The transition to new assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards was a significant turning point in the standards' implementation. Concerns about the transition led districts to suspend the use of value-added scores for evaluating teachers, but changes to other measures, such as classroom observations, were rare. Using data from the…

Using administrative data from D.C. Public Schools, I use exogenous variation in the presence and intensity of teacher monitoring to show it significantly improves student test scores and reduces suspensions. Uniquely, my setting allows me to separately identify the effect of pre-evaluation monitoring from post-evaluation feedback. Monitoring's…

The evidence-based decision-making emphasis in education has largely focused on the adoption of new practices for which evidence of effectiveness exists. Following adoption, however, the focus shifts to improvement and the appropriate evidence needed to support budget decisions must be local, timely, and relevant. Existing evidence used to support…

In the twenty-first century, the use of standardized tests as the primary means to evaluate schools and teachers in the United States has contributed to severe dilemmas, including misleading information on what students know, lower-level instruction, cheating, less collaboration, unfair treatment of teachers, and biased teaching. This article…

Through extensive research, the Foundation has identified the most critical levers for success in the classroom -- high standards, high-quality feedback, and effective tools -- and worked with teachers to develop, test, and strengthen them. This report describes what we know about these factors, why they are important, and what we need to learn,…

This report describes the value-added models used as part of teacher evaluation systems in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and in eligible DC charter schools participating in "Race to the Top." The authors estimated: (1) teacher effectiveness in DCPS and eligible DC charter schools during the 2011-2012 school year; and (2)…

In this report, the authors describe the value-added models used as part of teacher evaluation systems in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and in eligible DC charter schools participating in Race to the Top. They estimated (1) teacher effectiveness in DCPS and eligible DC charter schools during the 2011-2012 school year; and (2)…