Does Monitoring Change Teacher Pedagogy and Student Outcomes?

In theory, monitoring can improve employee motivation and effort, particularly in settings lacking measurable outputs, but research assessing monitoring as a motivator is limited to laboratory settings. To address this gap, I leverage exogenous variation in the presence and intensity of teacher monitoring, in the form of unannounced in-class observations as part of D.C. Public Schools’ IMPACT program. As monitoring intensifies, teachers use more individualized teaching and emphasize higher-level learning. When teachers are unmonitored, their students have lower test scores and increased suspensions. This novel evidence validates monitoring as a potential tool for enhancing teacher pedagogy and employee performance more broadly.