Publications and Reports

CTAC’s reports focus on cutting edge issues in education and community development. Our research and evaluation studies inform practice and guide policy decision-making at local, state and national levels.

Spotlight on Maryland: SLOs and Teacher and Principal Evaluation

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is a national exemplar in being transparent as it rolls out and supports a new teacher and principal evaluation (TPE) system statewide. This study focuses on how frontline educators perceive the development and implementation of the TPE system, particularly the support they received in understanding and implementing Student Learning Objectives (SLOs). Through the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center, CTAC and WestEd prepared this report for MSDE. The recommendations reinforce the instructional emphasis of the new TPE system and build on the foundation of support established to date by MSDE.

It’s More Than Money: Teacher Incentive Fund–Leadership for Educators’ Advanced Performance, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

It’s More Than Money is the final evaluation of a comprehensive, performance-based system initiative in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. CTAC’s evaluation demonstrates that high-quality Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) contribute to improving teaching and bolstering student growth. Findings show statistically significant multi-year improvements in growth rates for students of teachers with SLOs compared to those in peer schools without SLOs: 12% greater growth on average in math and 13% greater growth on average in reading.

This five-year study examines the genesis, development, and implementation of the SLO approach together with the incorporation of a value-added measure approach. It provides a study in the opportunities, complexities, benefits, and challenges that arise in measuring and compensating the impact of teacher effectiveness on student growth. It is a chronicle that draws one into the promise of performance-based compensation and a cautionary tale that alerts any district starting down this path that significantly more is at stake than money alone.

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