The new stimulus guidance is up, and the most significant directives from the education department center on the data that must be collected under the conditions of accepting money from the state stabilization fund. These are surely going to raise some eyebrows.

Highlights:

*States must collect data on the number and percentage of teachers and principals rated at each performance level in each district’s teacher-evaluation system, and on the number and percentage of teacher and principal evaluation systems that require evidence of student-achievement outcomes. (A signal that the department is serious about boosting teacher effectiveness.)

*States must report the number and percentage of students by school who graduate high school and go on to complete at least one year’s worth of college credit (as applicable to a degree) within two years. (Do all states have this capability?)

*States must report whether they allow charter schools and whether there is a cap restricting the number of such schools, the number of charter schools currently operating in the state, and the number of charter schools closed within the last three years for academic reasons. (President Obama just called for states to lift caps on charter school capacity and expansion.)

UPDATE: Over at Teacher Beat, my colleague Steve Sawchuk offers insight into why the provisions on teacher-evaluation reporting are a big deal.