High-poverty Schools and Teacher Quality – Nashville, TN

Teacher inequalities still haunt Nashville schools, By Jaime Sarrio, October 18, 2009, The Tennessean: “Students attending schools at the center of Metro’s controversial rezoning plan are more likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers, despite incentives to attract and retain staff at the high-poverty schools. Teachers at nine select schools affected by the rezoning were offered a 5 percent pay increase or the chance to earn more money through training sessions, but at every school the average level of teaching experience decreased. The problem goes beyond schools involved in the rezoning. Across the district, poor students are more likely to be taught by a new teacher than are their wealthier peers. It’s a trend that has gotten worse in the past year, according to a Tennessean analysis of teacher profile data…”