Karen Shakman

(617) 618-2729

Associated IES Content

report Descriptive Study

Teacher Shortages in New York State: New Teachers' Certification Pathways, Certification Areas, District of Employment, and Retention in the Same District

New York State is experiencing teacher shortages in specific subject areas. One way to address these shortages is through the certification and placement of new teachers. This study explored the pathways through which new teachers between 2015/16 and 2017/18 earned certificates, their certification areas, and their subsequent placement and retention in districts across the state, particularly high-need districts. While the majority of new teachers earned certificates through the traditional i...
Nov 01, 2021
resource Other Resource

Continuous Improvement in Education: A Toolkit for Schools and Districts

This toolkit is designed to help school- and district-based practitioners engage in a continuous improvement effort. It provides an overview of continuous improvement and focuses on the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. It includes tools and resources that practitioners can use to implement a continuous improvement effort in their own schools, districts, or agencies.
Oct 01, 2020
report Descriptive Study

Teacher Preparation and Employment Outcomes of Beginning Teachers in Rhode Island

Because teacher turnover can adversely affect student achievement and local education budgets, many states want to better understand the extent to which teachers switch schools or leave the state public school system. Leaders at the Rhode Island Department of Education are interested specifically in understanding factors related to teacher mobility, retention, and attrition. This study examined these outcomes among beginning teachers in Rhode Island who were trained in a teacher preparation p...
Aug 01, 2020
Blog

What We Have Learned from Our Work with Teachers

REL Northeast & Islands researchers work closely with educators to help them use existing evidence as well as their own data to arrive at the best instructional approaches for their students. This work takes us to schools across the Northeast & Islands Region, from Connecticut--where we partnered with teachers and administrators to better understand best practices for English learners--to Massachusetts, where we collaborated with school-based teams to apply the evidence on social and emotiona...
Date published:
Feb 01, 2020
resource Training Material

Paving the Pathway to College and Career Webinar Series

Location: Virtual Description: In this three-event webinar series, REL Appalachia staff share strategies and resources for strengthening the transition from high school to postsecondary education and careers. The fourth webinar describes how school or district leaders can use the resources to facilitate professional learning on this topic, or how individual educators can use the resources for personal reflection and action planning. Partnership or Research Alliance: Improving Postsecondary Tr...
Nov 07, 2019
resource Other Resource

Building Bridges to College and Career - Non-academic Supports for Rural Students' Successful Transitions: Training Materials

These materials include a PowerPoint presentation and handouts that describe evidence-based practices and strategies to help students transition smoothly from high school to postsecondary education and training programs. These materials were first presented to secondary and postsecondary educators and program leaders in eastern Kentucky. Speakers: Deborah Jonas, REL Appalachia director Ashley Campbell, REL Appalachia partnership lead Karen Shakman, REL Appalachia workshop facilitator Kori Ha...
Apr 10, 2019
resource Other Resource

Using Data and Evidence to Facilitate Action: Training Materials on Developing a Research and Technical Assistance Agenda

These training materials include a PowerPoint presentation and handouts describing a landscape scan of research on the skills, structures, and supports that district and state leaders need to create a culture of data-driven decisionmaking. These training materials were originally presented to the REL Appalachia Cross-State Partnership on Using Data and Evidence to Facilitate Action as part of a process to refine their partnership research agenda and plan for future partnership activities. Spe...
Jun 22, 2018
Blog

Four Questions to Ask About Your Data: An Example from a Data Coaching Project with Boston Public Schools

As part of our mission to advance the use of data in educational decision-making, REL Northeast & Islands provides customized training, coaching, and technical support to partners in the region seeking assistance with data use. This past year, we collaborated with Boston Public Schools (BPS) to review and examine the data they collect as part of their New Teacher Development Program. Instituted over a decade ago, this program includes a mentoring program for first-year teachers, with the goal...
Date published:
Jun 01, 2018
report Descriptive Study

Principals' time, tasks, and professional development: An analysis of Schools and Staffing Survey data

This study describes how principals reported spending their time and what professional development they reported participating in, based on data collected through the Schools and Staffing Survey by the National Center for Education Statistics during the 2011/12 school year. The study analyzes schools by grade level, poverty level, and within poverty level by whether schools made adequate yearly progress on student performance the previous year. Overall, principals reported spending an average...
Oct 01, 2016
report Descriptive Study

Teacher demographics and evaluation: A descriptive study in a large urban district

This study examined the relationship between teacher demographic characteristics (race/ethnicity, age, and gender) and teacher summative performance evaluation ratings in a large urban district over three school years--2012/13-2014/15. In all three years a disproportionately large percentage of Black teachers, teachers age 50 and older, and male teachers were rated below proficient compared with their representation in the overall population of teachers who had a summative rating. However, fr...
Oct 01, 2016
report Descriptive Study

Teacher evaluation and professional learning: Lessons from early implementation in a large urban district

REL Northeast and Islands, in collaboration with the Northeast Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance, examined the alignment of teacher evaluation and professional learning in a large urban district in the Northeast. REL researchers examined the types of professional learning activities teachers reported they participated in, the alignment of the reported activities with what evaluators prescribed, and whether evaluation ratings improved from one academic year to the next. The study found ...
Mar 01, 2016
resource Other Resource

Logic models for program design, implementation, and evaluation: Workshop toolkit

The Logic Model Workshop Toolkit is designed to help practitioners learn the purpose of logic models, the different elements of a logic model, and the appropriate steps for developing and using a logic model for program evaluation. Topics covered in the sessions include an overview of logic models, the elements of a logic model, an introduction to evaluation, uses of a logic model to develop evaluation questions and identify indicators of success, and strategies to determine the right evaluat...
May 01, 2015
report Descriptive Study

Redesigning Teacher Evaluation: Lessons from a Pilot Implementation

REL Northeast and Islands, in collaboration with the Northeast Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance and the New Hampshire Department of Education, conducted a study of the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems in New Hampshire's School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools. While the basic system features are similar across district plans, the specifics of these features vary considerably by district. District fidelity to the plans, as measured by the exposure of teachers to differen...
Jan 01, 2015