Glazerman, Steven; Mayer, Daniel; Decker, Paul (2006). Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, v25 n1 p75-96. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ759352
Reviewed: August 2016
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Please see the WWC summary of evidence for Teach for America (TFA).
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS): Reading |
Teach for America (TFA) vs. Business as usual |
9 Months |
Grades 1-5;
|
28.17 |
27.61 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS): Math |
Teach for America (TFA) vs. Business as usual |
9 Months |
Grades 1-5;
|
30.44 |
28.01 |
Yes |
|
|
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Black | 67% |
| Hispanic | 26% | |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 74% |
The study took place in 17 schools located in six TFA regions: Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles (Compton school district), the Mississippi Delta, and New Orleans.
Among the students, 49% were female, 20% were overage for their grade, and 95% were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial/ethnic demographics were as follows: 67% were African American; 26% were Hispanic; 4% were unknown; and 3% were another race/ethnicity, non-Hispanic.
Students were taught by TFA teachers. Most teachers were current TFA corps members within their 2-year teaching commitment, but some were TFA alumni who had completed the commitment and continued teaching. The median years of teaching experience was 2. Among TFA teachers, 70% had a bachelor’s degree from a most, highly, or very competitive college or university.30 By the end of the study year, 51% of TFA teachers had received a regular or initial teacher certification, and 25% had either a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education. The median age at the time of the study was 24 years, and 69% of TFA teachers were female, 67% were White, 16% were African American, 11% were another race/ethnicity, and 6% were Hispanic. The authors did not report any deviations from the TFA model.
Students were taught by individuals who had never been a TFA corps member. The median years of teaching experience was 6. Among the comparison teachers, 2% had a bachelor’s degree from a most, highly, or very competitive college or university. By the end of the study year, 67% of comparison group teachers had received a regular or initial teacher certification, and 55% had either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in education. The median age of comparison group teachers at the time of the study was 35 years, and 87% of comparison group teachers were female, 76% were African American, 11% were White, 11% were Hispanic, and 3% were another race/ethnicity.
TFA teachers received the typical support prescribed by the TFA model, which includes attending a 5-week summer institute prior to becoming a classroom teacher and receiving ongoing support during the 2-year teacher commitment from local TFA staff who conduct classroom observations and connect corps members with resources to address their specific professional development needs.
In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.
Antecol, H., Eren, O., & Ozbeklik, S. (2013a). The effect of Teach for America on the distribution of student achievement in primary school: Evidence from a randomized experiment. Economics of Education Review, 37, 113–125.
Antecol, H., Eren, O., & Ozbeklik, S. (2013b). The effect of Teach for America on the distribution of student achievement in primary school: Evidence from a randomized experiment (Discussion Paper 7296). Bonn, Germany: IZA.
Decker, Paul; Mayer, Daniel; Glazerman, Steven. (2004). Quality in the Classroom: How Does Teach For America Measure Up? Issue Brief #1. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Decker, P. T., Mayer, D. P., & Glazerman, S. (2004a). The effects of Teach for America on students: Findings from a national evaluation. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research. Retrieved from http://www.mathematica-mpr.com.
Decker, P. T., Mayer, D. P., & Glazerman, S. (2004b). The effects of Teach for America on students: Findings from a national evaluation (Discussion Paper 1285-04. Madison: Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin–Madison.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).
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