CCSR Working Papers

Evaluation of the Excellence in Teaching Pilot

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.

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College Preparatory Curriculum for All: Consequences of Ninth-Grade CourseTaking in Algebra and English on Academic Outcomes in Chicago

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.

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