Measuring School Effectiveness in Memphis

Abstract

New Leaders for New Schools, a nonprofit organization committed to training school principals, is heading an initiative that offers financial awards to effective educators. This report details the value-added model Mathematica developed to identify effective schools in the Memphis City school district during the first year of the project. The model estimates each schoolâ[euro](TM)s effect on student performance across all tested grades and subjects, accounting for student mobility, observable differences in student demographics, and measurement error in test scores.