This report describes the development of value-added models for estimating the contributions of Pennsylvania teachers and principals toward the achievement growth of their students. Estimates were obtained during the first phase of a multiyear pilot to develop new evaluation systems for teachers...

Using data on elementary and middle school math and reading outcomes for Pennsylvania students, this working paper found that school value-added provides little useful information for comparing the general leadership skills of different principals when these comparisons include some principals...

This report summarizes research findings and implementation practices for teacher and principal value-added models (VAM) as a first step in the Team Pennsylvania Foundation’s pilot project to inform the development of a full, statewide model evaluation system. The report selected 21 empirical...

This working paper examines the sensitivity and precision of teacher value-added model (VAM) estimates obtained under model specifications that differ based on whether they include student-level background characteristics, peer-level background characteristics, and/or a double-lagged achievement...

The federal Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) program provides loans to parents of dependent undergraduate students to help pay for education expenses. To bring the standards in line with those used by banks, the U.S. Department of Education tightened the credit standards for PLUS...

This report presents descriptive analyses of the enrollment patterns, background characteristics, test scores, and graduation rates of students enrolled in three types of public high schools in Philadelphia: alternative disciplinary schools; alternative accelerated schools for students who...

This report evaluates the impacts of Philadelphia’s accelerated schools—alternative high schools serving students at high risk of dropping out—on enrollees’ graduation rates and on rates of credit accumulation for recent enrollees.

This report evaluates the impacts of Philadelphia’s accelerated schools—alternative high schools serving students at high risk of dropping out—on enrollees’ graduation rates and on rates of credit accumulation for recent enrollees.