Reino Makkonen
About
Reino Makkonen is the Partnership Development and Maintenance Lead for REL West. He also leads the Utah Early Career Teacher Retention Partnership. Dr. Makkonen is a senior researcher with two decades of experience studying teacher workforce issues and school and district leadership across Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. His work has involved validating interview, survey, and observation instruments and evaluating educator development programs via mixed methods. His recent technical assistance efforts with state and district leaders have focused on developing theories of change for new educator support initiatives, designing implementation and formative evaluation plans to monitor early indicators, and expanding the use and application of research evidence. He holds a master’s degree in educational policy analysis from Harvard University and a doctorate in educational measurement and evaluation from the University of California, Berkeley.
Associated IES Content
About REL West
Regional Educational Lab (REL) West partners with key stakeholders in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah to develop evidence that can inform consequential decisions about policy, programs, and practice.
Blog
Confronting Early Career Teacher Attrition in Utah
Teacher shortages have garnered a lot of recent media attention. Most states are experiencing some degree of teacher shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic, and teacher turnover has surged in recent years, with more teachers leaving the profession than ever before.
Date published:
Mar 12, 2024
Blog
REL West Provides Support to Lyon County, Nevada to Improve Middle and High School Math Instruction
REL West is committed to supporting partners across Nevada, Arizona, California, and Utah. This blog spotlights our collaborative efforts with Nevada's Northwest Regional Professional Development Program (NWRPDP) and the Lyon County School District (Lyon CSD) in creating and leading a district-level Professional Learning Community (PLC).
Date published:
Dec 21, 2023
resource
Training Material
Supporting Integrated English Learner Student Instruction - A Guide to Assess Professional Learning Needs
The Regional Educational Laboratory West and the Region 15 Comprehensive Center developed a guide to assess teacher professional learning needs to implement research-based recommendations for the instruction of elementary-grade English learner students. At the center of this guide are two tools--the Teacher Self-Reflection Tool and the Classroom Observation Tool--that are used to collect information about teacher practice and needs related to the recommendations from the What Works Clearingho...
Dec 17, 2021
report
Descriptive Study
Principal Retention Patterns in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah
The departure of a school leader can influence staff turnover and student achievement. As school systems emerge from the unprecedented public health crisis due to COVID-19, principal retention is a key concern for many local and state education agencies (LEAs). The Regional Educational Laboratory West conducted this study to help leaders in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah better understand their principal retention patterns so they can identify ways to provide more targeted support through new stat...
Dec 17, 2021
Publication number:
REL 2021-129
report
Descriptive Study
The Association between Teachers' Use of Formative Assessment Practices and Students' Use of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies
Three Arizona school districts surveyed teachers and students in grades 3-12 in spring 2019 to better understand the association between teachers' use of formative assessment practices and students' use of self-regulated learning strategies and to help shape related teacher development efforts moving forward. Formative assessment is a set of practices that enable teachers and students to examine how learning is progressing throughout a lesson or related series of lessons, so that teaching and...
Nov 01, 2020
Publication number:
REL 2021 041
report
Descriptive Study
Projections of California teacher retirements: A county and regional perspective
This report projects California teacher retirements at the state and county levels for 2014/15-2023/24, updating a previously published report that projected California teacher retirements for 2006/07-2015/16. The current study finds that 25 percent of California teachers who were teaching in 2013/14 are projected to retire over 2014/15-2023/24. The proportion projected to retire varies greatly across counties, from 19 percent in Sutter County to 61 percent in Sierra County. This suggests tha...
Oct 01, 2016
report
Descriptive Study
How are teacher evaluation data used in five Arizona districts?
Recent teacher evaluation reforms instituted across the country have sought to yield richer information about educators' strengths and limitations and guide decisions about targeted opportunities for professional growth. This study describes how results from new multiple-measure teacher evaluations were being used in 2014/15 in five school districts in Arizona (according to interviews with district leaders and instructional coaches and surveys of school principals and teachers), with each dis...
May 01, 2016
report
Descriptive Study
Analysis of the stability of teacher-level growth scores from the student growth percentile model
This study, undertaken at the request of the Nevada Department of Education, examined the stability over years of teacher-level growth scores from the Student Growth Percentile (SGP) model, which many states and districts have selected as a measure of effectiveness in their teacher evaluation systems. The authors conducted a generalizability study using three years of data in mathematics and reading for nearly 370 elementary and middle school teachers from Washoe County School District in Ren...
Jan 01, 2016
report
Descriptive Study
A Descriptive Study of the Pilot Implementation of Student Learning Objectives in Arizona and Utah
Approximately 30 states are now adopting teacher evaluation policies that include student learning objectives (SLOs), which are classroom-specific student test growth targets set by teachers and approved (and scored) by principals. Today state and district leaders are trying to determine the appropriate level of guidance and oversight to provide in support of this work. This study describes results of the pilot implementation of SLOs in two states--Arizona (with 363 teachers) and Utah (with 8...
Nov 01, 2015
report
Descriptive Study
Principal and Teacher Perceptions of Implementation of Multiple-Measure Teacher Evaluation Systems in Arizona
This study describes how multiple-measure teacher evaluations were put into practice in a set of ten volunteering local education agencies (LEAs) in Arizona. After a key shift in state policy, five "pilot" LEAs implemented the new Arizona Department of Education teacher evaluation model in the 2012/13 school year, while five other "partner" school districts developed their own local models aligned with the new state requirements. Secondary analyses of survey and focus group data from the pilo...
Nov 01, 2014
report
Descriptive Study
How California's Local Education Agencies Evaluate Teachers and Principals
Description: This Brief, How California's local education agencies evaluate teachers and principals, summarizes the results of a statewide survey of teacher and principal evaluation practices across school districts and direct-funded charter schools in California. Key findings include: -Sixty-one percent of responding local education agencies indicated that their teacher evaluation systems are based on the California Standards for the Teaching Profession. For teacher evaluation, 57 percent of...
Apr 01, 2012
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