Thursday, July 28, 2011

Education Research Report: Inside IMPACT: D.C.'s Model Teacher Evaluation System

Education Research Report: Inside IMPACT: D.C.'s Model Teacher Evaluation System

Inside IMPACT: D.C.'s Model Teacher Evaluation System

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School districts across the country are struggling with whether—and how—to incorporate multiple measures into teacher evaluation systems. In the District of Columbia, however, the decision has already been made. The D.C. IMPACT system, originally developed under former Chancellor Michelle Rhee, is a rigid, numerically based teacher evaluation system that rates teachers on the basis of classroom observations and student performance data.

IMPACT replaces a previous teacher evaluation system that rated 95 percent of D.C. teachers "satisfactory" or above. Yet NAEP scores for District of Columbia students were among the lowest in the nation.

"In the two years since this high-stakes report card was launched, it has led to the firing of scores of educators,

Can Schools, Districts, and Central Offices Find Their Way to Autonomy?

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Education Sector's new report takes a closer look at the theory behind the autonomy movement, with a particular focus on D.C. Public Schools.


When policymakers begin to think of ways to help schools improve, they often settle on the idea of giving individual schools greater independence. This led to the "site-based management" movement of the 1990s.

Home Environment Significantly Impacts Pre-K Learning

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In this study, Trajectories of the Home Learning Environment Across the First 5 Years: Associations With Children’s Vocabulary and Literacy Skills at Prekindergarten, children's home learning environments were examined in a low-income sample of 1,852 children and families when children were 15, 25, 37, and 63 

New York City School-Based Financial Incentives Program Did Not Improve Student Achievement or Affect Reported Teaching Practices

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A New York City program designed to improve student performance through school-based financial incentives for teachers did not improve student achievement, most likely because it did not change teacher behavior and the conditions needed to motivate staff were not achieved, according to a RAND Corporation study.

From 2007 to 2010, nearly 200 high-needs New York City public schools participated in the Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program. The study, commissioned by the New York City Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers and funded by the New York City Fund for Public Schools and National Center on Performance Initiatives, is the most comprehensive study on the city's performance pay program.

The State of Proficiency: How student proficiency rates vary across states, subjects, and grades between 2002 and 2010

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In 2007, NWEA and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute collaborated on The Proficiency Illusion, a study that illustrated the issues created by having each state set its own standards for what constitutes student proficiency for reading and mathematics tests, while holding all states to the same accountability standards. By comparing the cut scores that determine proficiency for each state, the researchers found that there was significant