The center has completed the most in-depth study of CMS teachers done to date, evaluating teacher performance in the district as well as recruitment, retention, development and credentials.

“Our goal is to provide school district leaders with data that can help them develop effective strategies to improve student outcomes,” said Dr. Fullerton.  "It has been gratifying to work with a district and team so eager to leverage this type of data."

The study found very little correlation between teacher effectiveness, as measured by student performance, and advanced degrees. Some positive effects were detected for teachers with National Board certification. Other factors affecting teacher performance that were evaluated by the study included which undergraduate institution the teacher attended and whether a teacher was hired late (after the school year began).

The study also found that nearly all of the improvement that occurs as teachers gain experience comes in the first three years of teaching. It also found that how a teacher enters the profession makes little difference in performance after five years – non-traditional routes to certification do not affect performance.

“What this research tells us is that our highly effective teachers come in all shapes and sizes – and at present, we don’t have an effective way to predict which teachers will succeed,” Dr. Peter C. Gorman, superintendent, said. “What we can conclude is that paying teachers based on years of experience or credentials does not necessarily reward our most effective performers in the classroom.”

All of their findings were based on research in reading and math for grades four through eight. The study looked at data for the district during the period from 2003-2009. To see Dr. Fullerton’s slide presentation in full, click here. Technical appendix.

“We think these findings are important in our work on pay for performance and in helping to increase student achievement over time,” Gorman said. “We would like to see similar research done for teachers in every subject and grade level.”

Another important aspect of the research is that it will help CMS strategically place the most effective teachers to increase student achievement in low-performing schools.

“This will give us a way to measure equity among schools that is meaningful,” Gorman said. “Measuring teacher effectiveness through student achievement will help us allocate resources wisely across the district.”

The CMS study is part of the Strategic Data Project at Harvard funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project is a national education initiative to help education leaders use data effectively to improve instruction and increase student achievement. The project is housed at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard, and is partnering with six school districts working on reform, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Six more partners are expected to be added to the Strategic Data Project later this year.