David Blazar
Biographic Data
| ID | 1603931 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Blazar |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Blazar |
| SIGNATURE | BLAZAR D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Maryland, College Park |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5596-1552 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Disparate Pathways
Longstanding evidence on the importance of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways. Following Maryland public high-school students over 14 years reveals that early barriers require timely interventions, aiding Black and other students of color in achieving educational milestones that are prerequisites for teacher candidacy (high school graduation, college enrollment). Data projections indicate …
Localized Teacher Recruitment Through “Grow‐Your‐Own”
Recruiting teachers via “grow‐your‐own” (GYO) programs is a popular, yet rarely evaluated, strategy for addressing local workforce shortages and ensuring that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We provide novel evidence on the impacts of one such GYO program by exploiting the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) Career and Technical Education (CTE) program across public …
Professional Staff Diversity and Student Outcomes
Studies consistently show that minoritized students benefit from having a teacher of the same race/ethnicity. We extend this literature by examining educational impacts of exposure to same-race/ethnicity professional staff, including administrators, instructional coaches, guidance counselors, and special education specialists. Students interact with these staff less frequently than teachers, yet staff of color may also serve as role models, suppo…
Why Black Teachers Matter
Black teachers are critical resources for children and schools. In experimental data, I document large effects of Black upper-elementary teachers on the self-efficacy (0.9 SD) and classroom engagement (0.7 SD) of their Black but not non-Black students, potentially driven by role modeling. Black teachers also benefit the test scores (0.2 SD) and absences (over 20% decrease) of all students—no matter their race/ethnicity—that often persist years la…
Challenges and Tradeoffs of "Good" Teaching
The pursuit of multiple educational outcomes makes teaching a complex craft subject to potential conflicts and competing commitments. Using a data set in which teachers were randomly assigned to classes paired with videotaped lessons, we both document and unpack such a tradeoff. Upper-elementary teachers who excel at raising students' math test scores often are less successful at improving student-reported engagement in class (and vice versa). Fu…
Teacher Coaching to Improve Instruction at Scale
Background/Context Teacher coaching, defined by sustained observation and feedback cycles, has a longstanding theory of action that has held up to several rigorous evaluations in recent years. Policymakers and practitioners have taken note of these findings, rolling out coaching programs in classrooms and schools across the United States as a key policy initiative to improve instructional quality and student outcomes at scale. One likely factor l…
Curriculum Reform in The Common Core Era
Can a school or district improve student achievement simply by switching to a higher‐quality textbook or curriculum? We conducted the first multi‐textbook, multi‐state effort to estimate textbook efficacy following widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated changes in the textbook market. Pooling textbook adoption and student test score data across six geographically and demographically diverse U.S. states, we fo…
Teaching to Support Students With Diverse Academic Needs
Policy and practice communities increasingly are emphasizing conceptual, cognitively demanding, and “ambitious” instruction. Within this context, we examine whether such practices serve the needs of students with specialized academic needs. Across upper-elementary classrooms in four districts, we find that exposure to “ambitious” mathematics practices is more strongly associated with test score gains of English language learners (ELs) compared to…
The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement
Teacher coaching has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional models of professional development. We review the empirical literature on teacher coaching and conduct meta-analyses to estimate the mean effect of coaching programs on teachers’ instructional practice and students’ academic achievement. Combining results across 60 studies that employ causal research designs, we find pooled effect sizes of 0.49 standard deviations (SD) on inst…
Teacher and Teaching Effects on Students’ Attitudes and Behaviors
Research has focused predominantly on how teachers affect students’ achievement on standardized tests despite evidence that a broad range of attitudes and behaviors are equally important to their long-term success. We find that upper-elementary teachers have large effects on self-reported measures of students’ self-efficacy in math, and happiness and behavior in class. Students’ attitudes and behaviors are predicted by teaching practices most pro…
Relationships between Observations of Elementary Mathematics Instruction and Student Achievement
Much debate surrounding teacher quality has focused on students’ standardized test scores, but recent federal and state initiatives have emphasized the use of multiple measures to evaluate teacher quality, including classroom observations. In this study, we explore differences across school districts in the relationship between student achievement outcomes and the observed quality of teachers’ instruction. Using data from 298 elementary mathemati…
Does Test Preparation Mean Low-Quality Instruction
Critics of test-based accountability warn that test preparation has a negative influence on teachers’ instruction due to a focus on procedural skills. Others advocate that the adoption of more rigorous assessments may be a way to incentivize more ambitious test preparation instruction. Drawing on classroom observations and teacher surveys, we do find that test preparation activities predict lower quality and less ambitious mathematics instruction…
What Does It Mean to Be Ranked a “High” or “Low” Value-Added Teacher? Observing Differences in Instructional Quality Across Districts
Education agencies are evaluating teachers using student achievement data. However, very little is known about the comparability of test-based or “value-added” metrics across districts and the extent to which they capture variability in classroom practices. Drawing on data from four urban districts, we found that teachers were categorized differently when compared within versus across districts. In addition, analyses of scores from two observatio…
Grade Assignments and the Teacher Pipeline
Research on teacher stability typically focuses on the extent to which teachers remain in the same school, district, or the teaching profession from one year to the next. I investigate another facet of stability—whether teachers remain in the grade they teach. Drawing on administrative data from a large district in California, I find that high shares of teachers switch grades. Disproportionately, these are early career teachers who come from low-…
Why Black Teachers Matter
Black teachers are critical resources for children and schools. In experimental data, I document large effects of Black upper-elementary teachers on the self-efficacy (0.9 SD) and classroom engagement (0.7 SD) of their Black but not non-Black students, potentially driven by role modeling. Black teachers also benefit the test scores (0.2 SD) and absences (over 20% decrease) of all students—no matter their race/ethnicity—that often persist years la…
Relationships between Observations of Elementary Mathematics Instruction and Student Achievement
Much debate surrounding teacher quality has focused on students’ standardized test scores, but recent federal and state initiatives have emphasized the use of multiple measures to evaluate teacher quality, including classroom observations. In this study, we explore differences across school districts in the relationship between student achievement outcomes and the observed quality of teachers’ instruction. Using data from 298 elementary mathemati…
What Does It Mean to Be Ranked a “High” or “Low” Value-Added Teacher? Observing Differences in Instructional Quality Across Districts
Education agencies are evaluating teachers using student achievement data. However, very little is known about the comparability of test-based or “value-added” metrics across districts and the extent to which they capture variability in classroom practices. Drawing on data from four urban districts, we found that teachers were categorized differently when compared within versus across districts. In addition, analyses of scores from two observatio…
Teaching to Support Students With Diverse Academic Needs
Policy and practice communities increasingly are emphasizing conceptual, cognitively demanding, and “ambitious” instruction. Within this context, we examine whether such practices serve the needs of students with specialized academic needs. Across upper-elementary classrooms in four districts, we find that exposure to “ambitious” mathematics practices is more strongly associated with test score gains of English language learners (ELs) compared to…
Grade Assignments and the Teacher Pipeline
Research on teacher stability typically focuses on the extent to which teachers remain in the same school, district, or the teaching profession from one year to the next. I investigate another facet of stability—whether teachers remain in the grade they teach. Drawing on administrative data from a large district in California, I find that high shares of teachers switch grades. Disproportionately, these are early career teachers who come from low-…
Curriculum Reform in The Common Core Era
Can a school or district improve student achievement simply by switching to a higher‐quality textbook or curriculum? We conducted the first multi‐textbook, multi‐state effort to estimate textbook efficacy following widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated changes in the textbook market. Pooling textbook adoption and student test score data across six geographically and demographically diverse U.S. states, we fo…
Does Test Preparation Mean Low-Quality Instruction
Critics of test-based accountability warn that test preparation has a negative influence on teachers’ instruction due to a focus on procedural skills. Others advocate that the adoption of more rigorous assessments may be a way to incentivize more ambitious test preparation instruction. Drawing on classroom observations and teacher surveys, we do find that test preparation activities predict lower quality and less ambitious mathematics instruction…
Challenges and Tradeoffs of "Good" Teaching
The pursuit of multiple educational outcomes makes teaching a complex craft subject to potential conflicts and competing commitments. Using a data set in which teachers were randomly assigned to classes paired with videotaped lessons, we both document and unpack such a tradeoff. Upper-elementary teachers who excel at raising students' math test scores often are less successful at improving student-reported engagement in class (and vice versa). Fu…
Grade Assignments and the Teacher Pipeline
Research on teacher stability typically focuses on the extent to which teachers remain in the same school, district, or the teaching profession from one year to the next. I investigate another facet of stability—whether teachers remain in the grade they teach. Drawing on administrative data from a large district in California, I find that high shares of teachers switch grades. Disproportionately, these are early career teachers who come from low-…
What Does It Mean to Be Ranked a “High” or “Low” Value-Added Teacher? Observing Differences in Instructional Quality Across Districts
Education agencies are evaluating teachers using student achievement data. However, very little is known about the comparability of test-based or “value-added” metrics across districts and the extent to which they capture variability in classroom practices. Drawing on data from four urban districts, we found that teachers were categorized differently when compared within versus across districts. In addition, analyses of scores from two observatio…
Teacher and Teaching Effects on Students’ Attitudes and Behaviors
Research has focused predominantly on how teachers affect students’ achievement on standardized tests despite evidence that a broad range of attitudes and behaviors are equally important to their long-term success. We find that upper-elementary teachers have large effects on self-reported measures of students’ self-efficacy in math, and happiness and behavior in class. Students’ attitudes and behaviors are predicted by teaching practices most pro…
Relationships between Observations of Elementary Mathematics Instruction and Student Achievement
Much debate surrounding teacher quality has focused on students’ standardized test scores, but recent federal and state initiatives have emphasized the use of multiple measures to evaluate teacher quality, including classroom observations. In this study, we explore differences across school districts in the relationship between student achievement outcomes and the observed quality of teachers’ instruction. Using data from 298 elementary mathemati…
Does Test Preparation Mean Low-Quality Instruction
Critics of test-based accountability warn that test preparation has a negative influence on teachers’ instruction due to a focus on procedural skills. Others advocate that the adoption of more rigorous assessments may be a way to incentivize more ambitious test preparation instruction. Drawing on classroom observations and teacher surveys, we do find that test preparation activities predict lower quality and less ambitious mathematics instruction…
The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement
Teacher coaching has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional models of professional development. We review the empirical literature on teacher coaching and conduct meta-analyses to estimate the mean effect of coaching programs on teachers’ instructional practice and students’ academic achievement. Combining results across 60 studies that employ causal research designs, we find pooled effect sizes of 0.49 standard deviations (SD) on inst…
Teacher Coaching to Improve Instruction at Scale
Background/Context Teacher coaching, defined by sustained observation and feedback cycles, has a longstanding theory of action that has held up to several rigorous evaluations in recent years. Policymakers and practitioners have taken note of these findings, rolling out coaching programs in classrooms and schools across the United States as a key policy initiative to improve instructional quality and student outcomes at scale. One likely factor l…
Curriculum Reform in The Common Core Era
Can a school or district improve student achievement simply by switching to a higher‐quality textbook or curriculum? We conducted the first multi‐textbook, multi‐state effort to estimate textbook efficacy following widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated changes in the textbook market. Pooling textbook adoption and student test score data across six geographically and demographically diverse U.S. states, we fo…
Teaching to Support Students With Diverse Academic Needs
Policy and practice communities increasingly are emphasizing conceptual, cognitively demanding, and “ambitious” instruction. Within this context, we examine whether such practices serve the needs of students with specialized academic needs. Across upper-elementary classrooms in four districts, we find that exposure to “ambitious” mathematics practices is more strongly associated with test score gains of English language learners (ELs) compared to…
Challenges and Tradeoffs of "Good" Teaching
The pursuit of multiple educational outcomes makes teaching a complex craft subject to potential conflicts and competing commitments. Using a data set in which teachers were randomly assigned to classes paired with videotaped lessons, we both document and unpack such a tradeoff. Upper-elementary teachers who excel at raising students' math test scores often are less successful at improving student-reported engagement in class (and vice versa). Fu…
Why Black Teachers Matter
Black teachers are critical resources for children and schools. In experimental data, I document large effects of Black upper-elementary teachers on the self-efficacy (0.9 SD) and classroom engagement (0.7 SD) of their Black but not non-Black students, potentially driven by role modeling. Black teachers also benefit the test scores (0.2 SD) and absences (over 20% decrease) of all students—no matter their race/ethnicity—that often persist years la…
Disparate Pathways
Longstanding evidence on the importance of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways. Following Maryland public high-school students over 14 years reveals that early barriers require timely interventions, aiding Black and other students of color in achieving educational milestones that are prerequisites for teacher candidacy (high school graduation, college enrollment). Data projections indicate …
Localized Teacher Recruitment Through “Grow‐Your‐Own”
Recruiting teachers via “grow‐your‐own” (GYO) programs is a popular, yet rarely evaluated, strategy for addressing local workforce shortages and ensuring that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We provide novel evidence on the impacts of one such GYO program by exploiting the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) Career and Technical Education (CTE) program across public …
Professional Staff Diversity and Student Outcomes
Studies consistently show that minoritized students benefit from having a teacher of the same race/ethnicity. We extend this literature by examining educational impacts of exposure to same-race/ethnicity professional staff, including administrators, instructional coaches, guidance counselors, and special education specialists. Students interact with these staff less frequently than teachers, yet staff of color may also serve as role models, suppo…
School Choice and Performance (11 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Mathematics education (9 works) · Academic achievement (6 works) · Pedagogy (6 works) · Educational Assessment and Improvement (5 works) · Parental Involvement in Education (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Student achievement (4 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (4 works)