In July, 2003, the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) organization published a monograph entitled Data Systems to Enhance Teacher Quality (Voorhees and Barnes, 2003) that outlined the essential components of a modern state-level data system to enhance teacher quality. Supported by grants from the Ford and Carnegie foundations, the report based its recommendations on a study of 14 state systems that illustrated best practices in data collection and reporting. It recommended that states build such systems by first drawing elements from extant databases that can be found in various forms in most states.

The publication of the SHEEO report coincided with the successful implementation of Phase I of Virginia's new Teacher Education and Licensure (TEAL) data system and the planning of a second phase that would focus on research related to teaching quality and its determinants. That planning began with the convening of an ad hoc Task Force to Explore the Design for Phase II of Virginia's Comprehensive Data System (TEAL II Task Force) and also drew input from the standing committee of college officials who share responsibility for advising TEAL staff on research matters related to teacher education (the Research Committee). The design for TEAL II was also discussed during plenary sessions of the Virginia Colleges of Teacher Education (VACTE). Officials from the Virginia Department of Education's Division of Teacher Education and Licensure also participated in the discussions. The Division subsequently hired The Center for Teaching Quality and Gary Barnes, a co-author of the SHEEO report, to propose a data system for Virginia that followed the approach taken in the SHEEO report. Phase II of TEAL is designed to serve as the research complement to the newly installed TEAL I. A new report, entitled TEAL Phase II Data System (Barnes, 2004), provided support for the evolution of TEAL II.

In terms of implementing TEAL II, an RFP was prepared by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and an application was submitted by Radford University to proceed with Phase II of TEAL. The primary objective of Phase II/Part I is to deliver a web application entitled the Teacher Pipeline Application (TPA) that will allow schools of education and other teacher preparation programs to provide unit record data (a record of each individual student) of students identified as beginning in, or progressing through, a formal program, whether traditional or alternative, leading to teacher licensure. Patterned after SCHEV's existing student-tracking system, the TPA provides participating institutions several ways to enter student data (manually or through bulk upload) to track both student outcomes and student progress through the enrolled program.

The TPA consists of three sets of records: the beginning student record, the continuing student record, and the exiting student record. The first several columns of each record are identical to comply with SCHEV data standards and ensure adequate detail to identify students. The TPA application is currently being pilot tested.

Work is also being undertaken on the other Parts of TEAL II. These include Part 2 (a survey of outcomes), Part 3 (assessment of teaching and learning conditions), and Part 4 (analysis and reporting). Parts 2 and 4 are led by Gary Barnes and Part 3 by Phillip Wishon. The teams include consultants, faculty and LEA representatives.

In addition to the working teams, there are also five regional groups led by the three deans who are part of the TEAL II steering committee (Radford, William and Mary, and James Madison). The project budget allows for two representatives to attend each of four regional meetings. The regions were set up to keep driving time to a minimum for participants. Paul Sale will lead the Southwest group; Phil Wishon the Valley and Southside groups; and Ginnie McLaughlin the Tidewater and South Central groups. The project will wrap up in December of 2006.