Over 2,000 teachers in the state of Washington received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices across the 2008–09 and 2009–10 school years. We link data on these RIF notices to an administrative data set that includes student, teacher, school, and district variables to determine the factors that...

In this policy brief we argue that there is little debate about the statistical properties of value-added model (VAM) estimates of teacher performance, yet, despite this, there is little consensus about what the evidence about VAMs implies for their practical utility as part of high-stakes...

In this article we focus on two questions: How well do teachers understand their current pension plans, and what do they think about alternative plan structures? The data come from administrative records and a 2006 survey of teachers in Washington State. The results suggest that Washington's...

Investment in the certification of teachers by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) represents a significant policy initiative for the nation's public school teachers. This article investigates the potential impact of NBPTS certification on teachers' career paths. Using...

This brief summarizes findings from several research articles that focus on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). This work focuses on three key questions: Who applies for and becomes National Board certified? Where do National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) teach?...