THE MISSION OF STANDstand.org/sites/default/files/Oklahoma/Teachers Matter Report WEB.pdf“Morale is so low that we’re on the brink of losing a lot of great teachers.” “The

THE MISSION OF STAND for Children Oklahoma is to ensure all children, regardless of background, graduate high school prepared for, and with access to, college and career training. We make that happen by advocating for policy changes at the state and local level and ensuring the policies for which we advocate actually reach classrooms and help students. We also empower parents to demand excellent schools, and we work to elect courageous leaders who will stand up for these priorities.

Through our policy efforts, we’ve watched lawmakers in Oklahoma work diligently to pass laws in recent years geared toward raising academic achievement - laws that strengthened Oklahoma’s focus on accountability of schools and educators, placed greater emphasis on grade-level reading and directed the State Board of Education to create new academic standards aimed at fostering critical thinking skills to ensure college and career readiness for every Oklahoma student. At times, pushback on many of these changes has been fierce, leading to an environment that seems to reinforce an “us vs. them” mentality between supporters of these policies and their critics.

Understanding the impact this kind of divisiveness can have on our shared goal of ensuring every child in Oklahoma receives a world-class education, Stand for Children Oklahoma wanted to better understand the perspective of Oklahoma teachers to all these changes. After all, at a time of great change for both educators and students alike, support for and understanding of the very people tasked with implementing these policies couldn’t be more important. So in February of this year, we embarked on an ambitious project called “Oklahoma Teachers Matter: Listening Tour.” We scheduled and conducted eight focus groups across the state in both urban and rural settings. We developed a discussion guide that resulted in teachers giving us 16 hours of direct, honest, and respectful feedback on issues regarding job satisfaction, principal leadership, professional development and support, standards and assessments, and how decisions on education investments impact their classrooms.

Our findings are included in the following report. We hope you find the report to be as insightful as we did, and we hope this report leads to a greater understanding of the barriers Oklahoma teachers face on a daily basis. Most importantly, we hope this report gives a voice to teachers who feel as if they have often been silenced.

The report is reflective of the many differing opinions of Oklahoma teachers. They may not all be shared entirely by Stand for Children, but to exclude differing opinions from this report would not give a true picture of what teachers face on a daily basis. Nor would it reflect the immense value we place in direct and respectful communication between all stakeholders.

We are grateful to the Oklahoma teachers who gave us their time, opinions, and expertise that made this project so worthwhile and valuable in our mission to ensure every child gets a quality education in this state.

We know there is one issue about which no one disagrees; teachers matter greatly to the education of a child, and their impact lasts a lifetime. This project only further highlights that teachers’ voices need to be heard and the teaching profession elevated as we collectively work to make Oklahoma the greatest state to live, work, and raise a family.

Respectfully,

Amber England, Executive DirectorStand for Children Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA

OBJECTIVESThe overall purpose of the focus groups was to gather ideas and perceptions from teachers regarding the barriers they face in their classrooms within Oklahoma’s current public education system, possible solutions, and how recently adopted legislation is affecting teachers and the classroom.

Some of the topics discussed within the groups were as follows: barriers to success, educational standards, professional development and preparation, standardized testing, and teacher and administrative evaluation. Other topics of discussion included political engagement and solutions to creating a more effective educational environment and improving education overall throughout the state of Oklahoma and teachers’ views on how education funding levels impact their classroom.

This project was commissioned by Stand for Children of Oklahoma.

METHODOLOGYShapardResearch, Oklahoma’s premier market research firm, was commissioned to organize focus groups consisting of public school teachers throughout the state of Oklahoma. The focus groups were held February 9th through February 12th in both urban and rural locations. The groups consisted of a total of eighty-one (81) public school teachers from Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Woodward, and Ada areas. Every group consisted of teachers from a variety of surrounding communities and schools within each of the four areas beyond the major school districts in those areas, such as Seiling, Fort Supply, Moore, Choctaw, Arnett, Bixby, Sand Springs, Konawa, Byng, Pauls Valley, and the Putnam City School District in Oklahoma City.

The groups also had a variety of teachers who taught different grades, different subject matters, and were a mix of union and non-union members. The focus groups lasted approximately two hours, and the teachers were compensated for their time.

OKLAHOMA TEACHERS MATTER LISTENING TOUR REPORT 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYTEACHER MORALE IS LOW. Teachers in Oklahoma feel unappreciated, over-scrutinized, and required to operate in a classroom environment that is full of in-flexible state and federal mandates, mandates that have not included their input or consultation. Coupled with the lack of parental involvement and adequate staffing, ever-changing standards, and overcrowded classrooms, it is no wonder teacher morale is low. In the end this low morale is pushing good teachers either to take their teaching skills to another state or into other professional fields.

INTERESTINGLY, THE LOW PAY OF TEACHERS IN OKLAHOMA WAS RARELY MENTIONED in the focus groups unless prompted by the moderator, which is not to say teachers believed they are adequately paid. While they knew going into teaching the pay was not high, all teachers in the groups expressed their love and passion for teaching as the sole reason for first entering the field. However, all of the teachers, when asked, expressed the extreme positive impact an increase in teacher pay would have on addressing low morale.

TEACHERS ARE NOT BEING INCLUDED IN THE CRAFTING OF EDUCATION PUBLIC POLICY IN THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA. Teachers believe many of the reforms being implemented lack the perspective of teachers and, therefore, ultimately struggle from a lack of practical implementation know-how. For example, there were stark differences between urban and rural school environments as expressed by teachers in our groups, but reforms written from a “one size fits all” approach teachers believe ultimately doom any practical implementation. This exclusion has led teachers to believe they do not have a voice in education policy.

THE CLASSROOM HAS BECOME AN IN-FLEXIBLE ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE EXPECTATIONS OF PARENTS, LEGISLATORS, AND THE PUBLIC AS A WHOLE HAVE BECOME NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET. Teachers understand the expectations and want, very much so, to meet those expectations, but a loss of their autonomy and the flexibility to teach their own students has resulted in these unmet expectations and created a barrier to maintaining a love of teaching and fostering a love of learning in students.

THE IN-FLEXIBLE CLASSROOM HAS ALSO BROUGHT WITH IT A LEVEL OF IMMEDIATE POLITICAL EXPECTATION WHERE THE TEACHERS, THE STUDENTS, AND THE CLASSROOM CANNOT KEEP UP. Teachers told us that sweeping reforms from the legislature often demand quick results, which become impossible to attain, and then even newer reforms are crafted and expected to be immediately implemented. One good example is the development of academic standards where four different sets of standards will have changed in just the last five years.


“Schools are a microcosm of society, so all of the problems that exist outside of schools end up in schools. And teachers aren’t trained to fix all of those problems.”

“Morale is so low that we’re on the brink of losing a lot of great teachers.”

“The biggest barrier for me is not having enough instruction time. So much time has been consumed with testing, over testing, to the point kids have lost all motivation for the test that really matters.”

“A lot of kids are just in survival mode. They’re not thinking about their future. They’re just trying to get through the day. School has become their safe haven. It takes them away from everything.”

“What incentive is there? It will cost me $20k out-of-pocket to get a Ph.D., and my paycheck would only be affected by $50 a month.”

“I’ve been teaching for 27 years… teaching used to be fun. Now it’s a bear.”


TESTINGTesting was, by far, the issue of greatest concern for teachers from Tulsa to Woodward and Ada to Oklahoma City.

The majority of teachers were not opposed to testing or being held accountable for what they are teaching in their classroom. However, teachers do believe the current testing environment needs improvement because it is NOT driving instruction or giving parents an accurate reflection of how their children are performing. While teachers see and understand the needs of testing, they see the current testing structure as ineffective and unreliable. Teachers see a need to adopt better tests that more accurately reflect the value and true purpose of testing.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Teachers want tests to be better aligned to individual student learning. The “one size fits all” approach is not applicable in urban schools, suburban schools, or rural schools.

» Much in education has become more individualized to reflect improved methods of instruction, yet many standardized tests have moved in the opposite direction with a “one size fits all” approach.

» The number of standardized tests throughout the school year has become a huge issue. Far too many benchmark tests take away from meaningful instruction time. Students are often taken out of classes for make-up testing which causes a loss of instruction time from other teachers.

» The actual focus has become on students taking and passing standardized tests instead of actually learning the material and subject matter. Students often become disengaged with the learning process when they are only taught how to take tests.

» Teachers questioned if class size, demographics of student population, and size of district impact test results and seemed genuinely concerned about how to fairly measure these variables in regards to student achievement.

» Most standardized tests have no mechanism to account for student growth. For example, multiple teachers pointed out children are placed in their classrooms being two or three grade levels behind. A student may advance achievement by a grade level within the year, and the current testing environment has no way to account for this growth.

» Teachers also told us that End of Instruction (EOI) Exams, as currently implemented, do not accurately measure whether students are prepared to enter the next grade level or college.

» Teachers also cited the current “A through F” school grading system as an example of a major reform where they had no seat at the table. Teachers are not necessarily against any “A through F” grading system, but it needs to include more input from teachers for it to be effective, reliable, and credible.


TESTINGPROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» Use testing to evaluate and measure student potential and growth, as opposed to pass/fail, with tests that are smarter and more reflective of the child’s individual learning.

» Limit tests to two or three a year, one at the beginning of instruction to evaluate students’ current level, possibly one from mid-instruction to identify areas in need of attention, then one at the end of instruction to evaluate student progress. This allows teachers more time for instruction and students more time for learning.

» Testing should be used to measure progress toward preparedness and success beyond high school.

» Testing needs to inform teachers on student progress in order to drive instruction.

» Testing needs to ask students to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills by showing their work and how they got the answer, not simply measure memorization.

“With the current testing structure, kids see that the teacher is now on the hook for their test scores and not them.”

“As an 8th grade Algebra teacher, I’m not given the ability to decide what to teach, but I’m given students doing math at a 6th grade level in August, and we’re going to give them an 8th grade test next May. And we’re supposed to be surprised they don’t do well.”

“The whole focus is on testing and not learning... there’s no passion for learning.”


STANDARDSIn recent years, standards in Oklahoma have been inconsistent, reflecting more of the political landscape. Changes in standards are due to legislation driven by political ideologies rather than research-driven standards, creating confusion for teachers and students alike.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Teachers want higher and clearer standards that go deeper into subject matter to put students in a position to compete at a national level.

» Teachers believe standards should support deeper subject matter instruction.

» Teachers want smarter assessments to align to those higher and stronger standards.

» Teachers believe good standards can be developed but the implementation of standards in the past has been poorly executed.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» Many classroom teachers expressed a greater desire to have a “seat at the table” when it comes to forming and building educational standards in our state.

» A coherent set of standards that don’t change from year to year would also allow teachers to drive curriculum and instruction decisions in their classroom without confusion about which set of standards needs to be used to inform the lesson-planning decisions of teachers.

» Collaboration with universities, CareerTech schools, businesses, and other “stake-holders” was another suggestion perceived as necessary. This would give Oklahoma education the ability to gain insights from these entities to better prepare standards and ultimately students to become productive members of society.

» Aligning standards with national college acceptance tests was viewed favorably. Considering some current national standards in order to create consistency for students and teachers alike was seen as advantageous by teachers.

» Rigorous teacher training in any new standards being implemented was also suggested, due to the lack of professional development available to teachers for the implementation of prior standards. A phasing in, over time, of any new standards is seen as critical in the transition of both teachers and students.


“Kids cannot learn effectively in an environment where the standards change so rapidly. Children need continuity, designed by teachers for students, not by politicians.”

“There wasn’t enough time to prepare the kids for new standards. My 3rd graders were expected to do almost what my 5th graders were already doing. You have to build them up to it.”

“Lately, standards have been too much of a moving target. You’ve got to give the standards time to work, and that’s not going to happen in two years.”

“Politicians have gotten involved in determining standards, and that’s part of the problem.”


TEACHER EVALUATIONSFirst and foremost, teachers want a teacher evaluation system that is fair. They also support an evaluation system that includes more than just a test score. Teachers believe tying teacher evaluations to student test scores should be delayed until student assessments can be aligned to newly written standards that would better reflect a teacher’s role in student growth.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Many teachers felt Teacher Leadership Effectiveness (TLE) evaluations to be unfair due to the criteria used and the disparity based upon the subjects and grades taught. For instance, only some, but not all, teachers are evaluated based upon their student test scores for the subject they teach. Teachers who were evaluated with test scores also believed too much emphasis was placed upon the actual scores themselves, as opposed to student growth over time.

» Certain qualitative measures of the evaluation, such as observation and evaluation from administrators, were perceived to lack depth, since actual evaluations were performed for approximately 20 minutes in any given class.

» Some teachers also felt that if they were actually credited with being a great teacher, there was an expectation to take on a heavier work load.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» Weigh test scores carefully as a gauge in TLE evaluations.

» While, for the most part, teachers support a more robust teacher evaluation system, they believe a more fair evaluation for tested and non-tested subjects needs to be developed.

» While a majority of the teachers desire more autonomy for classroom instruction, many would like to see the qualitative measures of their evaluation as a teacher consist of more than just a one-day classroom visit by an administrator. Visits by administrators unscheduled throughout the school year would possibly help teachers improve their methods and effectiveness.

» Eliminating extra work for administration in order to deliver a positive or negative evaluation was also perceived to be a necessity.

» Teachers support both quantitative and qualitative measures that are based on surveys of those involved in the education of the students, from fellow teachers, students, and parents. However, some concerns for each of these were that peer evaluations would require too much extra work, student evaluations would not be subjective, and parent evaluations would not provide an accurate picture. The benefits, however, seemed to outweigh the concerns, as peer evaluations instigated more interaction and collaboration among teachers. Student evaluations, although having some bias, would give a teacher a better picture of effectiveness, since the students themselves are the only other individuals in the classroom consistently, and would encourage more engagement from students. And, parent evaluations could potentially create a greater regard for their child’s education while offering teachers a point of view from their students’ parents.


“My class made a 50 percent increase from the last time we tested them, but they’re still behind a grade level… but there’s no recognition of that improvement, just that they’re still behind.”

“Some of my students are raising younger siblings… they miss school to babysit. Some are working jobs to help their parents. We can’t teach kids and be held accountable for their education when they’re not in our classroom.”

“When students are behind parents, students, and teachers, as a whole, need to shoulder this burden, not just teachers. We’re being punished for a problem that’s not completely ours.”

“If you’re a good teacher and want to be an even better teacher, you always want to hear feedback… feedback from your students, your parents, administrators, and your fellow teachers.”


THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTTeachers in every focus group stated unequivocally there is a strong connection between the size of the class and the ability to provide quality instruction and better classroom management. This, teachers believe, detracts from creating an environment of learning. Teachers expressed that solving the teacher shortage by hiring more teachers was the key issue in improving classroom environment.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Class size makes classroom management for teachers especially difficult.

» Individual attention, particularly to children still trying to learn life coping skills or those experiencing difficulties at home, consumes more time as classroom size increases.

» Larger class size is contributing to low morale and driving away good teachers who find it harder and harder to teach in this environment.

» Teachers find themselves, more and more, serving in the roles of counselor, parent, and friend to students. Academics become secondary to children who are struggling.

» Teachers report that school counselors are being utilized more as testing coordinators, and less for their intended purpose as student counselors.

» Administrators, over-burdened with testing and reporting mandates, have less time to develop leaders that drive instructional decisions and support teachers in everyday classroom management issues.

» Too few dollars reaching the classroom, lack of prioritization of funding, and an overall lack of adequate funding, in general, means fewer teachers, fewer teacher aids, and ultimately larger class sizes.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» The solution is class sizes between 15 and 20 students, according to the teachers in our groups. But, it’s important to note teachers acknowledge that lower class sizes will require more teachers and more resources and infrastructure in general, and the increased revenue is critical to achieving the overall objective of improving instruction, test scores, and the overall quality of our schools.

» Teachers are adamant that we must train and hire more teachers and that adequate pay is a component to doing so.


“We’ve got to lower class sizes. We need to establish the type of school that best meets their [student] needs, because we’re supposed to be training citizens. They’re supposed to have jobs to support themselves. I think that can only be done in smaller groups.”


LEADERSHIP SUPPORTOverwhelmingly, school administrative support mattered greatly to teachers. From the implementation of reforms to classroom management support to getting parents more involved, teachers need and want a highly effective leader in their school.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Teachers who had an effective administrative leader in the building saw the positive impact on the entire school. Teachers who felt they did not have an effective administrative leader definitely felt the negative impact on the entire school environment.

» Teachers see leadership as a unique set of skills that either a person does or does not possess. Better development of these skills is critical to the overall success of the school.

» Teachers noted administrators are called away from the school for far too many non-instructional related purposes, and their absence in the school has an adverse impact.

» None of the teachers told us they currently participate in any evaluation of their administrators, from either a feedback or assessment perspective.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» Limit the amount of time administrators spend off campus.

» Since teachers work daily with their administrators, they believed they should participate in any evaluation of administrators.

» Teachers believe the administrator evaluations should carry the same weight as the teacher evaluations to any school accountability system.

“Our schools need instructional leaders, and the system conditions them to be more like managers. Instructional leaders foster more of a professional learning community.”

“We’ve had six principals in the last four years…”


COMMUNITY SUPPORTTeachers value the input, involvement, and participation of the community, including the faith community and the business community, within their schools.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Rural and urban schools were very different in how they described the current role of the community. Rural teachers see the community as willing to contribute any time they were asked. Urban teachers view the surrounding community as willing, but more difficult to cultivate an ongoing and continuous delivery of support.

» Both rural and urban teachers believe the support of the surrounding community should not always be centered on financial support. Teachers want both the faith and business communities to play more of a role in the individual needs of their students, not just the school as a whole.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» Teachers believe the greatest role the community could play is in volunteering at the school, and, while financial support is always important and helpful, the greatest support is in giving of their time.

» Teachers also want to see the individuals in their community develop a role, not just in the life of the school, but also in the life of a child in their classroom with tutoring and mentoring.

“We have great community support. We also need those in the community to give of themselves, like reading to a child, mentoring a child. That’s the best way to let these kids know that you support them.”

“Our ministerial alliance will come in and fill backpacks, school supplies, whatever we need.”


EDUCATION FUNDINGTeachers naturally believe that education needs more funding in order to raise student achievement and effectively support classroom learning. As the eyes and ears of the classroom, teachers see the impact funding decisions make on the classroom environment.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Teachers believe that not enough money is being invested toward classroom impact, which is causing teacher shortages, low morale among all teachers, fewer classroom resources, and increased class sizes.

» Teachers, particularly in rural areas, noted how some districts have greater revenue streams than others and observed the impact this disparity of county funding has on schools.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» Increased funding to education needs to support the professional development of teachers to help guide classroom learning, address the teacher shortage and low morale that is plaguing the teaching profession, and must absolutely be appropriated to have the most impact on raising student achievement.

“I think teachers have been ignored for so long that they feel like they can’t make a difference.”

“Getting engaged at the State Capitol is a waste of time. Either it’s going to get you in trouble, possibly lose your job, or it falls on deaf ears and nothing ever happens.”

“Everybody platforms on education with grand thoughts and ideas, but they haven’t been or spent any substantive time in the classroom.”

“What incentive is there? It will cost me $20k out-of-pocket to get a Ph.D., and my paycheck would only be affected by $50 a month.”


POLITICAL ENGAGEMENTTeachers do not believe that, as a whole, they are engaged enough in the political process, but this is due in large part to a belief that teachers do not have a seat at the table when it comes to education public policy or reform.

Furthermore, teachers have a powerful voice when it comes to improving education public policy that is not being utilized.

WHAT WE HEARD

» Teachers feel excluded, disrespected, and ignored when it comes to providing input into education public policy or reforms, and yet no one is in a better position to provide insight into the needs of the classroom than teachers themselves.

» At the same time, teachers believe they may be jeopardizing their job or career for speaking out politically, and this may hold the key to the general apathy among teachers toward political engagement.

» Teachers believe most of the education reforms crafted by legislators suffer from a lack of classroom perspective and, while noble in their pursuits, may ultimately fail to achieve their intended objectives.

» Teachers told us their involvement will improve the implementation of educational reforms.

» Teachers also would like to see more advocacy groups champion the inclusion of teachers in the crafting of education public policy.

» All of the teachers believed these focus groups would give them an opportunity to make their voices heard without any fear of retribution and, as a first step, hopefully spark the inclusion of teachers in the public policy process in the future.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

» Legislators and administrators need to invite teachers to the education debate and be inclusive of their ideas and opinions.

» Teachers would like to see their ranks used more often when legislative task forces or other various committees are assembled to tackle educational reforms.

» This inclusion needs to be accomplished without the fear of reprisal, loss of job or promotion, and steps need to be taken - regulation, legislation or otherwise - to assure its success.

» Work with advocacy groups which can provide the voice of teachers at the State Capitol, more specifically in the crafting of education public policy and reform.


CONCLUSIONThe current culture seems to exclude teachers from the developing of education public policy or reforms, yet teachers are on the front lines of our educational system. Legislative task forces and committees are routinely formed to address very specific education needs, yet teachers are rarely included as a part of the process.

In the business world, bankers listen to their tellers; retailers listen to their sales associates; and improvement strategies are crafted to include the opinions of the very people who will be implementing those strategies.

From the development of standards to testing to performance accountability, teachers are eager to assist because they, like the rest of us, have a desire to see our schools and our students succeed.

Therefore, on a regular basis, legislators, the state’s school superintendent, and the governor alike, should convene a Teacher Summit - an annual listening event to work in a collaborative spirit for developing better public policy for our schools. After all, educational spending is more than half of the state’s annual budget.

Also, teachers believe legislators should spend more time in the classroom and learn firsthand the current challenges that teachers face each day. Legislators are, by definition, part-time legislators and schools are always in need of substitute teachers on a regular basis. Combining the two would bring more clarity to solving one of our society’s greatest tasks: educating the next generation of Oklahomans.

Strong and productive schools build strong and productive citizens. It’s the greatest investment our state can make.


“Just invite us. We’re willing to tell you what we think. Give us a chance to contribute. That’s all we want is to have a school system that makes our kids better.”

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CALL TO ACTIONIn 1989, Governor Henry Bellmon recognized a growing crisis in Oklahoma’s public education system. Arising from his leadership was the formation of a bipartisan working group that studied and then issued a report that laid out specific policy and funding recommendations tied to student outcomes. The report led to the historic legislation known simply as House Bill 1017. It was the voice of teachers, who rallied at the State Capitol for four days, which gave the legislation the urgency and momentum needed to pass with bipartisan support in April 1990.

The passage of HB 1017 twenty-five years ago was heralded as the most sweeping education reform and funding initiative ever enacted for Oklahoma public education, serving as an example for other states to address their own education issues. The law - later affirmed by a vote of the people - paved the way for smaller class sizes, increased teacher pay, expansion of early childhood education opportunities, better-aligned education standards, and greater public school accountability, along with an infusion of funding paid for by a targeted tax reform package.

Two-and-a-half decades after final passage of HB 1017, it’s time to once again listen to teachers about what’s happening on the front lines of education. Unmanageable class sizes, limited classroom resources, inadequate professional development, low morale, and low pay are decreasing the number of candidates in the teacher pipeline and driving teachers away from the profession in record numbers. Oklahoma’s teacher shortage has risen to crisis level. Despite the work of their colleagues who took a courageous stand 25 years ago and demanded action, these obstructions remain a real barrier for today’s teachers, as evidenced by the findings within this focus group report.

Ultimately, it is the 688,000 Oklahoma students depending on a quality teacher to guide their learning who are bearing the burden of this crisis. If we do not address the barriers their teachers face, we should anticipate dire long-term consequences for our state.

Stand for Children Oklahoma calls on leaders to tackle this issue head on by immediately convening a working group of teachers, education advocates, budget experts, policymakers, and concerned Oklahomans to study and release findings with an actionable roadmap that includes both policy and funding solutions that will lead to greater student achievement and focus on accountability. The group should be tasked with addressing the following:


A comprehensive review of K-12 education funding, including detailed appropriation levels for common education from enactment of HB 1017 to the present.

A review of the state funding formula to determine if it is in need of reform to better serve students and drive more funding to classrooms.

A thorough analysis of the HB 1017 Fund to determine whether dedicated funding from 1017 was applied to common education or if it was diverted to fund other state government funding needs.

A forecast of teacher shortage numbers based on the attrition rate of current teachers and analysis of the number of students enrolled in teacher training programs at Oklahoma’s higher-learning institutions.

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A review of the education reforms passed since 1990 and the level of funding attached for implementation of those reforms to determine whether the reforms are actually reaching classrooms and helping students.

An analysis of professional development methods and funding levels directed to help teachers implement education policy mandates in their classrooms.

An analysis of classroom size requirements enacted by HB 1017, particularly class size waivers for districts that meet their bond indebtedness levels.

Governor Mary Fallin, through her Oklahoma Works program, has boldly called on Oklahomans to resolve the skills shortage state businesses currently face by the year 2020. The program aims to increase the number of students with workforce credentials, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees. These goals cannot be met without a credible long-term strategy for alleviating the burden placed on teachers, who have been tasked with educating Oklahoma’s future workforce despite limited resources. We hope this report and the call to action herein will spark an important conversation across this state about how together we can achieve these goals.

The research on teacher quality and student achievement is clear - the most effective tool in any classroom to help raise student academic achievement is a highly effective teacher. The obstacles revealed during these teacher focus groups indicate we are in danger of failing to deliver on the very basic, but fundamentally profound, need for highly effective teachers in every school across the state.

Finally, the lesson learned by listening to Oklahoma teachers is this: teachers must have a voice in addressing the aforementioned barriers, and Oklahoma can’t wait another quarter century to develop a lasting solution to strengthen our public school system. We must ensure every Oklahoma student, regardless of background, graduates high school prepared for, and with access to, college and career training.


“Morale is so low that we’re on the brink of losing a lot of great teachers.”

ABOUT STAND FOR CHILDRENStand for Children’s mission is to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, graduate from high school prepared for, and with access to, a college education. We make this happen by:

» Educating and empowering parents, teachers, and community members to demand excellent schools;

» Advocating for effective local, state, and national education policies and investments;

» Ensuring that those policies and investments impact classrooms and students; and

» Electing courageous leaders who will stand up for our priorities.

We focus on strategic education reforms and investments that influence what matters most: teacher and principal effectiveness, school autonomy with strong accountability, high standards, smarter assessments, strong data systems, grade-level reading strategies, and intervention in poor-performing schools.

ABOUT SHAPARDRESEARCHSince 2004, ShapardResearch has been Oklahoma’s premier market research and public opinion polling firm, conducting both quantitative and qualitative primary research for some of Oklahoma’s largest companies, interest groups, and non-profits.

Through its public opinion polling firm, SoonerPoll.com, ShapardResearch is Oklahoma’s only independent, nonpartisan pollster, conducting and producing more publicly released polling on the opinions of Oklahomans than all other polling firms in the state combined.

SoonerPoll has been the pollster of record for the state’s second largest newspaper, The Tulsa World, for more than a decade and routinely preforms polling for News 9 and News on 6, the state’s most watched television news in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

In 2014, Nate Silver’s 538Blog rated 337 pollster in the nation, and SoonerPoll was rated the BEST pollster in the state of Oklahoma and in the TOP TEN percent of best pollsters in the nation.


OKLAHOMA

STAND.ORG/OKLAHOMA

THE MISSION OF STANDstand.org/sites/default/files/Oklahoma/Teachers Matter Report WEB.pdf“Morale is so low that we’re on the brink of losing a lot of great teachers.” “The

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