Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness: A Workshop Connecting Research to Policy and Practice

TQ Center Workshop
April 28–29, 2009
Denver, CO

Summary

The TQ Center and Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest copresented a workshop that brought together experts and practitioners around the existing and emerging research on educator evaluation as well as policy implications and impact on practice.

Presentations

Kaneal G. Alexander
Tennessee State Department of Education
Comprehensivie Assessment (PDF 816 KB)

Laura Goe, Ph.D.
Teaching and Learning Research Center, ETS
Measuring Teacher Effectiveness (PDF 353 KB)

Dan Goldhaber, Ph.D.
University of Washington Bothell’s Center on Reinventing Public Education
Teacher Quality and Value-Added Measurement (PDF 816 KB)

Bridget Hamre, Ph.D.
University of Virginia’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL)
Using Classroom Observation to Gauge Teacher Effectiveness: The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Class) (PDF 1.5 MB)

Presenter Bios

Kaneal G. Alexander
Comprehensivie Assessment (Adobe Acrobat PDF 816 KB) Kaneal G. Alexander received her education degrees from The University of Tennessee at Martin.  Her work history includes over 27 years in education – the most informative years consisting of raising two inquisitive children who are now 18 and 21. Her teaching experience includes elementary, college, and current administrators. She joined the Tennessee State Department of Education more than 12 years ago. As the director of teacher evaluation for the Department, Ms. Alexander travels the state training administrators in the teacher evaluation process and truly believes that if used properly, the process can make a difference for teachers and the academic success of any student.

Laura Goe, Ph.D.
Measuring Teacher Effectiveness (Adobe Acrobat PDF 353 KB) Laura Goe, Ph.D., is an associate research scientist in the Teaching and Learning Research Center at ETS and is a senior researcher for the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. Previously, Dr. Goe was the research director for the Bay Area Consortium for Urban Education at the University of California–Berkeley, where she worked with representatives from school districts as well as two- and four-year colleges and universities in an effort to improve teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention in the Bay Area. She also worked extensively on issues of school finance, accountability, and teacher credentialing and distribution in California. Dr. Goe earned her doctorate from the University of California–Berkeley Policy, Organizations, Measurement, and Evaluation Program. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Memphis Education Leadership and Policy Program.

Dan Golddhaber, Ph.D.
Teacher Quality and Value-Added Measurement (Adobe Acrobat PDF 816 KB) Dan Goldhaber, Ph.D., is a research professor at the University of Washington Bothell’s Center on Reinventing Public Education, an affiliated scholar at the Urban Institute’s Education Policy Center, and a senior nonresident fellow at Education Sector. He also serves as principal investigator of the Center for Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER): Washington team and is a member of CALDER’s Strategic Planning Group. Dr. Goldhaber previously served as an elected member of the Alexandria City School Board. Dr. Goldhaber’s work focuses on issues of educational productivity and reform at the K–12 level and the relationship between teacher labor markets and teacher quality. His current research addresses teacher labor markets and the role that teacher pay structure plays in teacher recruitment and retention; the relationship between teacher licensure test performance and student achievement; the stability of teacher effectiveness measures over time; the influence of human resource practices on teacher turnover and quality; and the role of community colleges in higher education. Dr. Goldhaber earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in labor economics from Cornell University.

Bridget Hamre, Ph.D.
Using Classroom Observation to Gauge Teacher Effectiveness: The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Class) (Adobe Acrobat PDF 1.5 MB) Bridget Hamre, Ph.D., is an associate director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). Dr. Hamre’s areas of expertise include student-teacher relationships and classroom processes that promote positive academic and social development for young children, and she has authored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts on these topics. This work documents the ways in which exposure to high-quality classroom social and instructional interactions may help close the achievement gap for students at risk of school failure. With Robert Pianta, Ph.D., and Karen La Paro, Ph.D., Dr. Hamre authored an observational tool for classrooms called the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). She leads efforts to use CLASS as an assessment, accountability, and professional development tool in early childhood and other educational settings. She has recently worked with leaders in several states and the Office of Head Start to implement CLASS as a tool to enhance teacher-child interactions through accountability and professional development systems. Dr. Hamre earned her master’s degree and doctorate in clinical and school psychology from the University of Virginia.

Resources

Policy

Brandt, C., Mathers, C., Oliva, M., Brown-Sims, M., & Hess, J. (2007). Examining district guidance to schools on teacher evaluation policies in the Midwest region (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2007-No. 030). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, REL Midwest. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/midwest/pdf/REL_2007030.pdf

Heneman, H. G., III, Kimball, S., & Milanowski, A. (2006). The teacher sense of efficacy scale: Validation evidence and behavioral prediction (WCER Working Paper No. 2006-7). Madison: Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.wceruw.org/publications/workingPapers/Working_Paper_No_2006_07.pdf

Heneman, H. G., III, Milanowski, A., Kimball, S. M., & Odden, A. (2006). Standards-based teacher evaluation as a foundation for knowledge- and skill-based pay (CPRE Policy Brief No. RB-45). Philadelphia: Consortium for Policy Research in Education. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.cpre.org/images/stories/cpre_pdfs/RB45.pdf

McCaffrey, D. F., Koretz, D. M., Lockwood, J. R., & Hamilton, L. S. (2004). The promise and peril of using value-added modeling to measure teacher effectiveness (Research Brief No. RB-9050-EDU). Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/2005/RAND_RB9050.pdf

McCaffrey, D. F., Lockwood, J. R., Koretz, D. M., & Hamilton, L. S. (2003). Evaluating value-added models for teacher accountability. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2004/RAND_MG158.pdf

Murnane, R. J., & Steele, J. L. (2007). What is the problem? The challenge of providing effective teachers for all children. The Future of Children, 17(1), 15-43. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/17_01_02.pdf

Office of Postsecondary Education. (2003). Meeting the highly qualified teachers challenge: The secretary’s second annual report on teacher quality. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/teachprep/2003title-ii-report.pdf

Office of Postsecondary Education. (2005). A highly qualified teacher in every classroom: The secretary’s fourth annual report on teacher quality. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/teachprep/2005Title2-Report.pdf

Porter, A. C., Kirst, M. W., Osthoff, E. J., Smithson, J. L., & Schneider, S. A. (1993). Reform up close: An analysis of high school mathematics and science classrooms (Final report to the National Science Foundation). Madison, WI: Consortium for Policy Research in Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED364429). Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/13/39/3c.pdf

Rice, J. K. (2003). Executive summary and Introduction. In J. K. Rice, Teacher quality: Understanding the effectiveness of teacher attributes (pp. v-vii and 1-7). Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.epi.org/page/-/old/books/teacher_quality_exec_summary.pdf

The Teaching Commission. (2004). Teaching at risk: A call to action. New York: Author. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://ftp.ets.org/pub/corp/ttcreport.pdf

Research

Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2008). Methodological concerns about the education value-added assessment system. Educational Researcher, 37(2), 65-75.

Bracey, G. W. (2004). Value-added assessment findings: Poor kids get poor teachers. Phi Delta Kappan, 86, 331-333.

Braun, H. I. (2005). Using student progress to evaluate teachers: A primer on value-added models. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, Policy Information Center. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/PICVAM.pdf

Cavalluzzo, L. C. (2004). Is National Board certification an effective signal of teacher quality? (Report No. IPR 11204). Alexandria, VA: The CNA Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.nbpts.org/sites/default/files/documents/research/Cavalluzzo_IsNBCAnEffectiveSignalofTeachingQuality.pdf

Clotfelter, C. T., Ladd, H. F., & Vigdor, J. L. (2006). Teacher-student matching and the assessment of teacher effectiveness (NBER Working Paper No. 11936). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Goldhaber, D., & Anthony, E. (2004). Can teacher quality be effectively assessed?  Washington, DC:  Urban Institute. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410958_NBPTSOutcomes.pdf

Hakel, M. D., Koenig, J. A., & Elliott, S. W. (Eds.). (2008). Assessing accomplished teaching: Advanced-level certification programs. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Harris, D. N., & Rutledge, S. A. (2007). Models and predictors of teacher effectiveness: A review of the literature with lessons from (and for) other occupations. Madison, WI: Teacher Quality Research. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.teacherqualityresearch.org/models.pdf

Harris, D. N., & Sass, T. R. (20011). Teacher training, teacher quality, and student achievement. Journal of Public Economics, 95, (7-8), 798-812.

Kane, T. J., Rockoff, J. E., & Staiger, D. O. (2006). What does certification tell us about teacher effectiveness? Evidence from New York City (NBER Working Paper No. W12155). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://gseweb.harvard.edu/news/features/kane/nycfellowsmarch2006.pdf

Kupermintz, H. (2002). Teacher effects as a measure of teacher effectiveness: Construct validity considerations in TVAAS (Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System) (CSE Technical Report No. 563). Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).

Lockwood, J. R., McCaffrey, D. F., Hamilton, L. S., Stecher, B. M., Le, V.-N., & Martinez, J. F. (2007). The sensitivity of value-added teacher effect estimates to different mathematics achievement measures. Journal of Educational Measurement, 44(1), 47-67.

McColskey, W., Stronge, J. H., Ward, T. J., Tucker, P. D., Howard, B., Lewis, K., et al. (2007). National Board Certified Teachers and Non-National Board Certified Teachers: Is there a Difference in Teacher Effectiveness and Student Achievement? Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 20(3-4), 185-210.

National Association of State Boards of Education. (2005). Evaluating value-added: Findings and recommendations from the NASBE study group on value-added assessments. Alexandria, VA: Author. [A synopsis appears at http://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Research_Roundup/2006/RR2006v22n4a1.pdf ]

Rivkin, S. G., Hanushek, E. A., & Kain, J. F. (2005). Teachers, schools, and academic achievement. Econometrica, 73(2), 417-458. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://www.nber.org/papers/w6691.pdf?new_window=1

Rockoff, J. E. (2004). The impact of individual teachers on student achievement: Evidence from panel data. American Economic Review, 94(2), 247-252.

Rothstein, J. (2009). Student sorting and bias in value added estimation: Selection on observables and unobservables (NBER Working Paper No. 14666). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Sanders, W. L., Ashton, J. J., & Wright, S. P. (2005). Comparison of the effects of NBPTS certified teachers with other teachers on the rate of student academic progress. Arlington, VA: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.