In October 1999, SHEEO was awarded a grant by the Ford Foundation to collect and analyze information related to the importance of mobility to teacher recruitment and retention.

Phase I
During the initial phase of the Mobility Project, SHEEO established partnerships with the North Central Regional Education Laboratory (NCREL), the National Governors' Association (NGA), and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to identify and analyze resources, policies and initiatives that affect employment opportunities for new and veteran teachers. These efforts resulted in four publications:

• The Compendium of Resources on Teacher Mobility, a collection of national, regional, and state research articles, briefs and other publications on a number of mobility related topics including compensation, licensure reciprocity and pension portability (during Phase II of the project the Compendium was updated and expanded as described below); and
• A series of three strategy briefs:
    - Teacher Recruitment: Staffing Classrooms with Quality Teachers
    - Solving Teacher Shortages through License Reciprocity
    - Improving Pension Portability for K-12 Teachers

Phase II
For Phase II, SHEEO joined forces with the Education Commission of the States (ECS) to continue this important work supported by the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Phase II included five activities:

• Continue to disseminate the four publications from Phase I to policymakers and education leaders: Hard copies of the Compendium and strategy briefs were printed and disseminated in the first year of Phase II and made available through SHEEO and at professional meetings sponsored by SHEEO and ECS.
• Expand the web-based Compendium of Resources on Teacher Mobility: In Phase II SHEEO updated and expanded the Compendium to include resources related more broadly to teacher quality including preparation, induction and professional development in addition to teacher mobility related topics. The Compendium of Resources on Teacher Quality is a web-based searchable database that provides descriptions, contact information and links to selected resources.
• Analyze data collection systems to support policy development: Working with an advisory committee, SHEEO developed a study to investigate the status of data systems in the states and how they could be used to answer questions about teacher quality. The resulting publication, Data Systems to Enhance Teacher Quality reviews data collection systems in 14 states and develops recommendations to enhance these systems and their uses.
• Develop pilot efforts to build regional consortia aimed at supporting interstate policies on teacher mobility: ECS is providing a small number of grants to state and regional organizations to advance interstate/intrastate agreements that help remove barriers to teacher mobility. The grants will be used to supplement the following:
  
  • Collection and analysis of interstate/intrastate data on teacher supply and demand Development of a strategic work plan to promote, develop and implement interstate/intrastate license reciprocity and pension portability agreements
  • Development of interstate/intrastate license reciprocity or pension portability agreements and the proposed steps toward implementing the agreements by appropriate approving public agencies
• Develop a communications strategy aimed at education leaders and state policymakers: ECS will work with a communications firm to assist in the development and implementation of a national communications strategy to provide accurate and succinct information on the importance of mobility to recruitment and retention.