The Effectiveness Dilemma

Melissa Tooley was quoted in U.S. News & World Report about the exclusion of funding for teacher preparation programs in President Trump's "skinny budget:"

"The largest in-school factors affecting student achievement are teachers followed by principals, so to dial back resources intended to support those individuals seems really short sighted," says Melissa Tooley, director of PreK-12 Educator Quality at New America.

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Tooley argues the administration should be looking at ways to re-envision professional development. As part of the answer, she suggests, the federal government's reporting requirements for Title II funding should include information about the number of hours of coaching teachers receive, the qualification of the coaches, whether the coaches are providing training relevant to teachers' subjects and other valuable information.

"I think a better role for the administration would be to provide some really clear guidance and collect data on what schools are doing in order to hold them accountable to make sure they are following through," she says.