Jessalynn James
Understanding the Association Between Educational Experiences and Economic and Social Mobility: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997
Topics: Student LearningTags: Poverty, Student supportsUsing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, we examine differences in educational experiences and in social and economic mobility for youths experiencing poverty relative to their more affluent peers. We also explore the extent to which different educational experiences are… more →
“Refining” Our Understanding of Early Career Teacher Skill Development: Evidence From Classroom Observations
Topics: Teacher and Leader DevelopmentNovice teachers improve substantially in their first years on the job, but we know remarkably little about the nature of this skill development. Using data from Tennessee, we leverage a feature of the classroom observation protocol that asks school administrators to identify an item on which the… more →
Measuring returns to experience using supervisor ratings of observed performance: The case of classroom teachers
Topics: MethodsTags: Human capital, AssessmentWe study the returns to experience in teaching, estimated using supervisor ratings from classroom observations. We describe the assumptions required to interpret changes in observation ratings over time as the causal effect of experience on performance. We compare two difference-in-differences… more →
School Segregation, Teacher Sorting, and the Distribution of Teachers
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceThe distribution of teaching effectiveness across schools is fundamental to understanding how schools can address disparities in educational outcomes. Research and policy have recognized the importance of teaching effectiveness for decades. Five stylized facts predict that teachers should be… more →
Local Supply, Temporal Dynamics, and Unrealized Potential in Teacher Hiring
We explore the dynamics of competitive search in the K-12 public education sector. Using data from Boston Public Schools, we document how teacher labor supply varies substantially by position types, schools, and the timing of job postings. We find that early-posted positions are more likely to… more →
Operator versus Partner: A Case Study of Blueprint School Network’s Model for School Turnaround
Numerous high-profile efforts have sought to “turn around” low-performing schools. Evidence on the effectiveness of school turnarounds, however, is mixed, and research offers little guidance on which models are more likely to succeed. We present a mixed-methods case study of turnaround efforts… more →
Is Effective Teacher Evaluation Sustainable? Evidence from DCPS
Topics: Teacher and Leader DevelopmentTen years ago, many policymakers viewed the reform of teacher evaluation as a highly promising mechanism to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Recently, that enthusiasm has dimmed as the available evidence suggests the subsequent reforms had a mixed record of implementation… more →
Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Turnover, New Evidence from District of Columbia Public Schools
Topics: Teacher and Leader DevelopmentFew topics in education policy have received more attention than teacher turnover—and rightly so. The cost of losing a good teacher can be substantial and is born most directly by students. It is now widely recognized that teachers differ considerably in their ability to improve student outcomes… more →