Tailoring Teaching to Fit the Class: Teaching Practice and Classroom Composition Under Random Assignment
Summary
The main purpose of this project is to explore teaching practice through the lens of classroom composition (based on student initial achievement, race, socioeconomic status, and gender). In particular, we will investigate how teaching practice affects student learning and engagement differentially depending on the level and dispersion of students' initial achievement. We are exploring how teachers adapt to different classroom compositions, whether these adaptations predict student outcomes, and which teacher characteristics predict adaptation. Findings from this project will have implications for teacher professional development, tracking, and for addressing inequality in student outcomes.