Report: Indiana grades well on education policies

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A new report gives Indiana passing grades on education policies, giving it above average marks for a new teacher evaluation system that links student performance with teachers' pay.

The report released Wednesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality gives Indiana an overall grade of C+ for education policies in 2011, up from a D two years earlier. The council said Indiana made more progress than any other state. The only states with higher overall grades were Florida with a B, and Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Tennessee, which all received B- grades. The average grade was a D+.

The report by the research and policy group that seeks to improve the quality of teaching said Indiana made the most progress in its layoff policies, going from an F in 2009 to a B in 2011. The council said seniority should not be the only factor in determining which teachers lose their jobs when there are layoffs. It listed Indiana along with Florida as being the states with the best policies. The report said: "Rather than award bonuses, teachers' salaries will be based in part on their performance in the classroom."

The Indiana Legislature last year passed a law requiring teachers to be evaluated annually, and those in the bottom two of four categories would not be eligible for automatic pay raises. The first evaluations will come at the end of the 2012-2013 school year.

Gov. Mitch Daniels at the time said the state's previous method of rating teachers, in which 99 percent of teachers were rated effective, wasn't an honest reflection of teacher quality because 25 percent of students weren't passing statewide exams.

The state received a C+ on delivering well-prepared teachers, up from a D in 2009; a C in identifying effective teachers, up from a D; and a C- in retaining effective teachers, up from a D+. The state maintained a D+ in expanding the teaching pool.

The report also gave Indiana high marks for ensuring that secondary teachers are sufficiently prepared to teach appropriate grade-level content and social studies teachers know the subject matter they are licensed to teach. It also found that Indiana and Massachusetts are the only states to require adequate mathematics preparation for aspiring elementary school teachers.

The report said Indiana didn't do a good job of ensuring that special education teachers know their subject matter or of holding teacher preparation programs accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce.