US: States look to mend gaps in teacher screening systems

States look to mend gaps in teacher screening systems

Steve Reilly, USA TODAY6 hours ago

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State lawmakers and education officials around the country said this week they plan to address weaknesses in teacher screening policies and practices following an investigation by the USA TODAY NETWORK.

The USA TODAY NETWORK investigation found the nation’s database of disciplined teachers, run by the nonprofit National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, is missing the names of thousands of educators who have been disciplined by state agencies.

The missing names in the NASDTEC Clearinghouse, along with flaws in information-sharing and background processes in some states, have allowed some teachers to find jobs in one state while they are barred from teaching in another.

In North Carolina, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest on Wednesday told The (Asheville, N.C.) Citizen-Times he expects teacher screening policy reforms to be put before lawmakers by the time of the state legislature’s “short session,” which starts in April.

“This needs to be on the forefront of what we’re doing in the short session, and it should be a fairly easy lift to make that happen,” Forest said.

In North Carolina, which scored an “F” in the USA TODAY NETWORK’s state-by-state evaluations of screening practices, local school districts conduct background checks on prospective teachers, rather than the state. A 2010 state education task force recommended 15 separate changes to state teacher screening policies, but it was largely ignored.

The North Carolina state Department of Public Instruction has begun internal policy reviews and has started to submit the names of disciplined teachers to the NASDTEC Clearinghouse that were missing, DPI attorney Katie Cornetto told the Citizen-Times.

“At this point, there are internal meetings discussing the task force report and the news reports,” Cornetto said.

In Georgia, state education officials added about 100 names of disciplined teachers to NASDTEC after their absence was brought to the state's attention by WXIA.

Of those reports, two involved teachers accused of having ongoing physical relationships with students. Another report accused the teacher of calling a student into his classroom to grade papers, then giving him a “lingering kiss on the cheek” and nibbling on his ear.

“I am surprised," Paul Shaw, Director of the Ethics division within Georgia’s Professional Standards Commission, told WXIA. "This is the first time it’s been brought to my attention that we possibly need to strengthen our process and we believe we’ve done that. We do take our work seriously."

In Indiana, state education officials told The Indianapolis Star they also reported missing discipline cases to NASDTEC after the newspaper identified unreported cases, and are reviewing records from previous administrations.

Indiana State Rep. Bob Behning, Chairman of the Indiana House of Representatives’ Committee on Education, told the newspaper he is exploring ways to ensure the state reports full information to NASDTEC.

In Tennessee, which also received an “F,” state board of education chairman Fielding Rolston said the board wants to look into problems identified in the report as it undergoes a policies and procedures audit started in October.

"We are concerned," Fielding said to The Tennessean this week. "We need to explore the reasons for the grade and make sure we do whatever we need to do to address any deficiencies at this current time."

Nationally, changes are underway to review the teacher discipline data as well. On Monday, NASDTEC executive director Phillip Rodgers said the organization would direct all 50 states to audit all their previous submissions to the database to ensure they are accurate and complete. Although every state is a member of the private data reporting system, it is voluntary and each state has its own guidelines as to what type of discipline is submitted.

An internal review of NASDTEC reporting has also been launched by education officials in Iowa, according to The Des Moines Register.

In some states, the lack of public transparency surrounding teacher discipline was highlighted by the USA TODAY NETWORK. Following reporting by The (Wilmington, Del.) New Journal, Delaware state Sen. Ernie Lopez said he would introduce legislation to make information about serious educator misconduct available to the public.

“On the whole, our excellent teachers are one of Delaware's greatest assets," Lopez said in a statement Monday. “But too often in recent years we have picked up the morning paper to find another charge of abuse. This needs to stop, and the Department of Education needs to be fully transparent. Protecting bad teachers hurts our kids and sends the wrong message.”

Contributing: Tonya Maxwell of The (Asheville, N.C.) Citizen-Times, Chelsea Schneider and Marisa Kwiatkowski of The Indianapolis Star, Jason Gonzales of The Tennessean, Matthew Albright and Saranac Hale Spencer of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal, Jason Clayworth of The Des Moines Register, Rebecca Lindstrom of WXIA in Atlanta.