James Cowan

Researchers will investigate the effects of departmentalized instruction in primary schools with a focus on assessing implementation in routine settings and the contributions of specific causal mechanisms. Researchers will study whether the effects of departmentalization on student outcomes change with the number of years of implementation. Researchers will explore the extent of teacher specialization in the years following the policy change. This analysis will both provide evidence on the i...

CALDER-R&R examines policies addressing teacher shortages and their impact on teachers, student learning, and equity. Two important perspectives undergird the Center's work. First is the understanding that teacher shortages are not a single phenomenon. Instead, they exist in specific subject areas (for example, science and mathematics), among teachers from specific backgrounds (for example, teachers from historically marginalized racial and ethnic backgrounds), in specific schools (for e...

In this study, the researchers aim to develop and validate a new measure to capture teacher effects on student outcomes. Teacher contributions to student growth are used not only in teacher evaluation but also in a range of state policy decisions such as educator preparation program accreditation and approval. However, there are concerns about the extent to which teacher contributions to student test score gains-typically measured by test-based value-added models (TVAMs)-capture teacher full...

Research on how best to meet the needs of gifted and talented (GT) students is limited. In states where gifted programming is mandated, schools implement a wide variety of strategies and instructional approaches to accelerate the standard school curriculum and/or provide enriched learning opportunities for advanced students. This project will use data from Washington State (approximately 1 million students in 300 districts) to examine the association between GT program features, classroom re...

As part of its efforts to develop its teaching workforce, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) has teacher evaluation systems that span the entire teacher pipeline. These include surveys of supervising practitioners and teacher candidates during the preservice clinical internship; a new practice-based preparation program completion assessment (the Candidate Assessment of Practice, or CAP); surveys of first-year teachers and their principals; and the state'...