Does student-teacher match quality exist? Prior work has documented large disparities in teachers' impacts across student types but has not distinguished between sorting and causal effects as the drivers of these disparities. I propose a disparate value-added model and derive a novel measure of teacher quality--revealed comparative advantage--that…

Using administrative data from D.C. Public Schools, I use exogenous variation in the presence and intensity of teacher monitoring to show it significantly improves student test scores and reduces suspensions. Uniquely, my setting allows me to separately identify the effect of pre-evaluation monitoring from post-evaluation feedback. Monitoring's…

Houston Independent School District (HISD) strives to provide an equitable education to all its students. To uphold the district's mission, the Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) was designed with the goal of promoting effective teaching by providing systematic, rigorous feedback on teacher effectiveness in the classroom. Through the…

The Board of Education's mission is to equitably educate the whole child so that every student graduates with the tools to reach their full potential. To succeed in their mission, the board participates in Lone Star Governance, whose intent is to provide a continuous improvement model for governing teams (Boards in collaboration with their…

In response to the school accountability movement and the move toward market-oriented education policies in recent decades, many schools and districts have felt increased pressure to find effective ways to boost student achievement. However, many districts--largely those serving low income black and hispanic students in urban settings--have still…

Houston Independent School District (HISD) strives to provide an equitable education to all of its students. In an effort to uphold the district's mission, the Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) was designed with the goal of promoting effective teaching by providing systematic, rigorous feedback on teachers' effectiveness in the…

One outcome of the implementation of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and its call for better accountability in public schools across the nation has been the use of student assessment data in measuring schools' effectiveness. In general, inferences about schools' effectiveness depend on the type of statistical model used to link student assessment…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) launched the Effective Teachers Initiative (ETI) in 2010 with the goal of increasing teacher effectiveness to improve student achievement. As part of this initiative, HISD implemented the Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) in the 2011-2012 school year to provide teachers, principals, and…

A companion piece to "High Stakes for High Achievers: State Accountability in the Age of ESSA," this report appraises states' current (or planned) accountability systems as they affect high-achieving students in high school. They were examined and rated based on whether they incorporate under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the measures that make up each of the three separate accountability indices of school performance in South Carolina could be used to create an overall, reliable index of school performance. Data from public elementary, middle, and high schools in 2012/13 were used in confirmatory factor…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) launched the Effective Teachers Initiative in 2010 in order to provide every student in HISD with excellent instruction. As part of this initiative, HISD implemented the Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) in 2011 to provide teachers, principals, and district officials the information they…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) is intended to improve teacher performance and increase student achievement. This report analyzes results from the TADS Evaluation Survey, which assessed teacher and appraiser perceptions about TADS in 2016-2017. Perceptions about TADS are presented by…

Early in the Effective Teachers Initiative (ETI), Houston Independent School District (HISD) prioritized the design and implementation of a Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) that gives teachers, principals, and district officials the information they need to improve instructional practice and make staffing decisions that ensure that…

An estimated 46 million adults have some college education but have not completed their degrees. For many, especially those who have accumulated several years' worth of credits, the inability to finish college remains a frustration. If the United States is to achieve its ambitious education attainment goals, many more adults with such experience…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) launched the Effective Teachers Initiative in 2010 in order to provide every student in HISD excellent instruction. As part of this initiative, HISD implemented the Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) in 2011-2012 school year to provide teachers, principals, and district officials the…