The following dissertation consists of three studies, demarcated as chapters, seeking to advance the use of longitudinal data in the measurement and evaluation of the dynamics K-12 teacher and school effectiveness, each using distinct quantitative methodologies. The first chapter employs a regression discontinuity design to evaluate the effects of the North Carolina Department of Public Instructionâs school turnaround program on student academic outcomes. Separate analyses by levels of schooling (i.e. elementary, middle, and secondary) and outcome measures reveal potential heterogeneity in the response to intervention and underscores the necessity of multifaceted approaches and nuanced reporting in the evaluation of broad, multiyear education reform initiatives. The second chapter analyzes the potential effects of performance-based teacher retention reform using the statistical framework of diagnostic accuracy to evaluate such policies in their ability to correctly predict future teacher performance. This approach offers new metrics for the consideration of retention reformâs consequences, both intended and unintended, and highlights the limitations natural teacher churn imposes on such reforms, as well as the potential benefits of using multiple measures of teacher performance to more accurately predict teachersâ future performance. The third chapter considers how student achievement gains are distributed within teachersâ classrooms as a way of comparing teacher performance and understanding teacher improvement. Specifically, it examines how the mean, variance, and skewness of the distribution of individual student learning gains change with teacher experience, across grades and subjects, and between teachers at varying levels of estimated effectiveness. Notable among the studyâs findings is that the distribution of student learning gains and the dynamics of teacher improvement demonstrate patterns for teachers of English-Language Arts (ELA) distinct from that of teachers of mathematics and science, with more experienced ELA teachers reducing the variance in their studentsâ learning gains in ways not reflected by analysis of mean learning gains over time.
Taken together, the chapters take three distinct methodological approaches to longitudinal education data and span a range of research goals, from the exploration of the dynamics of how the distribution of individual student learning gains are distributed within classrooms, to the development of more efficient performance-based teacher retention measures, to the evaluation of the efficacy of a state-led school turnaround initiative. Within each, contextual knowledge of an unsettled policy debate is used to advance the measures and methods used to evaluate the dynamics of K-12 teacher and school effectiveness.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-04192016-171211 |
| Date | 19 April 2016 |
| Creators | Guthrie, James Edward |
| Contributors | Jason A. Grissom, Ph.D., Gary T. Henry, Ph.D., Joseph F. Murphy, Ph.D., Joseph L. Rodgers, Ph.D. |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-04192016-171211/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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