning Tools?
Why GAO Did This Study

Policymakers and researchers have focused on improving the quality of our nation's 3 million teachers to raise the achievement of students in key academic areas, such as reading and mathematics. Given the importance of teacher quality to student achievement and the key role federal and state governments play in supporting teacher quality, GAO's objectives included examining (1) the extent that the U.S. Department of Education (Education) funds and coordinates teacher quality programs, (2) studies that Education conducts on teacher quality and how it provides and coordinates research-related assistance to states and school districts, and (3) challenges to collaboration within states and how Education helps address those challenges. GAO interviewed experts and Education officials, administered surveys to officials at state educational agencies and state agencies for higher education in the fall of 2008, and conducted site visits to three states.

What GAO Found

Education allocates billions of federal dollars for teacher quality improvement efforts through many statutorily authorized programs that nine offices administer. Education officials said these offices share information with one another as needed, and from time to time Education has established and completed broader collaborative efforts. Yet, GAO found little sustained coordination and no strategy for working systematically across program lines. Education also has not described how it will coordinate crosscutting teacher quality improvement activities intended to support its goal of improving student achievement in its annual performance plan. Our previous work has identified the use of strategic and annual plans as a practice that can help enhance and sustain collaboration. Without clear strategies for sustained coordination, Education may be missing key opportunities to leverage and align its resources, activities, and processes to assist states, school districts, and institutions of higher education improve teacher quality. Education has conducted evaluations for some of its teacher quality programs and has awarded grants to researchers for a variety of research on teacher quality interventions, which are intended to inform policymakers and educators about program operations and which programs or interventions are having an impact. While evaluations have been done or are under way for about two-fifths of these programs, little is known about whether most of the programs are achieving their desired results. Education provides information from evaluations and also from research through the Internet and a system of regional and national providers. These providers also either conduct or synthesize research and provide assistance mainly to states and school districts. These providers coordinate among themselves and with one another in various ways. State agency officials reported through our surveys that limited resources and incompatible data systems were the greatest challenges to their collaborative efforts to improve teacher quality. State officials reported that data systems could be used to inform teacher quality policy efforts by linking student and teacher data, or linking data from kindergarten through 12th grade and the postsecondary education systems. To help address these challenges, Education provides some financial support and other assistance. For example, one $65 million program that helps states develop statewide data systems also received another $250 million in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Also, the act requires states to report on the progress they are making toward linking statewide data systems that allow matching of individual student achievement to individual teachers. This additional funding could help states defray costs associated with these efforts.