This impact evaluation included teacher surveys, principal interviews, and student test score, teacher personnel, and program participant data. The program did not raise student math or reading scores, but it increased teacher retention in some schools.
Allison McKie
Senior Researcher
Expertise
- Evaluation of educational interventions
- Systematic research reviews
Focus Areas
- Education
- School Choice and Charters
- Teacher and Principal Effectiveness
- Human Services
About Allison
Allison McKie has expertise in evaluating educational interventions, including teacher incentive programs, and conducting systematic research reviews.
McKie has conducted research on teacher pay-for-performance programs and other topics in educational reform. She was the project director for an evaluation of the Teacher Advancement Program in the Chicago Public Schools, a whole-school reform that combined teacher performance incentives and promotion opportunities with mentoring and professional development. She currently provides technical assistance to grantees under the Teacher Incentive Fund, which promotes performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools. McKie is principal investigator for the an effort to help educators use data strategically to improve teachers’ effectiveness and increase students’ college readiness, and plays a lead role in the national evaluation of teacher residency programs.
McKie presents at conferences of professional organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, Association for Education Finance and Policy, and Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. The author of a chapter on dropout rates in the Encyclopedia of Education Economics & Finance, she holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Key Publications
Key Projects
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Evaluating the Chicago Teacher Advancement Program (Chicago TAP)
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Study of Teaching Residency ProgramsThis study looked at characteristics of federally funded Teaching Residency Programs, including applicants and participants, by measuring program length, required coursework, characteristics of mentor teachers, selection criteria for participants, and retention rates.
Related Case Studies
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Building the Knowledge Base on Teacher Preparation and EffectivenessMathematica designed and conducted three large-scale studies on the relationship between teacher preparation and effectiveness, using the most rigorous approach possible—random assignment of students to teachers from different kinds of programs—and compared student test scores to gauge teacher effectiveness.