Teacher Effectiveness

Teacher Training
commentary
Teachers Lost Out on Professional Learning During the Pandemic. Here's How Summer Programs Could Help
Elizabeth D. Steiner @ED_Steiner, Laura Stelitano
Mar 5, 2021
The RAND Blog
For thousands of teachers across the United States, 2020 was a year of uncertainty. Many lacked access to their usual professional learning activities. Summer programs for students that also offer learning opportunities for teachers might help make up for lost time.
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Elementary Education
blog
Theresa May, Emotional Learning, Teachers: RAND Weekly Recap
May 31, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on Theresa May's resignation, social and emotional learning, the value of a good teacher, and more.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
blog
NATO's 70th Anniversary, Food Deserts, Teachers: RAND Weekly Recap
Apr 5, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on effective teachers, NATO's 70th anniversary, food deserts, and more.
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Social and Emotional Learning
commentary
Learning How to Measure Social and Emotional Learning
Brian M. Stecher, Laura S. Hamilton
Jan 11, 2018
FutureEd
Educators and policymakers are increasingly focusing on non-academic competencies, known as social and emotional learning. To support growth in these areas, teachers need assessments that can help them understand how well students are learning these skills, and what instructional approaches work best.
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Personalized Learning
commentary
What Emerging Research Says About the Promise of Personalized Learning
John F. Pane @JohnFPane
Aug 16, 2017
Brookings Institution's Brown Center Chalkboard
Personalized learning could lead to improved student outcomes. But those implementing this approach should temper their expectations for how big these benefits will be—and be patient while the benefits emerge. It's also important to consider the challenges of implementation.
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Teacher Effectiveness
commentary
Before We Measure Teaching Quality, We Should Know What It Is
Lucy Strang
Nov 29, 2016
Research Fortnight
The lack of an evidence base on teaching quality and its impact in higher education points to a need for more research, made more pressing by the imminent roll-out of the Teaching Excellence Framework, which intends to assess and monitor teaching quality at UK higher education institutions.
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Teacher Effectiveness
blog
The Challenges of Measuring Effective Teaching
Nov 16, 2016
While educators, policymakers, and parents may agree on the need for more effective teachers, they often use different criteria to judge whether schools are doing their job. Parents have varied priorities for what they want in teachers and in schools.
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Academic Achievement
essay
Personalized Learning: The Latest Buzz in Classroom Instruction
Aug 22, 2016
Students in personalized learning classrooms made greater gains in math and reading than their peers in other schools. But there are barriers to fully personalized learning, including rigid state standards and time demands on teachers.
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Teacher Effectiveness
commentary
Inspiring Better Teacher Planning and Instruction or Just Adding Noise?
Julia H. Kaufman @juliahkaufman
Jul 20, 2016
The RAND Blog
Teachers can and should have the freedom to select and develop at least some of their own instructional resources. But whether sites like Amazon Inspire will actually save teachers time and help them find high-quality resources is up for debate.
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Standards-Based Education Reform
commentary
The Opt-Out Reckoning
Jonathan Schweig
May 10, 2016
U.S. News & World Report
Criticism of standardized testing is nearly as old as the testing itself. Will the opt-out movement promote meaningful and enduring changes in the educational system, and will these changes benefit the most at-risk and disadvantaged students?
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Education Reform
commentary
Reauthorizing ESEA: Four Recommendations to Improve Teaching Effectiveness
Laura S. Hamilton, Brian M. Stecher, Grace Evans
Feb 3, 2015
The RAND Blog
Policies aimed at boosting teaching effectiveness are a key component of a strong ESEA reauthorization. Addressing discrepancies in teacher quality helps teachers improve, retains effective teachers, and makes the teaching profession an attractive option for those contemplating careers.
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Teacher Effectiveness
commentary
Flexibility Is Key in Administration's Call for Teacher Equity Plans
Jennifer L. Steele, John Engberg, Brian M. Stecher
Aug 22, 2014
The RAND Blog
Metrics like teacher experience and licensure reveal little about teachers' impact on student learning. The focus should be on disadvantaged students' access to effective teachers.
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Teacher Effectiveness
blog
RAND's Teacher Bonus Research Recognized by U.S. Dept. of Education
Sep 24, 2013
The U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences recognized a RAND report on the effects of teacher bonuses in New York City public schools last week. IES added the report, A Big Apple for Educators, to its What Works Clearinghouse.
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Value-Added Modeling in Education
commentary
A Better Method for Estimating Teacher Performance
Terrance Dean Savitsky
Feb 19, 2013
The RAND Blog
Structured observation protocols for assessing how teachers provide lessons to their students offer the opportunity to provide teachers with valuable feedback on how their practices could be improved, writes Terrance Dean Savitsky.
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Teacher Effectiveness
commentary
Grading Teachers
V. Darleen Opfer @VDarleenOpfer
Jan 16, 2013
IFC's Handshake
Research is starting to demonstrate that teaching, like all professions, is something that can be learned, continuously improved upon, and subject to the conditions under which it occurs, writes V. Darleen Opfer.
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Value-Added Modeling in Education
commentary
States Tackle Education's Holy Grail: Measuring a Teacher's Effectiveness
Kata Mihaly
Jan 11, 2013
The RAND Blog
An accurate combined measure of teacher effectiveness would be the gold standard to capture and communicate information about the quality of educators. While the challenges to building such a measure are significant, research can help guide the way.
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Teacher Effectiveness
blog
How Should We Measure Teacher Effectiveness?
Oct 3, 2012
A new RAND Education website provides objective, nonpartisan insights that can help inform the discussion on how to measure teacher effectiveness.
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commentary
Consider the Evidence
V. Darleen Opfer @VDarleenOpfer
Sep 11, 2012
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Teachers Union strike erupted over classic issues: an extended day, a new evaluation system and hiring and firing. Yet, somewhat classically, neither the union nor Chicago Public Schools has put forth research evidence to support their stance, writes Darleen Opfer.
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Teacher Incentives
commentary
The Debate over Teacher Merit Pay: A Freakonomics Quorum
Julie A. Marsh
Sep 20, 2011
Freakonomics
Motivation alone does not improve schools. Even if incentives inspire staff to improve practices or work together, educators may not have the capacity or resources to bring about improvement, writes Julie Marsh.
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Teacher Effectiveness

Teachers Lost Out on Professional Learning During the Pandemic. Here's How Summer Programs Could Help

Theresa May, Emotional Learning, Teachers: RAND Weekly Recap

NATO's 70th Anniversary, Food Deserts, Teachers: RAND Weekly Recap

Learning How to Measure Social and Emotional Learning

What Emerging Research Says About the Promise of Personalized Learning

Before We Measure Teaching Quality, We Should Know What It Is

The Challenges of Measuring Effective Teaching

Personalized Learning: The Latest Buzz in Classroom Instruction

Inspiring Better Teacher Planning and Instruction or Just Adding Noise?

The Opt-Out Reckoning

Reauthorizing ESEA: Four Recommendations to Improve Teaching Effectiveness

Flexibility Is Key in Administration's Call for Teacher Equity Plans

RAND's Teacher Bonus Research Recognized by U.S. Dept. of Education

A Better Method for Estimating Teacher Performance

Grading Teachers

States Tackle Education's Holy Grail: Measuring a Teacher's Effectiveness

How Should We Measure Teacher Effectiveness?

Consider the Evidence

The Debate over Teacher Merit Pay: A Freakonomics Quorum

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