Dan Goldhaber

@KevinMahnken @vkoganpolisci @FrontlineEdu I've never seen this one!

@CEDR_US @vkoganpolisci One more from the cutting room floor: A major hiring priority cited by districts themselves is "cultural fit." Almost 1/3 of teachers are hired from referrals, according to this report from @FrontlineEdu frontlineinstitute.com/reports/leak-p…

Terrific @KevinMahnken piece on our new paper on which teacher applicants are making it through the hiring pipeline. We were surprised by the demographic differences, especially for Asian applicants. Here's the paper with all the details: caldercenter.org/publications/s…

@KevinMahnken @vkoganpolisci Yup, I think there are lots of hints that hiring could be improved. See, for instance: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pa… & caldercenter.org/publications/i…

@CEDR_US @vkoganpolisci I didn't get into it in the story, BUT: There's reason to think districts don't always respond to signals of candidate quality, such as undergrad GPA, that are predictive of performance. Would love to know what they actually do care about! sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

And thanks to @wtgrantfdn for funding this study!

@vkoganpolisci @KevinMahnken I guess that could explain the findings, but you'd have to think this is true for both Asian and Black applicants relative to White (at least to be consistent).

@CEDR_US @KevinMahnken Presumably district officials are rational, and don't want to waste time considering applicants who are unlikely to accept a position if offered, right? That rational anticipation could affect each step of the process, including the very beginning (referral to school level)?

@Ahully1 Maybe, but the analysis is structured around competitions for the very same jobs.

@CEDR_US Immediate question pops in mind: Presumably if more qualified they’re also more expensive to hire & retain, yes? And question re: better offers and/or retention over time related as well.

@vkoganpolisci @KevinMahnken I believe that's correct, but if you look at the paper it's more complicated as they typically aren't even advancing at the same rates to the school level for consideration. It's a puzzler!

@CEDR_US @KevinMahnken The identifiers don't track individuals between districts, right? One reason strong Asian candidates do worse might be that districts (rationally) anticipate them having more/better outside options (or them getting offered other/outside positions during hiring process)?

Terrific reporters!

EFP is in good hands!

What a great #AEFP2026! Thanks to all the folks who made it happen.

And it's a blockbuster! All the papers in the session are both interesting and important. Hope to see you there.

@caldercenter @CEDR_US @brbackes I’m pleased to say that @wtgrantfdn supported this insightful research.

The shift from the prerequisite to the corequisite developmental education model has been a success. But is it about avoiding harmful prerequisites or coreq effectiveness? A new CALDER paper by Zeyu Xu & @brbackes uses KY data to investigate. 🔗 caldercenter.org/publications/f…

@aefpweb is already in full swing! Lot's of good stuff, but if you want to see an interesting session on Saturday morning, I know that 10.02 is a blockbuster having read all the papers.

Heading to Chicago for #AEFP2026 this week? Don't miss these panels featuring CALDER research from Cory Koedel, @RoddyTheobald, @ppmbekeani, @AllisonFGilmour, Zeyu Xu, John Krieg, @edizonross & @brbackes.

@Ed_Realist @MichaelPetrilli Those are good questions!

I'd bet on major, not only. There *are* non-white candidates who can pass the tests and choose not to become teachers! However, I think the...paradox? not quite, but whatever...that other university fields of study can commit AA but teaching can not is a reason why many non-white candidates go elsewhere. Here's what I would like to be tested: go find all the non-white candidates who failed the credential test and ask them what they did instead. What major did they choose as an alternative? Another research idea: survey all non-white college graduates and find what percentage opted out of teaching because they were worried about the credential test. Another research idea: Ask non-white candidates with scores in the 1000-1200 range what they ended up with a degree in, then compare the average white/Asian SAT score for those fields.

Great @MichaelPetrilli solo episode on teacher diversity - tackles the thorny issue of how to balance the evidence that students (particularly Black students) benefit from race matching (seems good to have role models in all walks of life)... 1/n fordhaminstitute.org/national/resou…

@peteshulman1 @alexanderrusso @ChadAldeman Hmmm, I'm not sure on this but I've definitely heard the speculation.

@alexanderrusso Are AP tests actually getting easier? At first glance at the data, it seems most state's mean scores improved. Maybe @CEDR_US or @ChadAldeman can answer this? educationnext.org/are-ap-exams-g…

"Last year’s graduates achieved the all-time record for the highest percentage of students who scored 3 or higher on an AP exam, Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a press release. The College Board released results Tuesday showing that 35.8 percent of Massachusetts public high school graduates reached that score threshold." Mass. students place No. 1 nationwide for AP scores boston.com/news/education…

@Ed_Realist @MichaelPetrilli No, I 100% don't think it rebuts that premise. I agree that licensure tests are disproportionately keeping out non-White candidates, I just don't think they are the major/only reason for disproportionality in teacher demographics.

Pretty sure I read that study earlier, as I try to read all your work! Do you think it clearly rebuts the premise that the test is keeping non-white candidates out? Also (and I think I asked this last time) isn't it true that the bulk of 4-year TEP programs are elementary? Not all, but most?

Congratulations to our #AEFP2026 Jean Flanigan Outstanding Dissertation Award Honorable Mention winners!

New: Our No-Spin report on an RCT of Hoot high-impact tutoring for struggling readers in grade 1-4. Despite the study abstract’s unambiguously positive portrayal of the results, this high-quality RCT found no discernible effect on its primary outcome: end-of-yr reading scores.🧵