Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 2hEveryone knows (or should know) how important teachers are for student achievement. I think there's some low-hanging fruit when it comes to improving teacher quality through better hiring decisions. Want to know more (all in 1 page!), see @efpjournal.bsky.social 's aefpweb.org/files/S26_Go...aefpweb.org 013
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hThis paper is part of a larger NSF-funded mixed-methods project on the early teacher pipeline (DUE# 1950030). Thank you, NSF! Download the papers at www.caldercenter.org, and read a brief summarizing the findings for the project as a whole: caldercenter.org/publications... 11/11caldercenter.orgHome | CALDER Center 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hTakeaway: GPA and SAT thresholds are blunt proxies for a signal that preparation programs already generate. Evidence that what is observed/evaluated in teacher education/college is predictive of teacher performance. 10/11 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hCaveats: these are associations, not causal effects of raising GPA. Three universities, one state; value added only in tested grades and subjects; grades in teacher courses are compressed near the top. 9/11 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hRetention: early interest in education predicts staying, about 0.8 points lower annual attrition (baseline ~8%). GPA doesn't predict who leaves. 8/11 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hWhich grades? The signal comes mainly from GPA in math courses designed for teachers, not regular math. Teachers who took an advanced (400-level+) math course were also more effective in both math and ELA. 7/11 110
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hThe GPA result holds with a Heckman selection correction (instrument: teacher openings at the student-teaching school), district fixed effects, grades standardized within course, and first-year teachers only. 6/11 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hEffectiveness: SAT scores and total credits earned don't predict value added. College GPA does. A 1 SD higher GPA is associated with a 0.02–0.03 SD gain in math and ELA value added, about half the return to a teacher's first year of experience. 5/11 222
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hEntry: unsurprisingly, early interest in education is the big predictor (+22 percentage points). SAT barely matters. A 100-point higher SAT score changes the probability of teaching by just 0.1 points. 4/11 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hThe data: 113,287 graduates followed from college application into the classroom. 3,559 became WA public school teachers, and we observe value added for 801 math and 851 ELA teachers. 3/11 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hWhy it matters: GPA minimums, licensure requirements, and scholarships all treat college academic performance as a proxy for classroom effectiveness. Whether it's a valid proxy has been largely untested. 2/11 100
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 4hThis is a long one, folks: new CALDER working paper on the extent to which academic preparation predicts teacher workforce outcomes. We link college records from 3 WA public universities to who teaches, how effective they are, and who stays. 🧵 caldercenter.org/publications... 1/11 146
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 9hYou wouldn't guess this from looking at U.S. roads, but the growth of electric cars as a share of the market in many other countries is really striking. 010
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 9hThis is a big deal, both because it's important to keep kids challenged and engaged and because the engagement appears to pay off in high school 👇 193
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Do I want dinner at Brendan's house ("I’m using it in my personal life, I’m using it to make decisions about what I’m going to cook for dinner, I’m using it to prep for my courses.")? 240
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberTuan D. Nguyen, Ph.D. @edutuan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Gone for a while, but a few things to share: 1. Ending Teacher Shortages book shorturl.at/ghvOU 2. Educator Recruitment Retention & Effectiveness Center teacherworkforce.com 3. Nowcasting teacher turnover 4. Why Teachers Matter doc (in production) shorturl.at/b45E4shorturl.atAmazon.com 266
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026This paper is for the wonks out there who want to think/learn more about how to use LLMs to assess teacher applicants (or job applicants in general) 👇 042
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberAlexandra de Gendre @adegendre.bsky.social · 01/10/2026So good to see this paper out, it’s such a cool project! Well done! 👌🏽 051
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberTuan D. Nguyen, Ph.D. @edutuan.bsky.social · 01/10/20264) Finally, I am producing a feature documentary Why Teachers Matter. This documentary explores how teachers have shaped lives, recognizing that most of us are where we are today in part because of the words or actions of our teachers and mentors. Youtube: shorturl.at/b45E4shorturl.atTuan D. Nguyen, Ph.D.All of us got to where we are today because of teachers, mentors, and coaches who taught and supported us all along the way. This channel is dedicated to honoring teachers and their roles in educating... 143
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberRiley Acton @riacton.bsky.social · 01/10/2026🚨 JOB ALERT! @bowdoincollege.bsky.social econ is hiring! Fields of interest include international finance, corporate finance, and IO, with the ability to teach a financial econ course. Come join a thriving, research active liberal arts college on the coast of Maine! www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing.... 1178
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Very cool project to raise awareness of the importance of teachers 👇 000
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I appreciate Fordham for calling attention to our recent overview of No Zeros grading policies in WA. We don't (yet) know the consequences of these policies for student achievement, but I'm worried about the opaqueness of them. fordhaminstitute.org/national/com...fordhaminstitute.orgThe uneven ground of the no-zero grading policy landscapeThe push for no-zero grading policies, which prohibit assigning zeros for class assignments or tests, began during a broader “equitable grading” movement arising from the view that traditional grading... 031
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Thank you! As a fellow genXer, that actually means more to me than you might guess as we (occasionally) put some work into trying for a clever title! 010
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Like many of you, I've been waiting to see these rules governing the new federal tax credit for schooling (voucher) for a while. They are out (gift article)! Treasury releases rules for nation’s first federal school voucher program wapo.st/3TxbaRMwapo.stTreasury releases rules for nation’s first federal school voucher programWith the arrival of the long-awaited rules, Democratic governors are under more pressure to say whether they will opt in. 102
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I love the new @NWEA paper on Algebra readiness and access. We are working on something very similar but were beat to the punch on this. Here it is: www.nwea.org/uploads/gett...nwea.org 011
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Great conversation about the VERY thorny issue of unequal school discipline and how to know from data whether there there's something discriminatory going on. Wow is this a difficult issue. + 👇 fordhaminstitute.org/national/res...fordhaminstitute.orgSchool discipline: A new rulebook (again) | Episode 1036 of The Education Gadfly ShowKimberly Richey, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to talk about the latest federal guidance on school discipline and Tit... 211
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberCara Jackson @carajackson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026The Dosage Dilemma: Implementation Evidence on the Barriers to High-Dosage Tutoring journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...journals.sagepub.comSage Journals: Discover world-class researchSubscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher. 162
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026grades sometimes aren't a good signal about students' knowledge and skills. If true, that's probably good because grades often conflict w/ objective (test) measures of what students know, but it would be better if there was more alignment between student skills and their grades. 000
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026It's hard to imagine that people would disagree w/ the notion that schools should provide parents with clear signals about how much their kids are learning & grades are clearly the key way they do this. This story suggests parents are beginning to learn that...👇 www.the74million.org/article/pare...the74million.orgParents Are Beginning to Grasp the Reality of Grade Inflation, New Data ShowsGrades can give the false impression that students are on track. A Learning Heroes survey suggests parents are beginning to question what schools tell them. 110
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberPaul Bruno @paul-bruno.com · 28/09/2026Early Grade Retention Harms Adult Earnings www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...aeaweb.orgEarly Grade Retention Harms Adult Earnings(October 2026) - This paper provides new causal evidence on the effects of grade retention on educational attainment, behavioral outcomes, and labor market performance by analyzing Texas's reading tes... 064
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberAndrew Bacher-Hicks @abacherhicks.bsky.social · 28/09/2026K-12 researchers! Take a look at the new Arnold Ventures RFP supporting causal research on the impacts of K-12 school policies. LOIs are due Nov. 13. Please share widely! 21315
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Lots to unpack there, but I think your basic point is spot on. 020
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Despite very different ideas about how to improve schools, it sounds like there was a lot of agreement that: 1) there's no single silver bullet; and 2) the quality of implementation really matters. On #2, that's about human capital. Gift article: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...nytimes.com30 Ideas for Fixing U.S. Schools, Ranked by Experts (Gift Article)Math and reading scores are in a decade-long slump. We asked three dozen experts: What could turn things around? 140
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026One of the terms that I think Nat used was "cognitive surrender", what a great phrase to encompass some of the myriad issues of concern around student use of AI. 010
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I highly recommend The Report Card (w/ @natmalkus.bsky.social) as a weekend weeding companion! I caught this episode on AI use in education (& interesting empirical evidence on it). It's a great discussion of both the potential of AI and challenges/concerns (plenty). 👇 www.aei.org/podcast/impl...aei.org 110
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberThe Quarterly Journal of Economics @qjeharvard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Recently accepted by #QJE: “Busing to Opportunity? The Impacts of the METCO Voluntary School Desegregation Program on Urban Students of Color” by Elizabeth Setren (@elizabeth-setren.bsky.social): doi.org/10.1093/qje/...doi.orgBusing to Opportunity? The Impacts of the METCO Voluntary School Desegregation Program on Urban Students of ColorAbstract. School assignment policies are a key lever for expanding access to high-performing schools and promoting racial and socioeconomic integration. Fo 0197
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberMorgan Polikoff @mpolikoff.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Nodded so hard I got a crick in my neck 171
Reposted by Dan GoldhaberRiley Acton @riacton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Thrilled to be organizing this conference with Kalena Cortes, @loismiller.bsky.social, @camilantmorales.bsky.social, & @julia-turner.bsky.social, thanks to generous support from Ascendium! Send us any & all work on CCs! Descriptive, mixed methods, & interdisciplinary research encouraged. 🥳 23319
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Closing in on the day! I'm definitely thinking about it... 000
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026More on this one (one of my favs) when I get a chance to 🧵! I will say that I think it contains some surprises (at least they were to me). 000
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026It does have a nice ring to it, but I have to say that I'd still take "Amber's Research Minute"! BTW, loved the convo (maybe last week) about how it quickly evolved from actually trying to be a minute long. 010
Dan Goldhaber @cedr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026A possibility is that it worked in middle schools but not elementary because middle schools are already departmentalized, so NEW adds the benefits of collaboration and shared responsibility without incurring costs of additional specialization. But, it's true that we don't really know! 000