Past Event

Annual Conference of the Association for Education Finance and Policy

Research Informing Practice, Practice Informing Research
Feb 26, 2015 - Feb 28, 2015
Washington, DC

Mathematica researchers will give presentations at the 40th annual conference of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP), February 26 to 28, in Washington, D.C.

 

The presentations will include the results of two multisite randomized controlled trials on teacher effectiveness:

  • Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF): Federal TIF grants supported pay-for-performance bonuses for teachers and principals in high-need schools. We will describe the early implementation experiences of TIF districts and present evidence on educators’ understanding of TIF and their attitudes toward teaching and the TIF program. 
  • Teach for America (TFA): TFA is an organization that seeks to improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged students by recruiting and training teachers to work in low-income schools. Over the past five years, TFA has launched a major expansion effort. We examined the effectiveness of TFA teachers during this period.

 

Also, Jill Constantine, vice president and director of human services, will chair a roundtable discussion of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). The WWC was established in 2002 as an initiative of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education, to be a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education to improve student outcomes. In addition to an overview of the WWC, the session will discuss ways in which the WWC can be a resource for researchers designing and conducting rigorous studies and practitioners looking for evidence-based interventions to use in their classrooms and schools. The panel will also discuss new directions for the WWC and future directions for leveraging studies reviewed by the WWC and other federal systematic review efforts. Dr. Constantine will be joined by Joy Lesnick, an associate commissioner at the National Center for Education Evaluation at IES; senior researcher Neil Seftor; and Jeff Valentine from the University of Louisville.