Laura S. Hamilton
Media Resources
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Education
Overview
Biography
Laura Hamilton is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and an adjunct associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Sciences and Policy program. Her research focuses on educational assessment, accountability, instructional practices, and school reform. She has directed several large studies, including an investigation of the implementation of standards-based accountability in response to No Child Left Behind, an investigation of relationships between student achievement and teachers instructional practices in mathematics and science, and an evaluation of a leadership development program for principals in urban school districts. She is currently working with the National Center on Performance Incentives to investigate teachers' responses to pay-for-performance programs, and is evaluating a new principal evaluation system in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. She has expertise in psychometrics; survey research methodology; and measurement of instructional practices, leadership, and reform implementation. She has served on a number of national and state panels, including the Brookings National Commission on Choice in K–12 Education, the Center on Education Policy's Advisory Panel on Student Achievement Under No Child Left Behind and its Panel on High School Exit Exams, and the APA/AERA/NCME Joint Committee to Revise the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. She is also chairing a panel on data-driven decisionmaking for the What Works Clearinghouse. Hamilton received her Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Research Focus
Recent Projects
- Study of responses to standards-based accountability
- Teacher and principal evaluation
- Measurement of instruction and school leadership practices
- Design of accountability systems
- Evaluation of principal leadership development program
Selected Publications
Hamilton, L.S., Stecher, B.M., Russell, J.L., Marsh, J.A., & Miles, J., "Accountability and teaching practices: School-level actions and teacher responses.," Research in Sociology of Education, 16:31-66, 2008
Stecher, B.M., Epstein, S., Hamilton, L.S., Marsh, J.A., Robyn, A., McCombs, J.S., Russell, J.L., & Naftel, S., Pain and gain: Implementing No Child Left Behind in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, 2004 to 2006, RAND Corporation (MG-784-NSF), 2008
Hamilton, L.S., Stecher, B.M., Marsh, J., McCombs, J.S., Robyn, A., Russell, J., Naftel, S., & Barney, H., Implementing standards-based accountability under No Child Left Behind: Responses of superintendents, principals, and teachers in three states., RAND Corporation (MG-589-NSF), 2007
McCaffrey, D.M., & Hamilton, L.S., Value-added assessment in practice: Lessons from the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System pilot project, RAND Corporation (TR-506-CC), 2007
Hamilton, L.S., & Martinez, J.F., "What can TIMSS surveys tell us about mathematics reforms of the 1990s?" T. Loveless (Ed.), Lessons learned: What international assessments tell us about math achievement, (127-174), 2007
Hamilton, L.S., & Stecher, B.M., "A better way: Measuring charter school success and failure," .J. Lake & P.T. Hill (Eds.), Hopes, fears, and reality: A balanced look at American Charter Schools., :61-71, 2006
Koretz, D., & Hamilton, L.S., "Testing for accountability in K-12," Educational Measurement, 4th Ed., :531-578, 2006
Hamilton, L.S., "Assessment as a Policy Tool," Review of Research in Education, 27(25-68), 2003
Honors & Awards
- President's Award, RAND Corporation
- Outstanding Reviewer Award, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Recent Media Appearances
Interviews: Education Daily; Education Week; Los Angeles Times; NEA Today; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; San Antonio Express-News; United Press International; New York Times
Commentary: Philadelphia Inquirer; Pittsburgh Business Times; Education Week; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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The Limits of Average Test Scores — May 11, 2007