Research Assistant to Dr. Mark Ehlert and Dr. Michael Podgursky, Economics Department, University of Missouri
Period: May 2018 to Present
Project: Annual Composition of the Teacher Work Force and Relationships with School Performance on the Missouri Assessment Program
Responsibilities: Using the cumulative certificate and degree files maintained by The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), I identified the first certificate and corresponding degree data for teachers employed in the Kansas City Missouri School District (KCMSD) and all Kansas City area charter schools (KC Charter) between academic years 2013 and 2017. I made use of the longitudinal educator database to produce extensive descriptive data on flows of teachers from teacher preparation programs into KCMSD and KC Charter schools. I also investigated the relationship between school performance and the stability of the teacher workforce at the school. Specifically, I documented the characteristics and turnover patterns of teachers in a variety of mobility categories separately for schools at different performance levels.
Period: May 2018 to Present
Project: Annual Composition of the Teacher Work Force and Relationships with School Performance on the Missouri Assessment Program
Responsibilities: Using the cumulative certificate and degree files maintained by The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), I identified the first certificate and corresponding degree data for teachers employed in the Kansas City Missouri School District (KCMSD) and all Kansas City area charter schools (KC Charter) between academic years 2013 and 2017. I made use of the longitudinal educator database to produce extensive descriptive data on flows of teachers from teacher preparation programs into KCMSD and KC Charter schools. I also investigated the relationship between school performance and the stability of the teacher workforce at the school. Specifically, I documented the characteristics and turnover patterns of teachers in a variety of mobility categories separately for schools at different performance levels.
Research Assistant to Dr. Mark Ehlert, Dr. Cory Koedel and Dr. Michael Podgursky, Economics Department, University of Missouri
Period: July 2016 to April 2018
Project: The Missouri Gateway Assessments: A Report on New Assessments, Data Sources, Score Records, and Relationships among Measures for Educator Preparation Program Candidates
Responsibilities: The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) established new testing requirements for aspiring candidates in educator preparation programs (EPPs) beginning in the fall of 2014. I retrieved all available data covering the new and old assessments, certificate data, and teacher labor market data between 2014 and 2017 and linked all of the data elements for each teaching candidate. I then examined the linked data to determine the share of EPP candidates with data coverage across all elements, and the correlations between candidate performance on the assessments and program completion, receipt of a professional certificate, and initial employment in the state’s public schools.
Period: July 2016 to April 2018
Project: The Missouri Gateway Assessments: A Report on New Assessments, Data Sources, Score Records, and Relationships among Measures for Educator Preparation Program Candidates
Responsibilities: The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) established new testing requirements for aspiring candidates in educator preparation programs (EPPs) beginning in the fall of 2014. I retrieved all available data covering the new and old assessments, certificate data, and teacher labor market data between 2014 and 2017 and linked all of the data elements for each teaching candidate. I then examined the linked data to determine the share of EPP candidates with data coverage across all elements, and the correlations between candidate performance on the assessments and program completion, receipt of a professional certificate, and initial employment in the state’s public schools.
Research Assistant to Dr. Cory Koedel, Economics Department, University of Missouri
Period: August 2015 to May 2016
Project: Mathematics Curriculum Effects on Student Achievement in California
Responsibilities: I made use of publicly available data files from California Department of Education (CDE) to construct a data panel of school and district characteristics and achievement outcomes between school years 2002-03 to 2012-13 for all public primary schools in California. The CDE data were also supplemented with data from the U.S. Census on the median household income and education level in the local area for each school, linked at the zip code level. I then merged these data with manually collected information on schools’ curriculum adoptions, cleaned the data, and built an analytic sample fit to evaluate the achievement effects of different sets of curriculum materials. Using matching and OLS, and new methods aimed at addressing statistical power problems in the evaluation, I estimated relative achievement effects of the four most commonly adopted elementary mathematics textbooks in the fall of 2008 and fall of 2009 in California.
Period: August 2015 to May 2016
Project: Mathematics Curriculum Effects on Student Achievement in California
Responsibilities: I made use of publicly available data files from California Department of Education (CDE) to construct a data panel of school and district characteristics and achievement outcomes between school years 2002-03 to 2012-13 for all public primary schools in California. The CDE data were also supplemented with data from the U.S. Census on the median household income and education level in the local area for each school, linked at the zip code level. I then merged these data with manually collected information on schools’ curriculum adoptions, cleaned the data, and built an analytic sample fit to evaluate the achievement effects of different sets of curriculum materials. Using matching and OLS, and new methods aimed at addressing statistical power problems in the evaluation, I estimated relative achievement effects of the four most commonly adopted elementary mathematics textbooks in the fall of 2008 and fall of 2009 in California.
Research Assistant to Dr. Pham Hoang Van, Economics Department, Baylor University
Period: August 2011 to May 2013
Research Areas: International Trade, Labor Economics
Responsibilities: I built a database of international trade conflicts and ensuing policy responses. I also retrieved data from United Nations International Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) to calculate PRODY and EXPY for all available countries, which are indices that measure the quality of the export basket.
Period: August 2011 to May 2013
Research Areas: International Trade, Labor Economics
Responsibilities: I built a database of international trade conflicts and ensuing policy responses. I also retrieved data from United Nations International Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) to calculate PRODY and EXPY for all available countries, which are indices that measure the quality of the export basket.