Professional development (PD) for teachers is a ubiquitous feature of the American educational landscape. Yet we know little about how districts navigate the variation in teacher learning needs when designing and implementing district-wide PD programs. In this paper, we describe how the District of Columbia Public Schools implemented an ambitious…

Despite the contributions of their work to the learning and development of young children, child care and early education (CCEE) educators are among the lowest paid workers in the United States and have high rates of turnover in their jobs. In a pioneering effort, Washington, DC has launched the nation's first large-scale, publicly funded program…

Teacher evaluation systems that use in-class observations, particularly in high-stakes settings, are frequently understood as accountability systems intended as nonintrusive measures of teacher quality. Presumably, the evaluation system motivates teachers to improve their practice--an accountability mechanism--and provides actionable feedback for…

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory partnered with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to explore the potential use of teacher surveys in school leader evaluation. The DCPS evaluation system, like many others, currently consists of two components: an assessment on how well a school performs on a set of student achievement…

Today, nine out of 10 Americans age 65 and older depend on Social Security benefits to lead a comfortable and secure retirement. Among all Americans over age 65, Social Security makes up more than half of their household income. This brief outlines the history of Social Security benefits in the public sector, describes the safe harbor rule and how…

This article describes a piloted approach to responsive lesson planning and lesson reflection that centers the motivation of both teachers and students in public school settings. Anchored in the African philosophical approach of Sankofa and Self-Determination Theory, the tools and practices described encourage strategic reflection while…

Background/Context: Professional development (PD) programs have been the primary tool school districts have used to improve teachers' knowledge and skills, though the evidence is mixed on the degree to which these investments translate into improved outcomes for teachers and their students. Further, most research has tracked researcher-designed…

Ten years ago, many policy makers viewed the reform of teacher evaluation as a highly promising mechanism to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Recently, that enthusiasm has dimmed as the available evidence suggests the subsequent reforms had a mixed record of implementation and efficacy. Even in districts where there was…

Teacher turnover is an enduring concern in education policy and can incur substantial costs to students. Policies often address turnover broadly, yet effects turn on net differences in the effectiveness of exiting and entering teachers, in addition to the disruption dealt to classrooms. Recent research has shown mixed effects of teacher evaluation…

Research highlights the many benefits of study abroad in higher education with emerging scholarship on study abroad in K-12 education. This paper focuses on how leading study abroad fosters a collaborative, cosmopolitan-oriented, professional environment for secondary teachers in Washington, D.C. Public Schools (DCPS). Theoretically we apply…

Across the country, effort is underway to restrict discussion, learning, and student support related to race and gender/sexual identity in educational settings, targeting schools with state legislation and politicians' orders; national conservative media and organizations; Board directives; and local actors wielding media-fueled talking points. To…

Ten years ago, many policymakers viewed the reform of teacher evaluation as a highly promising mechanism to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Recently, that enthusiasm has dimmed as the available evidence suggests the subsequent reforms had a mixed record of implementation and efficacy. Even in districts where there was…

To better understand teacher retention, the thrust of the study was to investigate the relationships among principal support, teacher efficacy, collective efficacy and practicing teachers' commitment to the profession. This study was designed to test the mediating role of teacher and collective efficacy beliefs on teacher commitment facilitating…

In practice, teacher turnover appears to have negative effects on school quality as measured by student performance. However, some simulations suggest that turnover can instead have large, positive effects under a policy regime in which low-performing teachers can be accurately identified and replaced with more effective teachers. This study…

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…