Published:
April 2018
Authors:
John P. Papay
Mary E. Laski
Key Findings
- Teachers in Tennessee are improving over the course of their careers on average. This holds true across subjects and across measures of teacher effectiveness.
- Teacher improvement varies substantially by district and school. In other words, in some places, teachers are improving (on average) at much greater rates than in others.
- Teachers in Tennessee appear to improve at about the same rates in higher-poverty schools as in lower-poverty schools.
- Teacher improvement appears to be steeper in more recent years.
Methods
This analysis uses data on Tennessee teachers in grades 4-8 over the past decade. Teacher effectiveness is measured using student test scores, teacher observation data, and teachers' value-added ratings.
