Georgia Policy Labs Reports
Teacher Effectiveness in Remote Instruction
Author ORCID Identifier
M. Cade Lawson: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1797-7785
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Document Type
Report
Publication Date
10-15-2024
Abstract
The effect of remote learning on student performance has been a frequent topic of research and discussion in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic but little is known about the impact of remote instruction on the performance of teachers. This question is especially important given that remote instruction has become a permanent part of the K–12 education landscape in the U.S., with districts increasingly using virtual learning to replace inclement weather cancellations, address shortages in hard-to-staff subjects, and offer more advanced courses. In this study, M. Cade Lawson and Tim R. Sass document how the relative effectiveness of teachers changed when moving from in-person to remote instruction and analyze the characteristics of teachers associated with greater effectiveness during remote instruction. Using matched student-/teacher-level data from three large metro-Atlanta school districts, we estimate teacher value-added models to measure the association between teacher characteristics and a teacher’s relative contribution to test score growth before and during the period of virtual instruction in the 2020-21 school year.
We find higher variance in value-added during remote instruction, meaning many teachers were either much more or much less effective at generating test score growth compared to in-person instruction. Veteran teachers, who appear relatively more effective in virtual instruction than their less-experienced peers, and the very best in-person teachers, some of which experience large declines in relative effectiveness when shifting to remote instruction, are driving these results.
The findings of this work can inform state and district policy on issues such as selection of teachers to provide virtual instruction, instructional delivery methods, and in-service training on technology use. While it may be a natural inclination to assign the “best” teachers to specialized or ad-hoc tasks like teaching a class remotely, our initial evidence suggests it might make sense to prioritize other characteristics besides in-person effectiveness, such as teacher experience, when staffing remote classes.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/36VC-SY39
Recommended Citation
Lawson, C., & Sass, T. (2024). Teacher Effectiveness in Remote Instruction. Georgia Policy Labs. https://doi.org/10.57709/36VC-SY39
Comments
An associated appendix and policy brief are accessible from the landing page.