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CCSR Working Papers
Authors: Lauren Sartain, Sara Ray Stoelinga, and Eric Brown
August 14, 2009
The Consortium on Chicago School Research, with funding from the Joyce
Foundation, is in the process of conducting a formative and summative
evaluation of the Excellence in Teaching Pilot. This pilot focuses on
improving the process of teacher evaluation in Chicago Public Schools.
The new teacher evaluation system provides a continuum of teacher
practice using the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching, as well
as structured conferences between principals and teachers.
This report summarizes findings from the first year of the evaluation.
The focus of year one of the study was to examine technical properties
of the Framework, to learn about the implementation of the evaluation
process and to describe perceptions of the principals and teachers
engaged in the evaluation pilot. We rely upon a variety of methods to
answer these questions including statistical analysis of principal and
external observer ratings of classroom practice, classroom
observations, and interviews with teachers and principals.
This report offers an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the
implementation of the evaluation system and includes recommendations
for improvements in training and implementation for the second year of
the pilot.
In the second year of the study, we will be looking at validity of the
Framework (i.e., how Framework ratings relate to value-added measures)
and focusing on how the evaluation system relates to school change, as
well as continuing to explore reliability and implementation issues.
Authors: Takako Nomi and Elaine Allensworth
December 8, 2008
Expanded instructional time has become increasingly popular as a strategy to improve the academic outcomes of low-skilled students, particularly in ninth grade. We evaluate the efficacy of a double-period algebra policy initiated in the Chicago Public Schools in 2003. This policy required all students with eighth-grade test scores below the national median to enroll in a support algebra course in addition to regular algebra in ninth grade. We show the effects of the policy on students' grades, failure rates, and test scores in 9th-grade algebra and 10th grade geometry.
Providing support courses improved algebra test scores for the target population, but only modestly affected grades and failure rates. Students with very low initial abilities benefited less than students close to the national median. The policy also led schools to track algebra classes by students' entering math skills. As a result, it affected academic outcomes among students not targeted by the policy; test scores among high-ability students improved while their grades declined.
This paper was published in Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, April 2009, Volume 2, Issue 2, pages 111 - 148
Authors: Elaine Allensworth, Takako Nomi, Nicholas Montgomery, and Valerie E. Lee
December 3, 2008
There is a national movement to universalize the high-school curriculum so that all students graduate prepared for college. Here we evaluate a policy
in Chicago that ended remedial classes and mandated college-preparatory
coursework for all students. Using an interrupted time-series cohort design
with multiple comparisons, we found that the policy reduced inequities in ninth grade coursework by entering ability, race/ethnicity, and special
education status.
Although more students completed ninth grade with credits in Algebra and English I, failure rates increased, grades declined slightly, test scores
did not improve, and students were no more likely to enter college. Although
few benefits resulted from universalizing college preparatory coursework
among ninth graders, neither did dropout rates increase. Possible explanations are discussed.
This paper was published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, December 2009, Volume 31(4), pages 367 - 391
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