Search Annenberg

Explores how the social context of Chapter 1 prekindergarten classrooms influences learning gains among 677 four-year-olds in five states.

Reviews how administrative and experimental data have advanced economists' research on the effects of school reform policies.

Finds positive cognitive effects of center-based child care for young children in poor communities whose mothers entered welfare-to-work programs.

Explains why high-achieving teachers have short careers in schools with low-achieving students, worsening disparities through transfers and quits.

Finds that male teachers perceive more influence over school policy in coeducational and boys' schools, while the pattern reverses in girls' schools.

Proposes a general approach to measuring test measurement error, including day-to-day variation in student performance that reliability estimates miss.

Analyzes attrition among New York City elementary and middle school teachers and whether those who transfer or leave are more or less effective than those who stay.

Uses Georgia and Oklahoma's universal preschool programs to examine whether state provision crowds out private childcare providers.

Uses General Social Survey data on older cohorts to estimate the effects of measurable school characteristics on student achievement.

Compares the quality of middle-grade schools attended by eighth graders who experienced Head Start, other preschools, or no preschool.

Uses New York City data on grades three through eight to assess how pathways into teaching affect the teacher workforce and student achievement.

Models how increased state involvement in school funding affects district spending levels, assuming demand sorting rather than perfect income sorting.

Asks whether teachers who are effective with one group of students are equally effective with others, testing the consistency of value-added measures across subgroups.

Examines recent changes in the academic competitiveness of the teacher workforce amid No Child Left Behind, alternative pathways, and labor market shifts.

Argues value-added measures offer little guidance for individual teacher improvement but can inform decisions about programs, staffing, and incentives.

Documents the scale of student absenteeism and class skipping and argues that schools must actively engage students to increase attendance.

Asks how much teachers vary in performance improvement during their first five years and how well initial performance predicts later effectiveness.

Documents positive spillovers among teachers, showing that working with more effective colleagues improves teacher performance.

Provides empirical evidence on how China's shift in college admission mechanisms and exam score information affected the academic match between colleges and students.

Recent education reform efforts commonly aim at improving teacher effectiveness. One study of three large districts finds that they spent approximately $18,000 for professional development for each teacher each year.