Boosting early retirement in cash-strapped districts does not hurt students' math and reading scores, according to new studies released at the American Economic Association meeting, but pension-incentive programs may cost schools some of their most effective teachers. Separate studies of teachers in California, Illinois, and North Carolina paint a…

Tennessee has undertaken several wide-ranging reforms aimed at educator practice and effectiveness over the past several years, including the launch of a new teacher evaluation system, modification of teacher tenure policy, and initial implementation of Common Core State Standards. This report from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE)…

This study examined whether being taught by a teacher with a high "value-added" improves a student's long-term outcomes. The study analyzed more than 20 years of data for nearly one million fourth- through eighth-grade students in a large urban school district. The study reported that having a teacher with a higher level of value-added…