University of Pennsylvania Assistant Professor Matthew Steinberg describes how student characteristics, namely prior academic achievement, affect the ratings and measurements of teacher performance, as discussed in his article “Classroom Composition and Measured Teacher Performance: What Do Teacher Observation Scores Really Measure?” published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

He contextualizes results in terms of recent teacher evaluation reforms, which continue to rely on classroom observations of teacher practice.

Featured research: Steinberg, Matthew P., and Rachel Garrett. “Classroom Composition and Measured Teacher Performance: What Do Teacher Observation Scores Really Measure?” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 38, no. 2 (June 2016): 293–317