Policy-Assigned Teacher Observations,Their Implementation,and Student Discipline Outcomes: Main,Mediated,and Moderated Relationships

Abstract

This study is the first to estimate main, mediated, and moderated relationships between policy-assigned observations and various student discipline outcomes (SDOs). We also examined the relationships between SDOs and observations conducted. The data suggest that the percentage of students who receive at least one SDO decreases as policy assigns schools an additional 25 observations and that in-school suspension reductions drive this relationship. Improvements in teachers’ classroom management skills mediate some SDO reductions. We found that several relationships substantively depend on the degree of prior-year SDOs and the average teacher’s years of experience. While policy-assigned observations determined by teacher human capital measures may reduce SDOs, observations conducted for unobserved reasons may not.

Keywords

classroom management school discipline sensitivity analysis quasi-experimental methods teacher evaluation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Angrist

J. D.

Pischke

J.-S.

(2010). The credibility revolution in empirical economics: How better research design is taking the con out of econometrics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(2), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.24.2.3

Bacher-Hicks

Billings

S. B.

Deming

D. J.

(2024). The school-to-prison pipeline: Long-run impacts of school suspensions on adult crime. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 16(4), 165–193. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20230052

Bacher-Hicks

Koedel

. (2023). Estimation and interpretation of teacher value added in research applications. Handbook of the Economics of Education, 6, 93–134.

Bartanen

Bell

James

Wyckoff

. (2025). “Refining” our understanding of early career teacher skill development: Evidence from classroom observations. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737241303146.

Bell

C. A.

Croft

Leusner

McCaffrey

D. F.

Gitomer

Pianta

R. C.

(2014). Improving observational score quality: Challenges in observer thinking. In Kane

T. J.

Kerr

K. A.

Pianta

R. C.

(Eds.), Designing teacher evaluation systems (1st ed., pp. 50–97). Jossey-Bass.

Blazar

Adnot

Anthenelli

Zhong

(2024). Differential responses to teacher evaluation incentives: Expectancy, race, experience, and task (Working Paper 24-1068; EdWorkingPaper). Annenberg Institute at Brown University.

Bleiberg

Brunner

Harbatkin

Kraft

M. A.

Springer

M. G.

(2021). The effect of teacher evaluation on achievement and attainment: Evidence from statewide reforms (Working Paper 21–496; EdWorkingPaper). Annenberg Institute at Brown University.

Campbell

J. W.

Derrington

M. L.

(2019). Principals’ perceptions of teacher evaluation reform from structural and human resource perspectives. Journal of Educational Supervision, 2(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.31045/jes.2.1.4

Carraway

J. H.

Young

(2015). Implementation of a districtwide policy to improve principals’ instructional leadership: Principals’ sensemaking of the skillful observation and coaching laboratory. Educational Policy, 29(1), 230–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904814564216

10.

Chetty

Friedman

J. N.

Rockoff

J. E.

(2014). The long-term impacts of teachers: Teacher value added and student outcomes in adulthood. American Economic Review, 104(9), 2633–2679. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.9.2633

11.

Cowan

Goldhaber

Theobald

(2022). Performance evaluations as a measure of teacher effectiveness when implementation differs. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 15(3), 510–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2021.2018747.

12.

Derrington

M. L.

Campbell

J. W.

(2015). Implementing new teacher evaluation systems: Principals’ concerns & supervisor support. Journal of Educational Change, 16, 305–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-015-9244-6

13.

DiPaola

Wagner

C. A.

(2018). Improving instruction through supervision, evaluation, and professional development. IAP.

14.

Donaldson

M. L.

(2021). Multidisciplinary perspectives on teacher evaluation: Understanding the research and theory (1st ed.). Routledge.

15.

Donaldson

M. L.

Woulfin

(2018). From tinkering to going “rogue”: How principals use agency when enacting new teacher evaluation systems. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 40(4), 531–556. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373718784205

16.

Goldring

Grissom

J. A.

Rubin

Neumerski

C. M.

Cannata

Drake

Schuermann

(2015). Make room value added: Principals’ human capital decisions and the emergence of teacher observation data. Educational Researcher, 44(2), 96–104. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x15575031

17.

Grissom

J. A.

Blissett

R. S. L.

Mitani

(2018). Evaluating school principals: Supervisor ratings of principal practice and principal job performance. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 40(3), 446–472. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373718783883

18.

Hayes

M. S.

Liu

Gershenson

(2023). Who refers whom? The effects of teacher characteristics on disciplinary office referrals. Economics of Education Review, 93, 102376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102376

19.

Huang

Hochbein

Simons

(2020). The relationship among school contexts, principal time use, school climate, and student achievement. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 48(2), 305–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143218802595

20.

Hunter

S. B.

(2024). High-leverage teacher evaluation practices for instructional improvement. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 52(4), 991–1013. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432221112995

21.

Hunter

S. B.

(2020). The unintended effects of policy-assigned teacher observations: Examining the validity of observation scores. AERA Open, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858420929276

22.

Hunter

S. B.

Bowser

K. M.

(2024). Next-generation teacher evaluation in rural Missouri: Main and moderated effects on student achievement and effects-to-expenditure ratios. (EdWorkingPaper: 24-935). Annenberg Institute at Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/x36v-vs97.

23.

Hunter

S. B.

Kho

(2025). The effects of teacher evaluation policy on student achievement and teacher turnover: Leveraging teacher accountability and teacher development. Journal of Education Human Resources, 43(3), 582–633. https://doi.org/10.3138/jehr-2023-0040

24.

Hunter

S. B.

Rodriguez

L. A.

(2021). Examining the demands of teacher evaluation: Time use, strain and turnover among Tennessee school administrators. Journal of Educational Administration, 59(6), 739–758. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-07-2020-0165

25.

Hunter

S. B.

Springer

M. G.

(2022). Performance feedback, human capital, and teacher performance: A mixed-methods analysis. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 44(3), 380–403. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737211062913

26.

Hunter

S. B.

Steinberg

M. P

. (2022). Do you observe what i observe? The predictors and consequences of discordance in teacher and evaluator ratings of teacher performance. (EdWorkingPaper: 22–676). Rhode Island, USA: Annenberg Institute at Brown University. https://doi.org/10.26300/97k9-br18.

27.

Jackson

C. K.

(2018). What do test scores miss? The importance of teacher effects on non–test score outcomes. Journal of Political Economy, 126(5), 2072–2107. https://doi.org/10.1086/699018

28.

Jackson

C. K.

Bruegmann

(2009). Teaching students and teaching each other: The importance of peer learning for teachers. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(4), 85–108. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.1.4.85

29.

Kachur

Stout

Edwards

(2010). Classroom walkthroughs to improve teaching and learning. Eye on Education.

30.

Keesor

C. A.

(2005). Administrative visibility and its effect on classroom behavior. NASSP Bulletin, 89(643), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263650508964306

31.

Kitendo

(2015). Effect of frequent administrators’ walkthrough observations on teachers’ classroom instructional practices and students’ performance in public schools. Northcentral University.

32.

Kraft

M. A.

Gilmour

A. F.

(2016). Can principals promote teacher development as evaluators? A case study of principals’ views and experiences. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52(5), 711–753. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x16653445

33.

Kraft

M. A.

Papay

J. P.

Chi

(2020). Teacher skill development: Evidenced from performance ratings by principals. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 39(2), 315–347. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22193

34.

Lacoe

Steinberg

M. P.

(2019). Do suspensions affect student outcomes? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 41(1), 34–62. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373718794897

35.

Liebowitz

D. D.

Porter

Bragg

(2022). The effects of higher-stakes teacher evaluation on office disciplinary referrals. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 15(3), 475–509. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2021.2015496

36.

Liu

Loeb

(2021). Engaging teachers: Measuring the impact of teachers on student attendance in secondary school. Journal of Human Resources, 56(2), 343–379. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.56.2.1216-8430r3

37.

McKinley

(2011). Raising black students’ achievement through culturally responsive teaching. ASCD.

38.

Neumerski

C. M.

(2013). Rethinking instructional leadership, a review: What do we know about principal, teacher, and coach instructional leadership, and where should we go from here? Educational Administration Quarterly, 49(2), 310–347. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x12456700

39.

Odden

Kelly

J. A.

(2008). Strategic management of human capital in public education. Strategic Management of Human Capital.

40.

Osborne

A. G.

Jr. (2001). Discipline of special-education students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 29(2), 513. https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol29/iss2/3.

41.

Oster

(2019). Unobservable selection and coefficient stability: Theory and evidence. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 37(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.2016.1227711

42.

Ovando

M. N.

Ramirez

(2007). Principals’ instructional leadership within a teacher performance appraisal system: Enhancing students’ academic success. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 20, 85–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-007-9048-1

43.

Papay

J. P.

Kraft

M. A.

(2013). Productivity returns to experience in the teacher labor market: Methodological challenges and new evidence on long-term career improvement. Journal of Public Economics, 130, 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2015.02.008

44.

Papay

J. P.

Taylor

E. S.

Tyler

J. H.

Laski

M. E.

(2020). Learning job skills from colleagues at work: Evidence from a field experiment using teacher performance data. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 12(1), 359–388. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20170709

45.

Phipps

Wiseman

E. A.

(2021). Enacting the rubric: Teacher improvements in windows of high-stakes observation. Education Finance and Policy, 16(2), 283–312. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00295

46.

Pressley

Roehrig

A. D.

Turner

J. E.

(2018). Elementary teachers’ perceptions of a reformed teacher-evaluation system. The Teacher Educator, 53(1), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2017.1391362

47.

Reid

D. B.

(2020). Teachers’ perceptions of how principals use new teacher evaluation systems. Teachers and Teaching, 26(1), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2020.1740199

48.

Rigby

J. G.

(2015). Principals’ sensemaking and enactment of teacher evaluation. Journal of Educational Administration, 53(3), 374–392. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-04-2014-0051

49.

Rodriguez

L. A.

Welsh

R. O.

(2022). The dimensions of school discipline: Toward a comprehensive framework for measuring discipline patterns and outcomes in schools. AERA Open, 8, 233285842210836. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584221083669

50.

Rosenbaum

P. R.

Rubin

D. B.

(1983). Assessing sensitivity to an unobserved binary covariate in an observational study with binary outcome. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, 45(2), 212–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2517-6161.1983.tb01242.x

51.

Rothstein

(2010). Teacher quality in educational production: Tracking, decay, and student achievement. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(1), 175–214. https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.2010.125.1.175

52.

Shanklin

(2020). Principal and teacher perceptions of classroom walkthroughs in middle school settings. Lindenwood University.

53.

Skiba

R. J.

Chung

C.-G.

Trachok

Baker

T. L.

Sheya

Hughes

R. L.

(2014). Parsing disciplinary disproportionality: Contributions of infraction, student, and school characteristics to out-of-school suspension and expulsion. American Educational Research Journal, 51(4), 640–670. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214541670

54.

Sorensen

L. C.

Bushway

S. D.

Gifford

E. J.

(2022). Getting tough? The effects of discretionary principal discipline on student outcomes. Education Finance and Policy, 17(2), 255–284. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00341

55.

Stecher

B. M.

Garet

M. S.

Hamilton

L. S.

Steiner

E. D.

Robyn

Poirier

Holtzman

Fulbeck

E. S.

Chambers

Brodziak de los Reyes

(2016). Improving teaching effectiveness. ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED580306

56.

Steinberg

M. P.

Donaldson

M. L.

(2016). The new educational accountability: Understanding the landscape of teacher evaluation in the post-NCLB era. Education Finance and Policy, 11(3), 340–359. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00186

57.

Steinberg

M. P.

Sartain

(2015). Does teacher evaluation improve school performance? Experimental evidence from Chicago’s Excellence in Teaching Project. Education Finance and Policy, 10(4), 535–572. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00173

58.

Taylor

E. S.

Tyler

J. H.

(2012). The effect of evaluation on teacher performance. American Economic Review, 102(7), 3628–3651. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.102.7.3628

59.

Welsh

R. O.

Little

(2018). The school discipline dilemma: A comprehensive review of disparities and alternative approaches. Review of Educational Research, 88(5), 752–794. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318791582

60.

Westcott

(2010). Classroom walkthroughs to improve teaching and learning. ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED509818

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

2.36 MB