The primary purpose of this report is to provide preliminary evidence on the measurement properties for newly designed assessments of content knowledge for teaching (CKT) in elementary reading language arts (RLA) and mathematics. The goal is to offer the CKT tests through the "PRAXIS"® assessment. Additional analyses were conducted to…

Historically, students took Algebra I in high school, but there has been a recent trend toward taking it in middle school (Domina, 2014). In the past two decades the proportion of middle school students taking Algebra I or more-advanced math courses has doubled (Domina, 2014). Success in Algebra I is important because it is a gateway course for…

Teach For America (TFA) and the Teaching Fellows programs are an important and growing source of teachers of hard-to-staff subjects in high-poverty schools, but comprehensive evidence of their effectiveness has been limited. This report presents findings from the first large-scale random assignment study of secondary math teachers from these…

This report focuses on two aspects of teacher supply and quality: (a) the under-representation of racial/ethnic minorities, especially African Americans in the teaching pool, and (b) teacher candidates' performance on licensure assessments, including general skills tests in reading, writing, and mathematics (known as Praxis I[R]) and selected…

This study concerns the "highly qualified teacher" provisions of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA," 2002), as reauthorized, and other policies at the federal, state and local levels, which have aimed to elevate the content knowledge of teachers. This examination of "Praxis II" score trends…