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21 Mar 2018
Brief

Promoting Educator Effectiveness: The Effect of Two Key Strategies

Andrew Wayne and Michael S. Garet, AIR
Alison Wellington and Hanley Chiang, Mathematica Policy Research

Image of smiling African American teacher with studentHaving a more effective teacher or principal can substantially improve students’ academic outcomes. The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) program provided competitive grants to help states and districts implement a multi-strategy approach to enhancing educator effectiveness. TIF grantees were required to measure educator performance and use this information to make decisions about the support and compensation they provide for educators. The Teacher and School Leaders (TSL) Incentive Grants program, which replaced TIF, provides grants to eligible entities to develop, implement, improve, or expand performance-based compensation systems and human capital management systems in schools.

This brief brings together the findings of two studies from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that examined specific strategies supported by TIF. One study, The Impact of Providing Performance Feedback to Teachers and Principals,  examined the effects of using research-based performance measures to evaluate educators and provide them with feedback. The second study evaluated the effects of offering bonuses to educators based on their performance ratings.

Although no single large-scale study has evaluated the effects of a full, comprehensive program, these studies can provide insight on the potential effects of two strategies that are prominent in such programs. In addition, evidence from both studies suggests areas of potential improvement for programs that support or expand human capital initiatives in schools and highlights potential avenues for future research.

Key Findings

  • Providing educators with performance feedback and offering pay-for-performance bonuses can improve student achievement. Across years of implementation, each tested strategy sometimes had a positive cumulative impact on students’ math or reading achievement.
  • Features of the measures or programs and on-the-ground implementation may limit the effectiveness of the program strategies. Both studies provided evidence that the policy as implemented differed in some ways from the approach envisioned. For example, in the pay-for-performance study, about 40 percent of the teachers were unaware they were eligible to receive a performance bonus.
  • Educators can be receptive to some of the evaluation and compensation strategies supported by TIF and TSL. Sixty-five to 84 percent of the educators reported being satisfied with the feedback they received on their practices. In addition, pay-for-performance ultimately led to improvements in teachers’ satisfaction with some aspects of their jobs.
Promoting Educator Effectiveness: The Effect of Two Key Strategies

Related Work

19 Dec 2017
Report

The Impact of Providing Performance Feedback to Teachers and Principals

Educator performance evaluation systems are a potential tool for improving student achievement by increasing the effectiveness of the educator workforce. This report is based on a study on the implementation of teacher and principal performance measures highlighted by recent research, as well as the impact of providing feedback based on these measures.
Homepage Image for What Happens When Educators Get More Feedback? In This Study, Student Math Scores Improved
19 Dec 2017
Blog Post

What Happens When Educators Get More Feedback? In This Study, Student Math Scores Improved.

A study released today by AIR and the Institute of Education Sciences shows that even small amounts of the right kind of feedback to teachers and principals can have an effect on student achievement in math. As Andrew Wayne explains in this blog post, the findings are important for states and districts looking for ways to boost educator effectiveness.
Teacher taking selfie with students
30 Apr 2020
Spotlight

Preparing and Evaluating Effective Teachers and Leaders

Teacher performance evaluation systems are one potential tool for improving student success. Emerging research points to some promising features of performance evaluation measures. Explore our most recent resources in teacher and leader development and effectiveness to discover what we are learning and how it is contributing to successful schools.

Related Projects

Project

Educational Innovation in Teacher Incentive Fund Grants

Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants support the use of performance-based compensation and other human capital strategies that enhance and sustain performance-based compensation, in order to increase students’ access to effective educators in high-need schools. AIR provides technical support to the Center for Educational Innovation in New York City, which manages four TIF grants that serve groups of independent charter schools in New York City, Buffalo, and New Jersey.

Further Reading

  • The Impact of Providing Performance Feedback to Teachers and Principals
  • Preparing and Evaluating Effective Teachers and Leaders
  • American Institutes for Research Study Examines the Effect of Providing Educators with Additional Performance Feedback
  • Early Implementation Findings From a Study of Teacher and Principal Performance Measurement and Feedback: Year 1 Report
  • AIR Research Experts to Present at the Spring 2018 Conference of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness
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Contact

Andrew Wayne

Managing Researcher

Michael S. Garet

Vice President and Institute Fellow

Topic

Education
Principal Preparation and Performance
Teacher Preparation and Performance

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