Susanna Loeb, Stanford University
Doctorate in Educational Leadership Seminar Series

Teacher Preparation Policies and Student Achievement: Evidence from New York City

Arguably the most important educational resource is teachers. Teachers and teaching quality are a central feature of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) which requires a "highly qualified teacher" in every core academic classroom. Many states and large districts have introduced new policies to attract qualified teachers overall and especially to traditionally difficult-to-staff schools. In this research we explore the effect of these policy changes on the distribution of teachers and on student achievement.  We also assess the relationship between the characteristics of teachers’ preparations and pathways into teaching and their effectiveness at raising student test performance in the classroom; and we provide some evidence about the relationship between student achievement gains and teachers’ classroom practices.

About Dr. Loeb:

Susanna Loeb is a professor of Education at Stanford University where she directs the Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice and co-directs Policy Analysis for California Education. Her research addresses teacher policy, looking specifically at how teachers' preferences affect the distribution of teaching quality across schools, how pre-service coursework requirements affect the quality of teacher candidates, and how reforms affect teachers’ career decisions.  She also studies school finance and resource allocation looking at how the structure of state finance systems affects the level and distribution of funds to districts and schools.  Susanna is also a professor of business (by courtesy) at Stanford, a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the director of the Getting Down to Facts Project.

Friday, May 8, 2009
4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Lobby Suite, University Union