teacher policy final project

Student Learning:

Can teacher policy, such as Fundeb,provide the best

student learning outcomes for

countries such as Brazil?

Seeking the Evidence.

Green Mountain College

Progressive ProgramSenior Project

Allan Michel Jales Coutinho’16

Senior Project Advisor:Dr. Robin Currey

Index & Abstract

1) A Brief introduction to teacher quality and effective resource allocation......................................32) On a side note: What do researchers mean by effective teachers and teacher quality?.................43) Index: What evidence do we have to draft teacher policies?.............................................................44) Research Index........................................................................................................................................55) Index Briefing..........................................................................................................................................84) Teacher Policy: What are the mainstream policies for teachers?......................................................95) Teacher Policy: Contradictions and Overlaps....................................................................................166) Contradiction between teacher policy and evidence.........................................................................177) Resource Allocation, Student Learning and Teacher Salaries: The Case of FUNDEB..................188) Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................209) Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................21

Key Words: Teacher Policy, Student Learning, Cost-Allocation and Effectiveness, Brazil, Fundeb.

SUMMARY: Development players such as UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cul-tural Organization), the World Bank Group and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) have issued several teacher policy recommendations and provided technical assistance to Latin America and other continents. This research paper identifies key policy recommendations and analyses the adequacy of evidenciary support for those recommendations. It contributes to the body of literature on teacher quality by synthesizing policy recommendations and evaluations and identifying contradictions and overlaps in those policies. Finally, this paper evaluates if and how one can allocate resources to maximize stu-dent learning in knowledge economies of countries such as Brazil, which has prioritized monetary incentives as part of its teacher policy through FUNDEB (Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento da Educação Bási-ca). The paper applies the results from the Research Index section to FUNDEB and concludes that the current application of teacher policy cannot yet provide the best outcomes in terms of student achievement.

1

One of the most inspiring aspects of myeducation at Green Mountain College has been my experience with the Progressive Program. I was able to design my own learning path and receive men-torship from wonderful professors on campus. My tenure at Green Mountain and Nagoya University, as well as my personal experience in public schools in Brazil, culminated this senior project. I am thankful for the support of professors Rommy Fuller, Akiy-oshi Yonezawa, Jennifer Baker, Robin Currey, Sam Edwards, Kenneth Mulder and William Throop. This senior project is dedicated to people who believe that education is key for sustainable development, espe-cially those individuals who are a part of the teaching profession.

Allan Michel Jales CoutinhoGreen Mountain College 16’

Human Capital

Education Teachers

Student Learning

Education Policy

2

Education is perceived as one of the most important production function inputs for economic growth and sustainable development (Hanushek). As a result of this finding, countries have strived to increase their spending on education as a share of grossdomestic product (Montoya). Although this policy may allude to improvements in education outcomes, one has to ponder which educational production function inputs are likely to yield the best student learning optimals. Several ways in which governments can invest on public education exist, including public servant wages, curriculum reform and infrastructure. Understanding which one of these input factors have the strongest relationship to student learning is pivotal if one aims to invest in effective policies that can truly make a difference in people’s lives. In 1966, James Colman conducted the first re-search in the United States that evaluated how school inputs are related to student learning (Ladd et al. 157). Among the school inputs that are credited to have a direct impact on student learning, teacher quality has been appointed as one of the most important input factors that can be influenced by policy making in both short and long terms (OECD Overview 2). Although policymakers and researchers are aware that other exogenous variables, such as family income and parents’ level of education, have a significant impact on student learning, they are not able to change these circumstances so easily through public policy. Because of this premise, teacher quality, usually measured by a collection of readily quantifiable teacher character-istics (e.g. years of experience, degree, qualifications, standardized test scores, verbal ability and subject matter knowledge) and not-so-readily quantifiable characteristics (e.g. motivation and enthusiasm), have been under ongoing scrutiny by researchers and poli-cymakers alike. Because it has been shawn that effective teach-ers have a significant impact on student learning, a plethora of educational policies surrounding educa-tion reform have been grounded on teacher policy.

Policymakers strive to craft policies to prepare teach-ers to face the challenges of the teacher profession as well as establish incentives that can attract, retain and motivate high quality candidates to join the workforce. In order to do so, a large part of public funds are spent on personnel, including teachers’ wages and benefits. The Federal Republic of Brazil provides a clear example of how educational funds have been focused on teacher policy. In 1995, Brazil aimed to equalize funding per student throughout Brazil with a law named FUNDEF (Fundo de Manutenção e Desen-volvimento do Ensino Fundamental e de Valorização do Magistério), currently known as FUNDEB. One of the peculiarities of this law is that the government is mandated to reserve 60% of all FUNDEB’s funds for teachers’ salaries (Vegas et al. 16) and the other 40% to operating costs (Vegas et al. 16). Over the years, the percent of GDP on education increased consid-erably due to this policy even compared to other OECD countries (Bruns et al. 7). Notwithstanding this fact, student learning (usually measured through standardized exams such as PISA - Programme for International Student Assessment) has not significant-ly improved compared to its level of investments. The pivotal question regarding education reform for coun-tries such as Brazil is whether these policies are able to translate educational inputs into student achievement. Policymakers should be interested in enacting policies that are cost effective in relation to student outcome and that have been proven to work through empirical research. Unfortunately, most of the research on teacher characteristics and its effects on student learning have inconclusive, mixed findings, which have confounded those who try to understand the true dynamic be-tween teacher quality and student outcomes. Yet, the World Bank, UNESCO and other international orga-nizations have endorsed policies in their reports even when the evidence is lacking and/or contradictory. The issue becomes even more attenuated when gov-ernments enact educational policies prioritizing funds to improve teacher characteristics that might not necessarily lead to student achievement. For example, in the case of Brazil, one should critically evaluate whether the 60% of funds allocated to teacher sala-ries from FUNDEB provides the optimal allocation. Perhaps investments in education other than teacher salary itself, such as infrastructure and better

A Brief Introduction to Teacher Quality and Effective Resource Allocation

3

working environments and incentives could lead to better student learning outcomes. As the World Bank points out “several policies over the past decade have lowered class size and imposed across-the-board in-creases in teacher salaries with little evidence — either in Brazil or elsewhere — that they can contribute to improved results” (Bruns et al. 8).

Policymakers and researchers have not clearly outlined which readily-defined teacher characteristics impact student learning the most. This report aims to make a contribution to the large branch of literature on teacher policy by providing a small quality index that evaluates the impact of cer-tain teacher characteristics on student learning. The teacher characteris-tics evaluated in the Index were retrieved from systematic reviews — such as the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) booklet titled “Increasing the Odds: How Good Poli-cies Can Yield Better Teachers” — as well as individual studies conducted by scholars in several academic organizations. Understanding that studies are conducted in different countries — where teachers may or may not be randomily assigned to students — with different methodologies and under different cultural, political and social influences, it is important to scrutinize the strength of the research findings and evaluate whether these findings and recommendations should be appli-cable to policies in other countries and their knowledge economies. The index provides pivotal information that fur-ther illustrates that in the field of education and teacher quality, there exists a paucity of evidence to support what could yield the best policy optimal in terms of student learning. The literature affirms that teachers matter as the most important school input (Goldhaber 52). They clearly do, but how so?

Research Index: What evidence do we have to draft teacher policies?

On a Side Note: What do researchers mean by effective teachers and teacher quality? Quality cannot be easily defined through one single variable. Quality is spread across a range of factors such as personal and phychological qualities, pedagogical standards, ability to raise student learning, etc. All reports and research involving teacher policy advocate for greater teacher quality in schools. But what is quality after all?

There exist several methods utilized by re-searchers to evaluate how effective teachers are in the

classroom. These methods include the teach-er value-added models and the

Stallings Classroom Snapshot instrument. Qualitatively, teachers can be evaluated in the classroom by their stu-dents and other professionals.

This type of methodology can provide very insightful informa-

tion about the effectiveness of a teacher. One-to-one relationships

and emotional support cannot be di-rectly quantified through exams, but only

through holistic evaluations based on both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Broadly speaking, this report also adheres to the

mainstream approach, which recognizes that an effec-tive teacher is the professional who works at educational settings and who is responsible and capable of helping students acquire adequate knowledge and skills — usu-ally measured through quantifiable variables. Because this report also studies cases in which researchers utilize mainstream methods, it is important to notice that people may have reservations about meth-ods such as value-added models. This research does not explore the merits for and against mainstream meth-odologies, but the author acknowledges that exams are an imperfect proxy for quality and therefore suggests readers to further explore these fields and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of such methods.

Student Learning

Psyc

ho

log

ica

l Qu

alit

ies

Pedagogical Standards

EFFECTIVETEACHING

4

Research Index This research index includes five major indicators that are easily quantified as proxy for teachers’ knowl-edge, experience and performance. For example, it is believed that a teacher’s degree accounts for teacher’s knowledge and, perhaps, to student achievement. Therefore, one can account teachers’ literacy as an indicator for their performance in the classroom. If it follows that having a Masters’ degree accounts for performance, then this can be considered a proxy for performance. The same reasoning applies to all of the other indicators. Certain indicators were not very represented in the index because learning was not accounted as an objective. For example, induction could be considered a proxy for performance and correlated with student achievement especially in the long term. However, most of the studies account teaching satisfaction as an out-come of induction, measuring how induction helps retain personnel. As a result, it is not possible to include that in the index and state with precision whether this can positively impact student learning. Additionally, the index evaluates whether salaries can attract and improve the effectiveness of teachers. This is also a pivotal component of this research. The index provides from left to right: 1) the title of the research and if it was retrieved from a meta-anal-ysis, literature review or individual study, which has not been previously included in literature reviews or me-ta-analyses (through this approach, one does not account for the same study twice), 2) the name of the author, 3) the country where the research took place, 4) whether student learning was an objective – in other words, it an-alyzes if student learning is evaluated as part of the research question, 5) comments regarding methodology and quality (e.g. having control groups and samples) and 6) weighting, which states if the finding should or should not be fully considered for policy recommendation according to the methodology utilized by the researcher. The weighting varies from low, medium and high recommendation.

ContentKnowledge1) Master’s degree

Pennucci, Annie. “Teacher Compensation and Training Policies: Impacts on Student Outcomes.” May 2012./ Meta-analyses with 26 high quality studies

United States

United States

United States

Yes,not explicitly

measured

Yes,explicitly measured

“There is relatively little evidence that teacher degree level, e.g. having a master’s degree, is generally a good predictor of teacher quality.” - Dan Goldhaber

Index

Teacher Characteristic

Title of Research/Author/

Type of StudyCountry WeightingCommentsFindings

Learning is an

objective?

Yes,measured

through student testing

No consistent relationship be-tween teachers with graduate degrees and increased student outcome, but in-sub-ject degree has larger and positive effect

Master’s degree does not make a differ-ence, but the type of the degree (subject area knowledge) may have some impact on student learning

Master’s degree do not impact learning

Studies selected that included methods other than the gold standard random-ized assingments

Medium

Medium

LowNo systematic evaluation

A few statistical shortcomings, but strong analysis

Walsh et al. “Increasing the Odds: How Good Policies Can Yield Better Teachers.” National Council on Teach-er Quality, 2004 / Literature Review with 5 background

Skandera, Hanna et al. School Figures: The Data behind the Debate. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution, Stanford U, 2003./ Litera-ture Review5

2) Certification

Experience1) Years in theProfession

Pennucci, Annie. “Teacher Compensation and Training Policies: Impacts on Student Outcomes.” May 2012./ Meta-analyses with 38 high quality studies

Pennucci, Annie. “Teacher Compensation and Training Policies: Impacts on Student Outcomes.” May 2012./ Me-ta-analyses with 12 studies

Darling-Hammond, Linda. “Teacher Quality and Student Achievement.” education policy analysis archives 8.0 (2000)/ Individual StudyGoldhaber, Dan D., and Dominic J. Brewer. “Evalu-ating the Effect of Teacher Degree Level on Educational Performance” (1996) / Indi-vidual Study

Rivkin, Steven G., Eric A. Hanushek, and John F. Kain. “Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement.” (2005)/ Individual Study

Walsh et al. “Increasing the Odds: How Good Policies Can Yield Better Teachers.” National Council on Teach-er Quality, 2004/ Literature Review with 6 background papers

Walsh et al. “Increasing the Odds: How Good Policies Can Yield Better Teachers. National Council on Teacher Quality” 2004 / Literature Review with 5 background papers

Goldhaber, Dan et al. “Can Teacher Quality Be Effec-tively Assessed? National Board Certification as a Sig-nal of Effective Teaching.”/ Individual study

United States

United States

United States

Brazil

United States

United States

United States

United States

United States

Yes,measured


Yes,measured


Yes,measured


Yes,measured


Yes,measured


Yes,measured


Yes,not explicitly

measured

Yes,not explicitly

measured


Studies selected that included methods other than the gold standard randomized assign-ments

Studies selected that included methods other than the gold stan-dard randomized assignments

Few statistical shortcomings and no control group.

Few statistical shortcomings, but strong statistical analysis



High quality statis-tics measurements with methodology controling for bias-es, but no control group.

First few years on the job, a teacher pro-gresses considerably in ability to improve performance

Traditional certi-fication can pro-duce, at best, some marginal value

Teachers with NBPTS certification are more effective and conduce learning in reading and math

Having NBPTS cer-tification is consis-tently associated with improvements in student test scores

Coefficient on teach-er certification is sta-tistically insignificant - except in English

Indicates that cer-tification in Brazil are the strongest correlates of stu-dent achievement compared to master’s degree

Students with teach-ers with one year of experience are 3-5% std better off in math and reading. Little gain after 2nd year.

Little evidence and no particular pattern to fully endorse hypothesis that experience impacts learning

No systematic evaluation

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Low

Low

“The evidence that teachers tend to become more productive early in their careers is quite consistent, but this tendency masks the fact that there is a good deal of hetegoneity in the individual returns to experience” - Dan Goldhaber

Small proportion of studies find it to be statistically significant in positive direction

MediumStatistical shortcom-ings and no system-atic evaluation

Hanushek, Eric A. “The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools.” (1986)/Individual Study

6

Index




Learning is an

objective?

1) Master’s degree(Continued)

PerformanceProxy Indicators3) PerformancePay

Hanushek, Eric A., John F. Kain, and Steven G. Rivkin. “Do Higher Salaries Buy Better Teachers? “ (1999)/ Individual Study

de Ree, Joppe et al. “Double for Nothing? Experimental Evidence on the Impact of an Unconditional Teacher Salary Increase on Student Performance in Indonesia.” (2016)/ Individual research

Menezes-Filho, Naércio, and Elaine Pazello. “Do Teachers’ Wages Matter for Proficien-cy? Evidence from a Funding Reform in Brazil.” (2007)/ Individual study

Hanushek, Eric A. “The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools.” (1986)/ Individual study

United States

United States

Indonesia

Brazil





Salaries have a modest impact on student performance

After two years, the doubling in pay led to no improvements in measures of teacher effort or student learn-ing outcomes

Wages are uncorrelat-ed to proficiency to proficiency. Effect of teachers’ wage had a positive effect on student proficiency

Rising Costs of school inputs (e.g. teacher salaries) seem to be unmatached by per-formance of students

Statistical short-comings, but strong quantitative analysis



Randomized Control Trial with strong quantitative methods

Medium

Medium

Medium

High

“The empirical evidence on the link between teacher quality and pay is decidely mixed” - Eric A. Hanushek

7

United States

Brazil

Yes,measured


Yes,measured


High quality statistics measurements with methodology con-troling for biases, but no control group.

High quality statistics measurements with methodology con-troling for biases and control group.

Positive effects for experience on read-ing achievement

Professor years of ex-perience not statisti-cally significant with student achievement.

Medium

High

Croninger, Robert G. et al. “Teacher Qualifications and Early Learning: Effects of Certification, Degree, and Experience on First-Grade Student Achievement.” (2007)/ Individial StudyFaria, Ernesto Martins, and Raquel Guimarães. Excelência com Equidade Qualitativo e Quantitativo. Lemann Foundation (2015)/ Individual Study

Index




Learning is an

objective?

Experience1) Years in theProfession(Continued)

Research Index Briefing The Research Index suggests that there is a lot of gray area in educational research. Firstly, it is specially difficult to conduct high quality research and control for exogenous variables. Out of all the research reviewed, only a few had control groups. Also, researchers utilize different methodologies to quantify indicators, which can make comparisons among studies difficult. Secondly, it is worth noting that most of the educational research conducted takes place in the United States, a fact pointed out in the literature (McKenzie et al. 24). Because countries have completely different political, cultural, and educa-tional climates, it becomes difficult to state whether a successful program or policy in the United States could be applied elsewhere. Although not impossible, scaling up programs and policies can add other layers of complexity. The Research Index also in-forms the readers that one does not have a lot of high quality experiments based on methods such as Randomized Control Tri-als. Moreover, the meta-analyses did not have many background pa-pers to evaluate the average effect of certain teacher characteristics on student learning. Therefore, according to the author’s per-spective, some of the findings and recommendations could not be strongly prescribed for policy making. This also underscores the need for more high quality research within the education field. Unfortunately, issues with methodologies and analysis such as selectivity bias and causality have been impos-ing caveats for education research (Hanushek 3). To this date, the author of this research could not find a systematic review that addressed questions related to teacher characteristics and student achieve-ment. Only meta-analyses seemed to be available as part of the large branch of literature, in addition to a plethora of literature reviews, which provides us with not so many reliable indicators to craft policies. Al-though helpful, one should strive to have more rigor-ous evaluations that could clarify these puzzles about teacher policy. By having more precise information, it would be easier to collect data and draw better syste-

matic conclusions. This is certainly a future improve-ment that one should be looking forward to future education research. Although the quality of the research in the literature review and meta analysis had strong back-ground papers (e.g. Increasing the Odds: How Good Policies Yield Better Teachers), it was hard — accord-ing to the judgement of the author — to assign a high weight due to the number of quality researches avail-able. Perhaps, a small handful amount of researches might not provide the strong evidence needed to craft evidence-based policies. Although five research papers can provide evidence about a policy question, one should be skeptical to accept it without reserva-

tions. This was even underscored by the researchers themselves in these reviews and meta analysis studies. Out of all individual research, only two seemed to have the strong

methodological, analytical and statistical background expected for a systemat-ic review to measure the impacts of the policy on the control group and

counterfactual. Not surprisingly, these research were published in recent years, including the research conducted by The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-Pal), titled Double for Nothing? Exper-

imental Evidence on the Impact of an Unconditional Teacher Salary Increase on Student Performance in Indonesia. In a later section, this gray area formed by the gaps in education research will be contrasted with the maintream teacher policies. The most important question for this research, however, concerns the allocation of school inputs — specifically inputs such as salaries and monetary incentives. The pressing question is whether— taking into account the mixed evidence from the index — one could possibily allo-cate resources to inputs and incentives that could best maximize student learning. Following, this research paper will explore what kind of maintream policies are there and how these policies constrast with one another and with the evidence provided by the Research Index.

Conduct

Rigorous

Research

Evidence

8

This document explores three avenues in which teacher policy can be crafted and improved: policies to recruit, groom and motivate teachers. In this report, the World Bank recognizes that one achieves teacher quality by aligning all the policy domains and types of in-centives. There exists “multiple roads to the goal” (Bruns et al. 47). Neverthless, it is through a balanced set of policies that countries can evaluate which course of action can best serve the purpose to increase teacher quality and student learning. In the following pages, one can see the summary of all policies and theories of change embedded in this proposal. Throughout the report, the organization pointed out policies that have not yet been grounded in evidence, but highlighted case studies to strengthen the argument for a policy recommendation. The tables provide a brief list of proposals to recruit, groom and motivate teachers.

RECRUIT

1) Raise standard for entry into teacher education

a) Close low quality schoolsb) Establish national teacher universityc) Create special scholarships for top studentsd) Raise accreditation standards forcing closure or adaptation of tertiary institutions (25)

2) Raise the quality of teacher education schools

a) Create pre-service programs that focus on the work teachers will face in classrooms (27)

3) Raise hiring standards for new teachers

a) Create national teacher standards and mandatory certifica-tion examsb) Establish pre-employment tests of teacher skills and compe-tenciesc) Establish alternative certification (28-30)

a) Decrease the amount of teachers and therefore reach effi-cient pupil-teacher ratios and, consequently, increase salaries (32)b) Raise salaries, but only if one raises selectivity of teaching education programs (24)

4) Raise teacher selectivity

Policies to Recruit Effective Teachers

Teacher Policy: What are the mainstreampolicies for teachers?

Great Teachers: How to Raise Student Learning in Latin America and the Caribbean

9

TABLE 1: WORLD BANK’S TEACHER POLICY RECOMMENDATION TO RECRUIT TEACHERS WITH ITS RESPECTIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS

GROOM

5) Teacher induc-tion and proba-tionary periods that include comprehensive assessment of new teachers

a) Create induction programs in the first years of service (34), which should include action-research projects, tutoring, obser-vation in the classroom, mentoring support, and assessments (34)

6) Teacher eval-uations that are grounded on teacher standards and measure per-formance compre-hensively

a) Create evaluations to improve teachers’ quality and hold them accountable (35)b) Systematically de-select lowest performers (36)c) Identify and reward top performers (36)

Policies to Groom Effective Teachers

7) Teacher pro-fessional devel-opment where the “relevance of training content, the intensity and duration of the course, and the quality of the delivery are key” (37)

a) Scripted approaches: trainee to prepare teachers in low capacity environmentsb) Content mastery: trainee to fill gaps or further teachers’ expertisec) Classroom management - trainee on fostering teachers’ classroom effectiveness through “lesson planning, efficient use of class time, strategies for keeping students engaged, and more effective teaching techniques” (37)d) Peer collaboration: improve classroom practice by iden-tifying the most effective teachers and ensure that teachers observe their practices, develop curriculum, share student assessment strategies, etc. (23 and 37-38).

8) Teacher de-ployment and management: manage how school directors are selected (39)

a) Establish “criteria for the training and assessment of prin-cipals in the areas of leadership, curriculum management, resource management and organizational management... estab-lishing a competitive process for principal selection.” (39)

10

TABLE 2: WORLD BANK’S TEACHER POLICY RECOMMENDATION TO GROOM TEACHERS WITH ITS RESPECTIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS

The document states that there are four domains that constitute the key educational challenges of today: 1) to attract qualified individuals to the teaching profession, 2) to retain the workforce, 3) to provide skills and knowledge and 4) motivate personnel (Vegas et al. 2). As a response to these challenges, policymakers have three options to improve teacher quality:

1) Teacher training and professional development; 2) Teacher incentives that impact who becomes a teacher and how long they stay in the field; 3) Incentives that affect the work teachers do in the classroom. (Vegas et al. 4) The report is based on ten research papers. It underscores the im-portance of teachers on student performance compared to other student learning determinants (Vegas et al. 2-3). The report evaluates which edu-cational reform in Latin America has had the greatest impact on student learning through teacher incentives. The lessons from these reforms are suggested by the World Bank and summarized below.

MOTIVATE

RECRUIT,GROOM &MOTIVATE

9) Professional rewards

a) Well-equipped, congenial working conditionsb) Intrinsic motivationc) Recognition and Prestige (41)

10) Accountability Pressure

a) Job Stability: decrease job stabilityb) Client Feedback: empower students and parents to monitor and evaluate teachers.c) Managerial feedback (42)

11) Financial Incentives

a) Bonus pay b) Salary differentialsc) Pensions and benefits (43)

Policies to Motivate Effective Teachers

Improving Teaching and Learning Through Effective Incentives

a) Improve teachers’ salary levels (26)b) Train and educate teachers through higher levels of training (27)c) Set up a holistic evaluation system using indicators other than teacher educa-tion, training level and years of experience (31)d) Set up performance-based teacher incentives (36)e) Avoid flaws in the design of incentives by ensuring that all groups of teachers receive awards fairly, linked at performance (teaching) and through consider-able amounts (Pg. 39-40). The World Bank highlights that incentives in Latin America are usually based on variables not related to teaching (e.g. experience, professional development courses, etc.) (40)

Teacher Policy

11

TABLE 3: WORLD BANK’S TEACHER POLICY RECOMMENDATION TO MOTIVATE TEACHERS WITH ITS RESPECTIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS

TABLE 4: WORLD BANK’S GENERAL TEACHER POLICY RECOMMENDATION WITH ITS RESPECTIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS

1) Teacher Recruitment and Retention

2) Teacher Education(Initial & Continuing)

FOUNDATION FOR

TEACHERPOLICY

RECRUIT,GROOM &MOTIVATE

Teacher Policy Development Guide The document explores how evidence-based policies can equip teachers to become effective in the classroom and attract qualified personnel to the profession, thus diminishing teacher shortages both at qualitative and quantitative terms, if they exist. The report does not cite any report or research to be a part of its research background. All the researchers drafted the document to be a tool “that could help coun-tries develop evidence-based national teacher policies” (Teachers for Education for All 5). The Teacher Policy Development Guide also acknolwedges that the teaching profession to be the greatest influence in schools, especial-ly to disadvantaged students (Teachers for Education for All 13). The report explores nine key dimensions of policy.

a) Teacher policy should be applicable to “all teachers, in all regions and at all school levels” (16)b) Teacher policy should be “coherent with other national policies, including children’s rights and related human right policies” (16)c) Teacher policy should ensure that salaries are in parity at different levels of education (e.g primary and secondary) and that reflect “the importance of basic education” (16)

a) Include “procedures for the licensing or certification of teachers” and ensure that they possess “necessary knowledge, competences and attributes” (21)b) Ensure “equity in teacher recruitment through fair ans transparent procedures” (21)c) Ensure “equitable recruitment of effective school leaders with the requisite knowledge, competences and attributes” (21)

a) Initiate Teacher Training: It should have minimal entry requirements (21) Curricula should meet local context as well as balance theory and teaching practice (21) Curricula should include teaching methods. Teachers should have access to effective CPD (Continuing Professional Development), which can be matched with salary and career progression (21)

Teacher Policy

f) Strengthen school-based management and accountability reforms (43), usual-ly associated with school boards and weaker teachers’ unions (44)

Teacher Policy (Continued)

12

TABLE 5: UNESCO’S TEACHER POLICY RECOMMENDATION WITH NINE POLICY DOMAINS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS

Curricula should include principles of Education for Sustainable Development (21)

3) Deployment

a) Find ways to “allocate teachers to appropriate posts” and link posts to career structure (22)b) Deploy teachers where they are needed the most with financial and nonfinancial incentives (22)c) Deploy through transparent processes and ensure that “new teachers re-ceive training, support and mentoring from more experienced colleagues” (22)

a) Provide horizontal or vertical career paths, thus allowing teachers to have good and diversified career options (23). The former is regards to the possibility of embracing new responsibilities as a teacher and the latter the possibility of taking other management or leadership roles (23)

a) Develop common standards for quality teachingb) Develop framework to guide the teaching profession, professional ac-countability and professional status (25)

a) Praise teachers who evaluate their performance focused on professional development (25)b) Evaluate performance through methods other than patronage andfavoritism (25)c) Encourage teachers to identify if students are achieving learning out-comes (26)

a) Pay attractive salaries relative to comparable professions to enhanceprestige, foster recruitment initiatives, motivation and retention (24) b) Provide financial incentives (e.g. allowances, housing, transport costs, scholarships and grants to continue studies) to teachers who work in hard-to-staff schools such as “remote[,] rural[,] and disadvantaged areas” (24)c) Provide non-financial incentives (e.g. smart phones, e-readers or laptops, housing, etc.) (24)

a) Engage with “dimensions of working conditions” (23): Hours of work, workload and work-life balance Class size and PTRs (Pupil Teacher Ratios) focused on learner-centered approaches School Infrastructure Availability and quality of teaching and learning materials Student behaviour and discipline with effective school governance school violence Autonomy and control of teacher profession (23-24)

4) Career Structure &Path

5) Teacher Employment andWorking Conditions

6) Teacher Reward and Remuneration

7) Teacher Standards

8) Teacher Accountability

UNESCO’s Teacher Policy (Continued)

13

Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers

9) SchoolGovernance

a) Develop strategies for the “identification and preparation of school leaders” (26).

UNESCO’s Teacher Policy (Continued)

The report argues that teacher policy should address both quality and quantity issues since these are correlated (McKenzie et al. 18). The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) affirms that policy initiatives are needed in two levels. The first regards the “teaching profession as a whole and seeks to improve its status” whereas the second “focuses on attracting and retaining particular types of teachers” (McKenzie et al. 10). Also, according to the OECD, teacher policy can be divided into five main clusters:

1) Preparation and Development of Teachers 2) Career Structure and Incentives 3) Demand for Teachers 4) Structure of the Labor Market 5) School Processes (McKenzie et al 30)

This report underscores the impact that teachers have on student learning and states that there is a positive relationship between measured teacher characteristics and student performance, but to a lesser extent than one may expect. The table below provides the policy objectives of this report, which was retrieved from the doc-ument itself and adapted to this research paper.

1) Making Teaching an Attractive Career Choice

2) Developing Teachers’ knowledge and skills

a) Improve the image and status of teachingb) Improve teaching’s salary competitivenessc) Improve employment conditionsd) Capitalize on an oversupply of teacherse) Expand the supply pool of potential teachersf) Make reward mechanisms more flexible g) Improve entrance conditions for new teachersh) Re-think the trade-off between the student-teacher ratio andaverage teacher salary

a) Develop teacher profilesb) View teacher development as a continuumc) Make teacher education more flexible and responsived) Accredit teacher education programmese) Integrate professional development throughout the career

Teacher Policy

Directed towards the teaching profession as a whole

Directed towards the teachingprofession as a whole

Targeted to particular types of teachers or schools

14

TABLE 6: OECD’S TEACHER POLICY RECOMMENDATION WITH FIVE POLICY DOMAINS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS

Teacher Policy Overlap

Teacher Policy Contradictions

3) Recruiting, selecting andemployingteachers

4) Retainingeffective teachersin schools

5) Developing and implementing teacher policy

f) Improve selection in teacher educationg) Improve practical field experiencesh) Certify new teachersi) Strengthen induction programmes

a) Use more flexible forms of employmentb) Provide schools with more responsibility for personnelmanagementc) Meet short-term staff needsd) Improve information flows and the monitoring of the teacherlabour markete) Broaden the criteria for teacher selectionf) Make a probationary period mandatoryg) Encourage greater teacher mobility

a) Evaluate and reward effective teachingb) Providing more opportunities for career variety and diversificationc) Improve leadership and school climated) Improve working conditionse) Respond to ineffective teachersf) Provide more support for beginning teachersg) Provide more flexible working hours and conditions

a) Engage teachers in policy developmentand implementationb) Develop professional learning opportunitiesc) Improve knowledge base to support teacher policy

Teacher Policy (Continued)







These four reports provide a list of policy ob-jectives and theories of change that could theoretically improve the status of the teaching profession, to recruit, train and groom effective personnel and therefore boost student learn-ing. Again, the premise here is that, holding other variables equal, the teacher plays the greatest role to boost student achievement in schools. These policies are suggested and sometimes recom-mended as best practices to government organizations worldwide. Nevetheless, it seems that the literature does not pro-

vide information regarding possible contradic-tions or overlaps. In the next section, there

will be a short analysis comparing the recommendations from these

reports. Following, the poli-cies and recommendations will be constrasted with the evidence provided in the first

section of this paper with the Research Index.

Finally, the paper will analyse, according with the information presented, if policies such as FUNDEB could provide the best optimal allo-cation toward student learning.

*Retrieved in its entirety from “Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers,” pg. 7

15

Teacher Policy:Contradictions & Overlaps

The four reports provide a plethora of policy recommendations for governments. Not surprisingly, the two reports published by the World Bank evaluated for this research did not provide a lot of contradictions among themselves. Rather, all authors responsible for the recommendations seemed very concerned on how to attract, train and groom effective teachers. This may be due to the fact that the recommendations come from the same institution, which underscores its level of consistency. Although not clearly stated as the policy objective, student learning seems to be the center of these policies’ priorities followed by budget constraints.

All reports from the World Bank and OECD highlights the connection between student achievement and quality teaching. As the saying goes: Teachers matter! Second-ly, the reports also highlight the need to find effective solutions that can suit governments’ revenue. According to these re-ports, teacher incentives present a high constraint on educational system’s budgets, but these mone-tary and non-monetary incentives can affect teacher labor markets greatly.

Despite the fact that the policies overlap (e.g. promote induction, match salaries, etc.), it is worth-noting that there are a few execptions to the rule. The World Bank’s policy analysts recommend that people should consider incentives for teachers who work at hard-to-staff schools (e.g. rural areas), but also suggests that “rural pay differential is not successful at attract-ing and retaining teachers that are more effective than average urban teachers” (Vegas et al. 34).

The greatest gaps, however, are noticed between UNESCO’s and the OECD’s and World Bank’s recom-mendations. Firstly, one can highlight that the Bank suggests that it is cost-effective to lay off teachers who do not seem to be effective during their induction peri-od (Bruns et al. 34). The bank also states that “schools

need to have the authority and resources to reward high-performing teachers and to penalize low-perform-ing teachers” (Bruns et al. 13).

Conversely, UNESCO affirms that “there is little evidence that shows in education or learning from

performance-related pay” (Teachers for Educa-tion for All 25). The latter organization invites

readers to not blame teachers for all the problems in an education system (Teach-ers for Education for All 25).

Indeed, the greatest gap lies on how to reward teachers so that they become more effective in the classroom:

Should one just identify and reward top performers through performance pay —

something strongly suggested throughout World Bank and OECD reports — or adopt

more flexible rewards mechanisms? This is still a gray area within educational research. The policy recommendation from UNESCO also seems to embrace other factors that have not been taken into account by the World Bank. For example, UNESCO points out that policymakers should include principles of education for Sustainable Development as well as chil-dren’s rights and human rights policies (e.g. gender poli-cy), a topic never fully explored by the Bank or OECD.

Lastly, UNESCO reports that policy should focus Pupil Teacher Ratios on learner-centered approaches. Conversely, the Bank focuses on an effective PTR to free up resources and increase salaries for teachers. UNESCO also states that policies should be applicable to all teach-ers and in all regions whereas the OECD subdivides in table six policies for particular types of teachers.

What society should care about is whether teachers aregenerating learning in their students(World Bank, Improving Teaching and Learning Through Incentives )

Teacher indicators should be tied closely to learning outcomes(UNESCO, Teacher Policy Development Guide )

“

”

16

The section “Contradiction and Overlaps in Teacher Policy” demonstrates that international organi-zations — although consistent with most of their rec-ommendations and with the student-centered learning goals — contradict themselves in their policy recom-mendations. Perhaps, this can be an indicator of diver-gent evidence and/or their own institutional practices. Institutions, such as the World Bank, have their founda-tions rooted in economic and neoclassical perspectives (Rapley 15) whereas UNESCO seems to have a more people-focused, humanistic approach to development. However, this contradiction does not fully portray the greatest disparity in teacher policy. Looking at the Index, one can conclude that the most concerning disparity lies between teacher policy and the evidence retrieved from research. Most of the time, the research concerning the various teacher policies provide mixed evidence due to different research methodologies. Yet, one still en-counters policy recommendations despite these mixed results on effectiveness. The international organizations acknowledge this discrepancy, but, paradoxically, utilize a few case studies and programs to make broad rec-ommendations that may or may not be truly effective elsewhere as indicated by the Index. This discrepancy between evidence and policy is highlighted in the paper published by J-Pal and pointed out by the World Bank:

(Vegas et al. 31)

Contradiction Between Teacher Policy &

EVIDENCE In the following paragraphs, one can see the ma-jor discrepancies between the evidence available and the mainstream teacher policies. Firstly, the Research Index indicates that possible incentives for continued education such as entering a master program does not make a professor more effec-tive. Nevertheless, all policy reports advocate for con-tinued education without going into much detail about how to draft these policies (e.g. report titled “Improving Teaching and Learning through Effective Incentives,” Ta-ble 4 letter d). For example, the research in the Research Index has reservations about the indicator “masters’ degree,” a higher level of training, but recognizes that specialization within one’s subject matter might produce marginal student achievement. The evidence suggests that what matters the most is not the higher degree per se, but rather if the teacher receives the training on the content he or she teaches. For policymaking, this could mean that, instead of just providing incentives to com-pensate teachers who have a higher degree, one could provide further support for those individuals who work to speciliaze in the subject-related area they teach. Also, it could mean that governments could motivate teach-ers to seek further training in the fields they teach. If resources are spent on inputs that do not make teachers more effective in the classroom as measured by val-ue-added models, then it is an indicator that the poli-cy should be revaluated, specially if the policy is truly focused on student learning only. Secondly, the Research Index also questions whether teachers’ certification can be a predictor of student learning. The evidence is somewhat mixed. Although teachers with certifications such as NBPTS have proved to be more effective, the literature states that what matters is the selection process per se. NBPTS seems to stream good quality candidates, whereas other certifications in other countries may or may not present the same rigorous analysis of its own candidates. This also highlights the importance of accreditation for higher educational institutions and the certification market as a whole.

“Two of the most commonly found observable factors re-lated to student educational achievement in Latin America and in studies of the determinants of student achievement in other developing countries are teacher education and training and teacher experience. In contrast, most of the lit-erature on student achievement in developed countries has found that teachers have an important impact on student learning, but not because of their measurable attributes, but instead because of differences in their skills or teach-ing practices, variables that are very difficult to observe.”

17

Resource Allocation, Student Learning and Teacher Salaries:The Case of FUNDEB

Another issue regarding the gap between evidence and policy relates to monetary compensations. It is widely explained in the literature that issues of quality are related to issues of quantity. The theory of change behind this type of argument is as follows: if teachers have higher salaries, then the profession will attract more qualified teachers who will then boost learning in the classroom (McKenzie et al.). However, as the Index shows, the evidence is some-what mixed. For example, the research conducted by J-Pal Poverty Lab demonstrates that, at least in the short term, higher salaries do not seem to change teachers’ behaviour or improve student achievement. Other well-known re-searchers and economists, such as Hanushek, have con-ducted research that contradicts the theory of change that links salaries to student achievement. Despite the paucity of concrete evidence to sup-port one theory or another, international organizations have strongly advocate benchmarking teachers’ salaries to other types of profession (as pointed out in the mainstream teacher policy section of this research paper). Needless to say, one should ensure that teachers receive a salary that is able to fulfill their needs and provide good living standards. The problem, however, is when compensation or bonuses do not match one’s effort to improve his/her teaching methodologies and effectiveness. In other words, one should assure that meritocratic values are embedded in any type of award provision if the goal is to enhance student learning. This course of action is also backed up by the World Bank (Table 4, letter d) and other international organizations such as the OECD (Table 6, number 4). In Latin America, and specifically in Brazil, teach-ers’ salaries were increased significantly with FUNDEF (see BOX 1 on the next column), which follows the recommen-dation to make salary levels more equitable compared to other professions and therefore make the teaching profe-sison more attractive as well. Nevertheless, no meritocratic standards were included. In fact, most of the bonuses in Latin America and in Brazil are based on seniority (years of experience) (Vegas et al. 43). Years of experience — as

pointed out by the Research Index — is not a good indicator for teacher effectiness or student learning. If these type of policies want to emphasize student learning as the most important outcome, then one should evaluate how policies such as FUN-DEB can effectively increase teachers’ salaries and make the teaching profession more competitive while improving student achievement. Perhaps, additional steps are needed. Maybe, meritocratic standards for performance pay and increased selectivity of teacher programs could be key in achieving this goal (See Table 1, number 4). If student learning truly matters and years of experience do not account for student learning, then this may be an indicator for policy reform. FUNDEB has been positively evaluated by international organizations, however. For example, the World Bank has published a book titled Achieving

18

Brazil’s FUNDEF (Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento do Ensino Fundamental e de Valorização do Magistério) was established in 1997 to guarantee that funds would be spent equally on public schools nationwide across regions (Gordon and Vegas). State funds and municipalities from all over Brazil contribute 15% of specific taxes for this fund. This fund is then transfered back to states and municipalities based on student enrolment, thus allowing local and state governments with higher student populations and lower income to meet spending standars outlined in its Constitution, which demands that 25% of all state and munici-palities’ revenue to be spent on education (Brazilian Goverment). The rule also mandates that 60% of FUNDEF’s revenue, currently known as FUNDEB, be spent on teachers’ salaries (Brazilian Govern-ment)

BOX 1: WHAT IS FUNDEB?

World Class Education in Brazil: The Next Agenda. The authors of this book affirm that Brazil should stay “the course on the core policies of the last [17] years [such as FUNDEB]” (Bruns et al. 10). Likewise, the World Bank’s report titled “Improving Teaching and Learning through Effective Incentives: What Can We Learn from Reforms in Latin America” states that after the 60% increase, there was a decrease in the average teacher-pupil ratios as well as in the percentage of teachers who only finished primary education (Vegas et al. 27). Notwithstanding, mixed evidence exists regard-ing the effect of teacher-pupil ratios and the qualification of teachers (e.g. master’s degree) on student achivie-ment and learning. In fact, there seems to exist a lack of systematic evaluation on FUNDEB; evaluations that are able to determine the correlation and cau-sality between the resources from FUNDEB (including the 60% increase on teacher salaries) on student learning. Because the policy is applicable nationwide, it is under-stantable that systematic, rigorous evalu-ations are hard to conduct. Nevertheless, this lack of evidence can create skepticism about the true efficacy of the program in terms of providing the best student learning optimals. Needless to say, policies are not usu-ally based on just one objective. Through a student learning approach, policies such as FUNDEB may or may not be the best course of action to increase student achievement — unless proved otherwise by rigorous research. This research paper approaches student learning as the most important policy outcome.

A Small, Yet Important Caveat

As UNESCO pointed out, teacher policy should consider other important domains such as human rights. Women constitute the majority of the teaching work-force in Brazil and in Latin America (Bruns et al 74). In comparison to other professions, the pool of workers attracked to the teaching profession is from the lowest income percentile and displays the lowest academic achievement (Bruns et al. 74-76). It is important to notice teachers may have not had the opportunity to seek other career paths or even leave their home towns. Moreover, men receive wages 30% higher compared to women (Brazilian Govern-ment). At the global level, this figure persists (Interna-

19

tional Labor Organization), making women one of the most vulnerable populations in the labor market in terms of fair pay. In order to make gender-friendly policies and account for these inequalities, it is pivotal to account for these disparities in one’s evaluations. Perhaps, through a student learning perspective, giving additional finan-cial incentives or raising teachers’ salaries may not be cost-effictive. Nevertheless, if one accounts for gen-der disparities and structural realities, then financial

incentives may also be a way to mitigate these harsh conditions, at least in the short term. Again, development can be perceived through many competing perspectives such as postdevelopment and neoclassical theories and approaches.

Resource Allocation

One of the most important aspects of policy-making regards resource allocation. Crafting an effective policy does not matter if the gov-ernment does not have the income to imple-ment it. Most importantly, it is not desirable

to set up a costly policy that does not provide the best maximizing outcome. Due to this challenge, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab analyzed randomized evaluations of twenty-nine programs through the cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) (see image on the next page). For exam-ple, the lab found through an evaluation in India and Kenya that there is “little evidence that simply increasing the number of teachers or teaching resources improves learning” (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab). Because one is dealing with competing needs (e.g. infrastructure over teacher salaries), these questions are also pertinent for policy debate. Obviously, infra-structure, like any other school input, should dispose of a level of diminishing marginal returns. In the case of less privileged communities, economist Hanushek points out that it may be the case that investing in infrastruc-ture may be more effective than providing other types of teacher incentives (Hanushek). In Brazil, for example, infrastructure is one of the most necessary resources in public schools (Bruns et al. 10). What to prioritize?

Very little research exists on specific policies or programs to raise the professional rewards for teachers, and none in Latin America.

(World Bank, Great Teachers: How to Raise Student Learning in LAC )

“”

As stated in the introduction of this paper, teachers are considered the most important school input, which is why teacher incentives are a pivotal component of education policy and school spending. Notwithstanding, there is no clear answer on how to allocate resources efficiently through a systematic analysis due to the lack of evidence for teacher policy. At best, the author of this paper argues that there is only space for supposition. Education research has still a long way to go. FUNDEB may be an effective program, but more rigorous, systematic evaluation and evidence is needed. Further evidence will help set this and other similar policies as part of the best practice and policy tool on has to bring about sustainable, effective reform in education.

Conclusion

Teacher policy, like any other social policy, is a complex realm. International organizations provide several divergent and convergent policies that are not always grounded on conclusive evidence. This research paper illus-trates that there is a wide gap between the supporting evidence for mainstream teacher policy recommendations from international organizations (UNESCO, World Bank and OECD). In order for countries such as Brazil to further develop its own teacher policies and for international organizations to provide better quality services and technical assistance, it is imperative that researchers improve their methodologies, and conduct and apply more systematic evaluations on programs such as FUNDEB. Putting resources into education is pivotal for sustainable development and human capital creation, but only as long as they can provide the best outcome in terms of student achievement, while accounting for human rights and structural issues such as gender disparities. To this date, there are only inconclusive paths and methods to achieve this goal. Therefore, there is much more education research to look forward to in the future.

20

*Retrieved in its entirety from The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. “Calidad de La Educación | The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.”

Bibliography

Boyd, Donald J. et al. “Teacher Preparation and Student Achievement.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 31.4 (2009): 416–440. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

Brazilian Government. “Homens Recebem Salários 30% Maiores Que as Mulheres No Brasil — Observatório Bra-sil Da Igualdade de Gênero.” N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2016.

Brazilian Government. “Portal Do FNDE - Apresentação.” N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.

Bruns, Barbara, and Javier Luque. Great Teachers : How to Raise Student Learning in Latin America and the Carib-bean. The World Bank, 2014. documents.worldbank.org. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

Bruns, Barbara, David Evans, and Javier A. Luque. Achieving World-class Education in Brazil: The next Agenda. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2012. Print.

Croninger, Robert G. et al. “Teacher Qualifications and Early Learning: Effects of Certification, Degree, and Expe-rience on First-Grade Student Achievement.” Economics of Education Review 26.3 (2007): 312–324. ERIC. Web.

Darling-Hammond, Linda. “Teacher Quality and Student Achievement.” education policy analysis archives 8.0 (2000): 1. Web.

De Ree, Joppe et al. “Double for Nothing? Experimental Evidence on the Impact of an Unconditional Teacher Sala-ry Increase on Student Performance in Indonesia.” 15 Jan. 2016. Web.

Faria, Ernesto Martins, and Raquel Guimarães. Excelência com Equidade Qualitativo e Quantitativo. Lemann Foundation, 2015. Web.

Goldhaber, Dan. “The Mystery of Good Teaching.” Education Next. 17 July 2006. Web. 4 May 2016.

Goldhaber, Dan D., and Dominic J. Brewer. Evaluating the Effect of Teacher Degree Level on Educational Perfor-mance. Westat, Inc., Rockville, MD., 1996. eric.ed.gov. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

Goldhaber, Dan, and Emily Anthony. “Can Teacher Quality Be Effectively Assessed? National Board Certification as a Signal of Effective Teaching.” Review of Economics and Statistics 89.1 (2007): 134–150. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

Hanushek, Eric A. “Education Production Functions | Eric A. Hanushek.” The New Palgrave Dictionary of Eco-nomics. 2008. Web. 4 May 2016.

Hanushek, Eric A. “The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools.” American Eco-nomic Association 24.3 (1986): 1141–1177. Print.

Hanushek, Eric A., John F. Kain, and Steven G. Rivkin. “Do Higher Salaries Buy Better Teachers?” National Bureau of Economic Research, 1999. National Bureau of Economic Research. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

International Labor Organization. “Gender Pay Gap Widens for Higher-Earning Women.” News. N.p., 5 Dec. 2014. Web. 4 May 2016.

21

Ladd, Helen F., and Edward B. Fiske eds. Handbook of Research in Education Finance and Policy. Abingdon: Rout-ledge, 2015. Print.

McKenzie, Phillip, Paulo Santiago, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, eds. Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2005. Print.

Menezes-Filho, Naércio, and Elaine Pazello. “Do Teachers’ Wages Matter for Proficiency? Evidence from a Funding Reform in Brazil.” Economics of Education Review 26.6 (2007): 660–672. ScienceDirect. Web. Economics of Edu-cation: Major Contributions and Future Directions - The Dijon Papers.

Montoya, Silvia. “Do Teacher Incentives Improve Learning Outcomes?” International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. Web. 4 May 2016.

OECD. Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers. OECDPublishing: 2005. Print.

OECD Overview. “Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers - Final Report: Teachers Matter - OECD.” OECD Better Policies for Better Lives. Web. 4 May 2016.

Skandera, Hanna, and Richard Sousa. School Figures: The Data behind the Debate. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institu-tion, Stanford U, 2003. Print.

Teachers for Education for All. Teacher Policy Development Guide. France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2015. Web.

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. “Calidad de La Educación | The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.” N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2016.

Pennucci, Annie. “Teacher Compensation and Training Policies: Impacts on Student Outcomes.” May 2012.

Rapley, John. Understanding Development: Theory and Practice in the Third World. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1996. Print.

Rivkin, Steven G., Eric A. Hanushek, and John F. Kain. “Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement.” Econo-metrica 73.2 (2005): 417–458. Print.

Vegas, Emiliana, and Ilana Umasnsky. Improving Teaching and Learning Through Effective Incentives: What Can We Learn from Education Reforms in Latin America? Washington DC: World Bank, 2005. PDF.

Walsh, Kate, and Christopher O. Tracy. Increasing the Odds: How Good Policies Can Yield Better Teachers. Na-tional Council on Teacher Quality, 2004. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

22

Human Capital

Education

Teachers

Student Learning

Education Policy

Green Mountain College1 Brennan Circle

Poultney, Vermont 05764

teacher policy final project

Documents