With new standards, technology-facilitated curriculum, and extensive formative and summative assessment design, the importance of the teacher is at risk of being overlooked. In study after study, the teacher is held up as the most significant variable for student success. In this month’s issue brief, we explore the importance of Read more
The Strategic Data Project (SDP), part of Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, has teamed with Los Angeles Public Schools (LAUSD) for the last two years and has just released findings based on “analysis of student achievement data to measure teacher effectiveness.” The formal title of the revealing report is Read more
Too often do we in the field of education policy end up discussing only the negatives: red tape, too little funding, changed programs, poor communication, lack of support, etc. In recent years, principals and teachers have often borne the brunt of the criticism, although research into successful schools consistently shows Read more
Yesterday, Katy Farber offered the following letter to the fallen teachers of Sandy Hook Elementary. We repost it here in honor of their memories and in respect for the selfless acts that teachers perform in our nation’s schools each day. To my fallen colleagues, I heard your stories today on Read more
A new paper recently released by the Center for American Progress argues that excessive teacher absences, as might be expected, cause decreases in student achievement and waste school district resources. However, the paper asserts that problem of these excessive absences could be fairly easily alleviated because “the vast variation in Read more
A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette op-ed on teacher evaluations, authored by Mathematica senior fellow Brian Gill and senior researcher Duncan Chaplin, recommends comprehensive teacher evaluation that not only relies on achievement gains but also other valid and reliable measures. Multiple measures are a buzzword, but Gill and Chaplin unpack the options, which Read more
TNTP, a nonprofit organization working to ensure that all students get excellent teachers, has opened the application period for the 2013 Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice. The prestigious award is given to no more than five public school teachers a year who demonstrate exceptionally effective teaching with students from Read more
TNTP, a national nonprofit organization working to ensure that all students get excellent teachers, recently released a first-of-its-kind resource on effective teaching written by and for practicing teachers. The resource, Unlocking Student Effort , is a paper that includes five essays written by the winners of TNTP’s 2012 Fishman Prize Read more
The teachers’ strike in Chicago has generated considerable interest in the use of test-based measures of teacher effectiveness in personnel decisions. For a clear discussion of the uses, value, and limitations of test-based measures check out the CADLER Conversation on the issue. The National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data Read more
In Cincinnati, newly released research finds that teacher participation in a teacher evaluation system that includes highly structured classroom observations increases student performance. Released in the Fall 2012 edition of Education Next, the study looks at practice-based teacher assessment that relies on multiple, highly structured classroom observations conducted by experienced Read more
Sara Mead of Bellwether Education recently wrote in an Education Week blog about her investigation into teacher evaluation legislation in 21 states that have passed laws in the last three years requiring teacher evaluations based in part on student achievement. Bellwether’s study finds that 12 states’ laws link tenure to Read more
The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recently released a new study that takes an in-depth look at “teacher quality,” and how our understanding of the concept has changed over the past decade. The report, From Teacher Education to Student Progress: Teacher Quality Since NCLB, notes that prior to NCLB, it was Read more
In a recent article for Slate, Ryan Fisman reflects on the current emphasis on teacher effectiveness. Is firing bad instructors the only way to improve schools? According to new research, maybe not. Few districts have the “luxury” of being able to fire low-performing teachers and replacing them with more effective Read more
The United Way Worldwide (UWW) recently released a study on how communities can work together to advance effective teaching and empower effective teachers. Beginning in July 2009, the study took place in 14 communities located in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. United Way Worldwide worked with the communities to identify Read more
The Strategic Data Project (SDP) released two Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs) that highlight specific areas that education leaders should examine to improve the overall effectiveness of their teacher workforce and the performance of their school districts. The first of these SPIs focuses on teacher placement patterns, examining which students are Read more
The Center for American Progress has released a report on student surveys regarding how challenged they feel at school. Along with the report, CAP has provided an interactive map breaking down key results by state. Popular assumption is that the nation’s teenagers are drowning in schoolwork. Images of sullen students Read more