What Teacher Actions Drive Student Learning? Assessing the Validity of Teach For America’s Teaching As Leadership Rubric

• In Event: Policy Issues Related to Instructional Practices and School Environments

Abstract

What teacher actions drive student learning? It is this critical question that the present study seeks to answer, in the hopes of improving instruction across our nation’s classrooms. The Teaching As Leadership (TAL) Rubric is an ambitious framework developed by Teach For America (TFA) that describes the actions of highly effective teachers working with students in low-income communities. This study investigates whether teacher actions as rated on the TAL Rubric translate to gains in student achievement. Specifically, using video, interview, survey, and document data from 230 TFA Corps Members, the study provides the first empirical evaluation of which, if any, of the elements of the Teaching as Leadership Rubric are correlated to improved student learning as estimated by value-added modeling.

Authors

• Andrew M. Sokatch, Teach For America, Inc.

• Roy Elis, Teach For America, Inc.