New teacher effectiveness measures have the potential to influence how principals hire teachers as they provide new and richer information about candidates to a traditionally information-poor process. This article examines how the hiring process is changing as a result of teacher evaluation reforms. Research Methods: Data come from interviews with more than 100 central office personnel and 76 principals in six urban school districts and two charter management organizations. These sites were systematically sampled based on the amount of time and resources devoted to creating data systems and implementing processes that allow principals access to teacher effectiveness data. In addition to the fieldwork, we also surveyed all principals in six of the eight systems. A total of 795 principals responded to the survey, with an overall response rate of 85%. Findings: The findings suggest that while teacher effectiveness data can be used to inform hiring decisions there is variation in how and the extent to which principals use these measures in hiring. This variation is explained by central office practices as they mediated how principals approached teacher effectiveness data in the hiring process, as well as individual principal characteristics such as principal knowledge and skills, perceived validity of data, and social capital. Implications for
Increasingly, states and districts are combining student growth measures with rigorous, rubric-aligned teacher observations in constructing teacher evaluation measures. Although the student growth or value-added components of these measures have received much research and policy attention, the results of this study suggest that the data generated by high-quality observation systems have potential to inform principals’ use of data for human capital decisions. Interview and survey data from six school districts that have recently implemented new evaluation systems with classroom observations provide evidence that principals tend to rely less on test scores in their human capital decisions. The consistency, transparency, and specificity of observation data may provide benefits for principals seeking to use these data to inform their decision making.
Using individual-level longitudinal state administrative data, this analysis examines whether English language learner (ELL) status increases the likelihood of being designated as needing college remediation. We track a cohort of ELL and non-ELL students from first grade to college entry and investigate whether there are differences in students’ remediation designation related to time spent in an ELL program, race/ethnicity, and ELL waiver status. Results suggest distinct differences across racial and ethnic groups within the ELL category. Consistent among all student groups is the negative impact of a concentration of underrepresented students in a high school on remediation designation.
Developing effective educational leaders is fundamentally and irrevocably an interpersonal, relational process-one that requires face-to-face contact, deep thought, deliberation, reflection, engagement, and interaction. It requires cultivation of the habits of heart, mind, and soul. For nearly a decade, the faculty at North Carolina State University (NCSU) have focused on dramatically improving principal preparation. This article explores the initial design of the program, its key features and how they have evolved, processes established for continuous improvement, major challenges faced and approaches to addressing these challenges, and recent program initiatives.
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