EWA Research Brief: What Studies Say About Teacher Effectiveness
As policymakers and school leaders seek new ways to measure and improve teacher effectiveness, it’s important for journalists and others to understand what is known about the topic so far, and what remains unsettled or unknown. This research brief does not synthesize all the studies in this highly technical field. But it does aim to improve the accuracy and clarity of reporting by exploring what the research says about timely questions surrounding the complex topic of teacher effectiveness.
The brief is organized around several prevailing questions about teacher effectiveness in K-12 education. For each question, we’ve reviewed some of the most-important research, identifying key findings and tension points. (Citations in the text refer to a list of sources in the bibliography.) At the end of each section, we present a bottom-line summary of the research.
Nearly all of the studies cited here rely on the use of student test scores as a proxy for learning, a research practice that remains hotly
