Assessing the Determinants and Implications of Teacher Layoffs

Analyzes the factors that predict which teachers are likely to be laid off in Washington state in the current seniority-based system and which would likely be laid off in an effectiveness-based system. Considers implications for student achievement

National Board Certification and Teacher Effectiveness: Evidence from Washington

We study the effectiveness of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in Washington State, which has one of the largest populations of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in the nation. Based on value-added models in math and reading, we find that NBPTS certified teachers are about 0.01-0.05 student standard deviations more effective than non-NBCTS with similar levels of experience. Certification effects vary by subject, grade level, and certification type, with greater effects for middle school math certificates. We find mixed evidence that teachers who pass the assessment are more effective than those who fail, but that the underlying NBPTS assessment score predicts student achievement. Finally, we use the individual assessment exercise scores to estimate optimal weights for value-added prediction

A Leap of Faith: Redesigning Teacher Compensation

Summarizes three reports: Teacher Attitudes About Compensation Reform, Returns to Skill and Teacher Wage Premiums, and Teacher Labor Markets and the Perils of Using Hedonics to Estimate Compensating Differentials in the Public Sector

Teacher Attitudes About Compensation Reform: Implications for Reform Implementation 2010

Examines teachers' views of merit pay and alternative compensation for those in hard-to-staff subject areas and schools and those with special knowledge and skills. Analyzes determining factors for varying levels of support. Outlines policy implications

Teacher Attitudes About Compensation Reform: Implications for Reform Implementation 2007

Examines how teachers' views of merit pay and additional pay for hard-to-staff schools, subjects, and additional certification differ by individual characteristics, including subject area, experience, and school performance. Considers policy implications

Teacher Labor Markets and the Perils of Using Hedonics to Estimate Compensating Differentials in the Public Sector

Assesses the difficulties of using hedonic modeling -- which assigns dollar weights to teacher- and location-specific factors to set salaries -- in determining pay differentials for public school teachers, including the lack of wage flexibility

The Choice is Yours: How Pension System Decisions Might Shape the Teacher Workforce

Current interest in teacher pension reform stems from the poor financial condition of many states' pension systems. The costs of these systems were not fully capitalized into the cost of education in the past, which is putting pressure on current finances, and policy-makers may wantto reduce the likelihood of this occurring in the future. Moreover, there are concerns that many states' traditional defined benefit plans may not distribute compensation in a way that optimally attracts and retains the best teachers. In considering pension reforms, such as shifting towards defined contribution structures, it is important to gain insights into teachers' preferences for different types of plans. Washington State's experience of creating a hybrid pension plan can provide useful information to policy makers dealing with these issues. The "big picture" policy implication of the experience in Washington State is that teacher pension systems can be reformed in a way that is attractive to both teachers and states. The proportion of teachers choosing to transfer to the hybrid plan (75 percent) or enroll as a new hire (60 percent) suggests that there was substantial win-win territory to be taken by restructuring the pension system. As stated previously, creating a new pension system does not by itself reduce unfunded liabilities associated with an existing DB system. However, a state can reduce the financial risk associated with its exposure to those liabilities by inducing employees to voluntarily transfer to the new system. Our analysis of the 1997 transfer decision illustrates a situation in which a large proportion of teachers in a traditional DB plan were willing to transfer to a hybrid pension system, and that the decision to transfer was influenced by financial incentives and factors related to risk preferences (particularly age and income). While these findings cannot be generalized to hybrid plans as a whole (we only observe choice between two specific plans), they do indicate the potential to induce a large proportion of transfersto a suitably structured plan.Our analysis of pension choice among new hires in the 2007 choice cohort indicates that a popular hybrid pension plan can be created at comparable cost to a traditional DB plan and with lower financial exposure for taxpayers. Excepting teacher age, new hires' pension preferences were not related to observable teacher and work-environment characteristics. It appears unlikely that the introduction of TRS3 significantly altered the composition of the teacher workforce interms of attracting new hires. Furthermore, we find no evidence that transitioning to the hybrid system negatively affected the quality of the teacher workforce. In fact, more effective teachers were slightly more likely to choose the hybrid plan. As unfunded pension obligations compete for many state's current education dollars, there is likely to be increasing pressure to enact reforms that will prevent the recurrence of such problems in the future. Given the stakes involved, pension reform is inevitably a contentious process, but the findings from Washington State suggest changes can be made to pension systems that make both teachers and taxpayers better off

Feeling the Florida Heat? How Low-Performing Schools Respond to Voucher and Accountability Pressure

While numerous recent authors have studied the effects of school accountability systems on student test performance and school "gaming" of accountability incentives, there has been little attention paid to substantive changes in instructional policies and practices resulting from school accountability. The lack of research is primarily due to the unavailability of appropriate data to carry out such an analysis. This paper brings to bear new evidence from a remarkable five-year survey conducted of a census of public schools in Florida, coupled with detailed administrative data on student performance. We show that schools facing accountability pressure changed their instructional practices in meaningful ways. In addition, we present medium-run evidence of the effects of school accountability on student test scores, and find that a significant portion of these test score gains can likely be attributed to the changes in school policies and practices that we uncover in our surveys.

Returns to Skill and Teacher Wage Premiums: What Can We Learn By Comparing the Teacher and Private Sector Labor Markets?

Estimates the wage differences between public school teachers and other professions over time by gender, advanced degree, major, college quality, and technical and academic skills. Explores the incentives needed to attract and retain effective teachers

Passing Muster: Evaluating Teacher Evaluation Systems

Describes how state or federal governments could reward exceptional teachers based on a uniform standard across various district-level teacher evaluation systems by determining the systems' reliability in predicting future performance. Includes Q & A