We investigate the predictive validity of teacher licensure tests using data from the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL). MTEL scores predict teachers' in-service performance ratings and contributions to student test scores (i.e., value added). We then explore whether these relationships vary for teacher candidates of color.…

Low-socioeconomic status (SES), minority, and male students perform worse than their high-SES, non-minority, and female peers on standardized tests. This paper investigates how within-school differences in school quality contribute to these educational achievement gaps. Using individual-level data on the universe of public-school students in…

Students' abilities are multidimensional; teachers and schools shape students' cognitive skills, most often captured by test scores, but they also shape students' non-cognitive skills such as character, tolerance, effort, and conscientiousness. This study reviews the evidence indicating disconnects between test scores and non-cognitive skills from…

We examine the relationship between absenteeism and achievement since the onset of COVID-19. Applying first-differences models to North Carolina administrative data, we estimate that each absence was associated with a 0.0032 standard deviation (SD) decline in math achievement in 2022-23. As students averaged 3.3 more absences in 2022-23 than…

We estimate the effects of accountability-driven school closure in New York City on students who attended middle schools that were closed at the time of closure and students who would have likely attended a closed middle school had it remained open. We find that students who would have entered the closed school had it not closed attended schools…

Schools in England and Wales since the late 1980s have been compared in terms of their performances in public examinations and standardised test scores in the form of "school league tables", with Wales ceasing to produce these after 2001. One of the factors related to performance in examinations is the choice of the examination board,…

In this article we develop a methodology for the joint value added analysis of multiple outcomes that takes into account the inherent correlation between them. This is especially crucial in the analysis of higher education institutions. We use a unique Colombian database on universities, which contains scores in five domains tested in a…

The paper presents results from the evaluation of the Teach for Bulgaria (TFB) program, which is part of the Teach for All global network. TFB activities have relevance for a variety of fast-track pathways to the teaching profession. The evaluation is based on a quasi-experimental assessment of teacher performance through student value-added…

The authors describe five value-added methods (VAM) used in school assessment as the backdrop to their main thesis. Then they review the assumptions underlying measurement and evaluation, the foundation of all assessment systems, including value-added. They discuss the traditional criterion variable used in VAM: a standardized test score. Next,…

The purpose of this research was to determine if the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System Average Growth Index (PVAAS AGI) scores, derived from standardized tests and calculated for Pennsylvania schools, provide a valid and reliable assessment of teacher effectiveness, as these scores are currently used to derive 15% of the annual…

Value-added models try to separate the contribution of individual teachers or schools to students' learning growth measured by standardized test scores. There is a policy trend to use value-added modeling to evaluate teachers because of its face validity and superficial objectiveness. This article investigates the potential long term consequences…

For the past 12 years, the Cowen Institute has published the "State of Public Education in New Orleans" ("SPENO") on a near annual basis. During that time, the purpose, content, and audience of the report have evolved. This edition of the report is a snapshot of public education in the current academic year using aggregated…

In this study, we compare the teacher quality distributions in charter schools and traditional public schools, and examine mechanisms that might explain cross-sector differences in teacher effectiveness as measured by teacher value-added scores using school and teacher level data from Florida. We have three main findings. First, we find that…

Despite evidence that many schools and districts have considerable discretion when hiring teachers and the existence of an extensive literature on teacher quality, little is known about how best to hire teachers. This is, in part, because predicting teacher quality using readily-observable teacher characteristics has proven difficult and there is…

Using value-added models, we find that high schools impact students' self-reported socio-emotional development (SED) by enhancing social well-being and promoting hard work. Conditional on schools' test score impacts, schools that improve SED, reduce school-based arrests, and increase high-school completion, college-going, and college persistence.…