D+

Today's mail brings the 2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook, published by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Oklahoma's overall grade: D+. What are the major policy weaknesses which earned Oklahoma such a poor score? NCTQ says our state:

• awards tenure virtually automatically;
• fails to make evidence of student learning the preponderant criterion in teacher evaluations;
• lacks an efficient termination process for ineffective teachers;
• allows middle school teachers to teach on a K-8 generalist license; and
• does not ensure that special education teachers have subject-matter knowledge.