At the request of Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, Mathematica has developed value-added models that aim to estimate the contributions of individual teachers and schools to the achievement of their students.

This report describes the value-added models (VAMs) created for the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers. Pittsburgh's VAMs use not only state assessments but also course-specific assessments, student attendance, and course completion rates, aiming to produce...

This working paper examines the sensitivity and precision of teacher value-added model (VAM) estimates obtained under model specifications that differ based on whether they include student-level background characteristics, peer-level background characteristics, and/or a double-lagged achievement...

The Kauffman School is a charter school in Kansas City, Missouri that opened in 2011 to serve middle and high school students from the city’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods . This report evaluates the effectiveness of the School at improving student achievement, attendance, and...