Teacher Training Strategies

“The Evaluation of Teacher Preparation Models: Design Report." Paul Decker, John Deke, Amy Johnson, Daniel Mayer, John Mullens, and Peter Schochet, October 2005. Every year, thousands of new teachers pass through hundreds of different teacher preparation programs and are hired to teach in the nation’s schools. In recent years, alternative programs have expanded rapidly. Despite the expansion of these new routes into teaching, little research exists to provide guidance on the effectiveness of different teacher training strategies. This report presents the design for Mathematica’s evaluation of these issues.

Serious Mental Illness: Service Gaps

“The Struggle to Provide Community-Based Care to Low-Income People With Serious Mental Illnesses.” Peter Cunningham, Kelly McKenzie, and Erin Fries Taylor, Health Affairs, vol. 25, no. 3, 2006. This paper describes gaps in services for low-income people with serious mental illness, as reported by mental health professionals and other observers in 12 communities in the U.S. According to respondents, service gaps have grown in recent years—especially for the uninsured—because of state budget pressures and Medicaid cost-containment policies. Growing service gaps contribute to high prevalence of serious mental illness among the homeless and prison populations, as well as emergency department crowding. Some states and communities are aggressively addressing these gaps, although funding for new programs remains scarce.

Passport to Teaching

"An Evaluation of American Board Teacher Certification: Progress and Plans." Steven Glazerman and Christina Tuttle, May 2006. Alternative routes to teaching have been promoted during the past decade because of concerns about teacher shortages and teacher quality. Mathematica's new five-year study of the Passport to Teaching program, developed by the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, is analyzing the impacts of the credential on teacher performance, measured in terms of student achievement. This paper describes results from the first six months and plans for the remainder of the evaluation.

Cash and Counseling Reports

The Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation, implemented in Arkansas, Florida, and New Jersey, gave eligible Medicaid beneficiaries who were frail or had disabilities the opportunity to receive a monthly allowance to purchase supportive services of their choosing. In one state, children were also included. The following reports from the evaluation are now available:

"Assessing the Appeal of the Cash and Counseling Demonstration in Arkansas, Florida, and New Jersey." Leslie Foster, Randall Brown, and Rachel Shapiro, July 2005. States considering a Cash and Counseling program are likely to be interested in the number and types of eligible beneficiaries it might attract, factors that could deter interested beneficiaries from participating, and possible increases it might create in the total number of beneficiaries receiving the Medicaid personal care services (PCS) or home- and community-based services (HCBS) benefit. This report assesses the appeal of the demonstration by (1) estimating the proportions of eligible beneficiaries who participated and comparing the characteristics of participants and nonparticipants; (2) describing beneficiaries’ most common reasons for agreeing or declining to participate; and (3) examining whether the demonstration affected the number who access PCS or HCBS over time (program flow). The findings show that Cash and Counseling did not attract large percentages of those known to be eligible, nor did it seem to attract many beneficiaries who were interested in the program allowance but would not use traditional PCS or HCBS. The fairly low participation levels may have resulted from challenges states faced in conducting outreach and enrollment activities, from beneficiaries' satisfaction with their existing care arrangements or disinclination to assume new responsibilities, or simply from the newness of the program.

"Consumer and Consultant Experiences in the New Jersey Personal Preference Program." Leslie Foster, Barbara Phillips, and Jennifer Schore, July 2005. This report details implementation, goals and features, and consumer satisfaction with New Jersey’s Cash and Counseling program, called Personal Preference. The model proved administratively feasible and politically tenable during the evaluation period. Data from discussions with program staff, consultant questionnaires, and consumer surveys show that many participants ably managed their supportive services and found it rewarding to do so. New Jersey plans to continue offering Personal Preference as an option to eligible Medicaid beneficiaries.

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