Impact Evaluation of Teacher and Leader Performance Evaluation Systems

Contractor: American Institutes for Research, Instructional Research Group, University of Virginia, Teachstone, Discovery Education Association, Teachscape, The Danielson Group

Background/Research Questions:

Through the Race to the Top and Teacher Incentive Fund grant programs, as well as its proposal for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ED has emphasized the policy of evaluating educator effectiveness and providing educators useful and timely feedback that can be used for summative and formative purposes. Such feedback may lead to improvements in practice and, ultimately, student achievement. The current study is an intervention study designed to examine the implementation and impacts of a package of performance evaluation components that are consistent with federal evaluation system policy, including measures of student achievement growth and classroom observations. Teachers, leaders and districts will receive timely and constructive feedback on teacher and principal performance. The evaluation system will be implemented by the study's implementation team in a subset of schools in a sample of districts that do not already have an evaluation system similar to that being studied.

The study will address the following key research questions:

• What is the impact of the performance evaluation system on student achievement? On teachers' classroom practices? On teacher mobility? On the nature and extent of professional development activities pursued by teachers and principals?
• What are district and school experiences with implementation?

Design:

Approximately 10 districts will participate in the study. Within each district, a subset of approximately 12 to 14 schools will be randomly assigned to receive the study's evaluation system during 2012–2013 and 2013–2014 or to participate only in the district's usual performance evaluation system during the same time period. Data will be collected on teacher and principal professional development experiences during 2012–2013 and 2013–2014, as well as their perceptions of the usefulness of performance feedback received. Data will also be collected from districts regarding their uses of the principal and teacher performance information received. The study will collect student achievement data from district records for 2012–2013 and 2013–2014 and conduct classroom observations in 2013–2014. Teacher and principal mobility and retention will be measured through Fall 2014. Implementation data collected will include measures such as the frequency with which teachers were observed and received feedback, and the percentage of teachers who participated in a 360-degree assessment that is part of the principal performance evaluation system, in each of the two implementation years.

Cost/Duration: $18,044,313 over 5 years (September 2011–September 2016)

Current Status: The study's performance evaluation system is being implemented for the 2012–13 school year in treatment schools. A report on this study is expected in Spring 2015 and will be announced on http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/.