Mathematica Policy Research is launching the Educator Impact Laboratory to help state and local education leaders measure the impact that educators have on their students, put these findings into context, and use them to improve education.
“In our one-on-one collaborations with state and local education agencies, we see that many districts have strong needs for rigorous evidence but limited capacity for original research and no desire to reinvent the wheel,” said Steven Glazerman, director of the lab.
For more than two decades, Mathematica has worked with education leaders at the federal, state, and local levels to measure performance of teachers, examine the distribution of effective teaching, and understand the factors that help educators have a greater impact on the students they serve. The lab expands Mathematica’s collaborations with state and local education agencies around the challenging task of measuring the impact that teachers and principals have on their students and using this information in creative ways to improve outcomes.
As part of its goals to present the latest tools, information, and thinking from leaders in the field, the lab houses a new blog, Ed Impact, that presents expert perspectives on timely and important education topics. The lab also helps measure teacher and principal impacts, assess educator impact and equity, harness data collection advances to improve measurement, and assess educator training programs by:
- Demystifying the statistics behind using value-added and student growth models as part of teacher evaluations
- Creating interactive data visualization tools to support real-life decision-making
- Weighing in on important debates through Ed Impact, a blog about education concepts related to standardized testing, use of test scores to measure teacher and principal performance, and research methods
- Building a network of academic affiliates representing the most cutting edge research on educator impact
- Convening events to present research, working papers, and academic publications
To learn more about the lab or to keep up with the latest tools and viewpoints, bookmark the lab’s home page, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook; or subscribe to our RSS feed.