The Performance Review Program for Initial Licensure (PRPIL) Study

Overview

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) engages in research efforts to understand the larger implications of our work, such as key outcomes of teacher effectiveness and student learning. The Performance Review Program for Initial Licensure (PRPIL) study extends the work completed last year on the Teacher Pathway Study . This research is conducted by the Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) housed within the American Institutes of Research (AIR). A component of the Teacher Pathway Study looked at the effectiveness of teachers from different educator preparation program pathways, but did not include teachers who completed the PRPIL program as a path to initial licensure. In year two of this study, the researchers will consider teachers earning licenses through this option. The funding comes from the Massachusetts state legislature's grant program established in 2015 to evaluate state-funded programming. The legislature requires DESE to report biannually to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, the Joint Committee on Education, and the Joint Committee on Higher Education about the study's status and preliminary results.

Study Focus

In addition to fostering a greater understanding of one of Massachusetts' practice-based options for licensure, this study has important implications for licensure changes. It could help inform how DESE approves the program as offering PRPIL opens to additional providers.

Research Questions

To provide a broad overview of teacher training and licensure outcomes in Massachusetts, the research team will investigate three research questions specifically:

1. How do the demographic characteristics and teaching credentials of PRPIL candidates compare to other teachers and other candidates entering the profession with preliminary licenses?
2. How does the effectiveness of PRPIL candidates compare to other teachers in Massachusetts?
3. How does the cost of PRPIL to candidates compare to other programs for initial licensure?

Study Data

Researchers use data on teachers who completed the PRPIL program from 2006 to 2016. Two measures of teacher effectiveness are used in the study: value added to state standardized tests in math and ELA and summative performance ratings under the Massachusetts educator evaluation framework. Researchers will compare teachers who completed PRPIL to all other teachers as well as all other teachers teaching under a preliminary license with the same years of experience.

For more information, please see our website or email us at EducatorPreparation@mass.gov .

Last Updated: June 19, 2017