TeacherKeys Helps Connect Teaching Candidates and Districts

"I am delighted to announce this venture to educators nationwide," said Ted Sanders, president of the Education Commission of the States, who serves as the chairman of the network and as a member of ACT's board of directors. "We face unprecedented challenges in educating America's youth and meeting No Child Left Behind mandates. Teachers Support Network is dedicated to bridging the gap between the number of highly qualified teachers needed and those available."

The network provides services to teachers applying for positions and to employers trying to fill vacancies.

Aspiring and current teachers who use the Teachers Support Network service can securely sign in and take tests to assess their reading, writing, and mathematics skills. The tests assess candidate skills and, if indicated, provide prescriptive remediation in the form of online courses targeted to address skill deficits. The screening identifies candidates most likely to meet the NCLB requirements of highly qualified teachers. Candidates and educators also can access additional ACT assessment services, including high-stakes assessments.

For school districts, TSN offers subscription services that allow them to search the database for teachers they would like to interview. 

ACT's contribution to TSN is the Web-based self-assessments teachers can use to measure their own skills. Called TeacherKeys™, these take-at-home, practice versions of the WorkKeys assessments are available to teachers who participate in the TSN website. Teachers are encouraged to take three assessments: Writing, Applied Math, and Reading. After reviewing their scores, they can choose to add them to their portfolios, seek remediation through an ACT Center to improve their skills and their scores, or take an actual WorkKeys test at a proctored test center and add that score to the TSN portfolio.

"Hiring, developing, and retaining highly qualified teachers is a priority of every school building and district nationwide," said Tracy MacGregor, the network's president and chief executive officer. "We are delighted that ACT is joining us in this important mission which, each day, affects the lives of the nation's children. TeacherKeys' assessment goes beyond reporting evaluation results—it provides an individualized prescription to improve skill performance, helping districts to develop the teachable skills of 'highly qualified' teachers. This is a valuable service to teaching candidates looking for the perfect job and schools with a goal of finding and retaining dedicated, highly qualified teachers."

The NCLB requirements mandate that highly qualified teachers demonstrate the equivalent of a baccalaureate-level education. Scores corresponding to that level of skills are a 5 in Reading for Information, a 5 in Applied Mathematics, and a 3 in Business Writing. ACT established those scores through an analysis of the WorkKeys scores of more than 5,000 college seniors. "We're confident that the majority of college seniors would score at or above the designated skill levels," said Ricki Saylor, ACT vice president of professional development services.

Introducing TeacherKeys strengthens TSN's service to teachers and school districts and expands school district use of WorkKeys assessments as a screening and hiring tool.

"As educators, we know that no one book has all of the answers and no one person can solve all of the problems. By working as a team, we can keep everyone moving ahead together so nobody gets left behind," TSN chair Sanders said.

For more information on the Teachers Support Network, go to www.teacherssupportnetwork.com.