- Research & Initiatives
- Research Centers & Labs
- EdPolicyWorks
- EdPolicyWorks Research Projects
- Teacher Quality Projects
Teacher Quality Projects
EdPolicyWorks research spans education policy topics from early childhood to higher education and employment. These projects include our work in the area of teacher quality.
“EdPolicyWorks is a strong, tight-knit intellectual community of faculty focused on education policy research, and I find that the interactions and discussions I have as part of that community make me a better researcher.”
–Allison Atteberry, director of EdPolicyWorks and associate professor of education and public policy
Research Projects
- Research Project
Developing Civic Competencies Through Debate
This project seeks to evaluate the effect of debate programs—in contexts from the Boston Public Schools to the nation of Rwanda—on student academic outcomes, as well as their broader civic competencies, such as the ability to conduct research, analyze public policies, back up arguments with evidence, evaluate the credibility of evidence, distinguish fact from opinion, think critically on your feet, listen to and work collaboratively with peers, consider perspectives that are different from your own, and speak persuasively.
- Research Project
Principal Strategies to Improve Teacher Effectiveness
This study explores how principals implement four specific policies (performance evaluation, professional learning, tenure, and mentoring) to realize improved teacher effectiveness and alter the composition of teachers in their school.
- Research Project
Returns to Teacher Experience in Early Career Years
This project examines this early period of teachers’ careers in which they typically exhibit the highest returns to experience. We are particularly interested in whether any factors account for this variability, such as the quality of a pre-teaching preparation program, or the characteristics of her first school, colleagues, or principal.
- Research Project
Assessing and Improving IMPACT: A DCPS-UVA Research Partnership
This study explores the District of Columbia Public Schools System’s IMPACT program, an innovative program for assessing teacher performance and improving teacher quality.
- Research Project
The Effects of Performance-Based Compensation: Evidence from the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF)
In an effort to improve student outcomes, there has been a growing interest in the use of “performance based compensation systems” (PBCS) as a tool for encouraging teacher effectiveness. The U.S. Department of Education in 2009 encouraged the use these types of systems through the use of Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants. This project seeks causal effects of the TIF-funded reforms in order to assess its impact.