America's youth now faces competition and challenges in a global economy that have never before existed. According to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), American students ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in math. Only 78% of American students complete high school on time, and the numbers are even lower for Blacks and Latinos. Recent reforms and decisions made by education and policy leaders in Florida, particularly high stakes testing and the accountability that accompanies them, have placed excessive pressure on school leaders, teachers, and students.

 

The authors of this research aspire to clarify if schools' socio-economic and ethnographic standings have statistically significant effects on teacher's VAM scores.