This paper presents the Oklahoma edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook". The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals examine the impact of state policy on 1) identifying effective teachers, 2) retaining those deemed effective and 3) exiting those deemed ineffective. Overall, Oklahoma has done a good job in meeting some of the goals; however, significant room for improvement remains in several others. The state completely missed five goals, met a small portion of three, partially met two, nearly met two and fully met three, including one best practice designation. Oklahoma's best performances are in its requirement of multiple formal evaluations for new teachers, its articulated consequences for teachers with unsatisfactory evaluations and its support of differential pay in shortage subject areas and high-needs schools. The state has the most work to do in making tenure decisions meaningful, closing loopholes that allow teachers who have not met licensure requirements to continue teaching and strengthening some policies regarding teacher compensation issues. Oklahoma's progress toward meeting these goals is summarized. The body of the report provides a more detailed breakdown of the state's strengths and weaknesses in each area. Oklahoma has an overall performance of C for 2008. Goals for each area are appended. (Contains 57 tables.) [Additional support for the 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" was provided by the Teaching Commission. For the national report, see ED514690.]
- Authorizing Institution
- National Council on Teacher Quality
- Education Level
- Elementary Secondary Education
- Location
- Oklahoma
- Peer Reviewed
- F
- Publication Type
- ['Numerical/Quantitative Data', 'Reports - Descriptive']
- Published in
- United States of America
- Sponsor
- ['Daniels Fund', 'Gleason Family Foundation', 'Houston Endowment Inc.', 'Joyce Foundation', 'Koret Foundation', 'Derek and Candace Fisher Family Foundation']
