Missouri Career Ladder Program¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 mixed) · 2 studies (2 causal), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The Missouri Career Ladder Program is a teacher incentive program in which school districts participate and teachers receive bonuses. The report evaluates the program's effect on teacher mobility, finding that "a school district’s participation in the Missouri Career Ladder Program would tend to increase retention in the district and the profession." It is studied here as a district-level policy lever for teacher workforce stability.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• School district participation in the program, which provides bonuses to teachers

Constraints¶

• The report notes that small bonuses affect behavior but not necessarily with large effects

Target Learners¶

• Mid-career teachers in Missouri school districts

Target Learning Goals¶

• Teacher retention in the district and the profession

Claims¶

• Missouri's Teacher Career Ladder program has at most a very small positive effect on student test scores [+W]
• The program's achievement effects were estimated statewide using nine years of longitudinal math and reading scores from 524 Missouri school districts [~W]

Related Elements¶

• Missouri Teacher Career Ladder program

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Kevin Booker, Steven Glazerman. (2009). Effects of the Missouri Career Ladder Program on Teacher Mobility. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/effects-of-the-missouri-career-ladder-program-on-teacher-mobility