Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and Teachers

Mathematica Policy Research supports the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) for IMPACT, a teacher evaluation system that was enacted during the 2009-2010 school year. Mathematica designed value-added models to measure the effectiveness of teachers and schools in DC and has produced annual estimates of educators’ contributions to student achievement in grades 4 through 8 since the 2008-2009 school year. These estimates are combined with other measures of educator effectiveness in DCPS’s IMPACT system.

The project expanded to include 21 charter school local education agencies (LEAs) participating through the Office of the State Superintendent’s (OSSE) Race to the Top grant and to provide estimates of teacher effectiveness in grades 9 and 10 for reading/ELA. In addition to developing and implementing the value-added analysis, Mathematica provides ongoing research and development for DCPS and OSSE to improve the model based on new research and to adapt to changing policy needs and new assessments.