The What Works Clearinghouse collects, reviews, and reports on studies of education interventions. The growing focus on evidence-based decision making has increased demand for this type of information.
Teacher and Principal Effectiveness
Access to high quality educators is critical to the future of American children and to the economic success of our nation. We study private and public efforts to improve the effectiveness of teachers and principals in our nation's schools, helping decision makers understand what works and why.
Our Work
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What Works Clearinghouse -
Providing Technical Assistance to Teacher Quality Programs
Increasing the number of highly effective teachers and principals is a national policy concern focus of federal education policy.
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Tanzania Early Childhood Learning AgendaQuality pre-primary education is seen as the cornerstone of an effective education strategy in Tanzania. The Tanzania Primary Education Development Plan III (PEDP) 2012–2016 and the new draft, Education Sector Development Plan 2016/2017–2020/2021, articulate core priorities and strategic direction.
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Impact Evaluation of Departmentalized Instruction in Elementary Schools
The focus of school improvement strategies has shifted from reforming whole schools to improving the quality of instruction in individual classrooms.
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Design of Middle Grades Longitudinal Study of 2016–2017Mathematica and its partners are designing the first-ever national longitudinal study of middle grade students. We are developing assessments of student math skills and socioemotional and executive functioning, as well as student and teacher surveys.
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Access to Effective Teaching for Low-Income Students
This project examines whether low-income students are taught by less effective teachers than high-income students, and if so, whether reducing this inequity would close the student achievement gap.
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Pennsylvania Teacher and Principal Evaluation PilotWe examined practices of teachers who make larger contributions to student achievement growth, reviewed plans for an overall effectiveness measure, described variation in professional practice scores, and examined practices strongly correlated with contributions to student achievement growth.
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Charleston County School District Multi-Dimensional Educator Evaluation Framework and Educator Effectiveness Rating SystemMathematica is designing evaluation models for both teachers and school administrators, designing and producing value-added models, and providing technical and analytic assistance.
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Impact of 2007 DC School ReformsAs a contributor to the DC Education Consortium for Research and Evaluation, we are providing descriptive statistics about the retention of effective teachers, the distribution of teacher quality across schools and wards, and the experience and tenure of principals.
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Value-Added Analysis Services for the State of OklahomaMathematica is providing support to the Oklahoma State Department of Education on developing value-added measures of educator effectiveness for its educator evaluation system. The system was piloted in the 2013-14 school year with full implementation in the 2015–16 school year.
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Assessing Teacher Effectiveness in Pittsburgh Public SchoolsIn a project with the Pittsburgh Public Schools, we developed value-added statistical models that estimate teachers’ and schools’ contributions to the achievement of their students. Our findings suggest that the value-added model estimates provide meaningful information on teacher and school performance.
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The Impact of Replacing Principals on Student Achievement in DC Public Schools
The Public Education Reform Amendment Act led to numerous reforms that changed nearly every aspect of DC public schools. In this project, we focus on one consequence of the reforms by examining the impact of principal replacements that began in 2007 on student achievement.
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Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and TeachersWe designed value-added models to measure teacher and school effectiveness and have produced annual estimates of educators’ contributions to achievement in grades 4-8 since the 2008-2009 school year. These estimates are combined with other measures of educator effectiveness in DCPS’s IMPACT system.
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Evaluating the Chicago Teacher Advancement Program (Chicago TAP)This impact evaluation included teacher surveys, principal interviews, and student test score, teacher personnel, and program participant data. The program did not raise student math or reading scores, but it increased teacher retention in some schools.
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Pay-for-Performance: Evaluating the Teacher Incentive Fund
This study is evaluating these performance-based compensation systems to examine issues like the impact of pay-for-performance on student achievement and educator effectiveness, and helping to answer pressing policy questions about how the programs are designed, communicated, and implemented.