Seth B Hunter
Biographic Data
| ID | 5182200 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Seth B Hunter |
| GIVEN NAMES | Seth B |
| FAMILY NAME | Hunter |
| SIGNATURE | HUNTER S B |
| AFFILIATIONS | George Mason University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3051-872X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Sources of Variance in Principals’ Ratings of Teaching: Baseline and Within-Year Growth Trends
We utilized two years of teacher observation data from a large urban district to examine the timing, sources of variance, and growth of classroom observation ratings by evaluators and teacher self-assessments. Teachers represented the largest source of variance, and the average teachers’ scores experienced modest within-year increases. We found near-zero variance in individual teacher growth, which may reflect homogeneity or data limitations. Fin…
Saving the Best for Last: Rating Elevation in Low-Performing or Novice Teachers’ Final Formal Observations
Evaluators “save the best for last” by systematically elevating the final year-end observation scores for novices or low-performing teachers. Examining 5,251 K–12 teachers, we document a striking reversal: evaluator scores typically fell below teacher self-assessments across initial and midyear observations but exceeded them by approximately 0.25 SD in final year-end observations. This pattern was robust to unobserved differences across annual te…
Reformed teacher evaluation in rural Missouri: Main and moderated relationships with student achievement and relationships-to-expenditure ratios
We extend rural educator labor market research by estimating a reformed teacher evaluation system's relationships with student achievement, identifying the settings with positive relationships, and incorporating evaluation expenditures. That the literature omits these contributions is concerning, as research implies it hinders evidence-based policymaking for rural districts, which outnumber urban districts in the USA. We apply a difference-in-dif…
Policy-Assigned Teacher Observations, Their Implementation, and Student Discipline Outcomes: Main, Mediated, and Moderated Relationships
This study is the first to estimate main, mediated, and moderated relationships between policy-assigned observations and various student discipline outcomes (SDOs). We also examined the relationships between SDOs and observations conducted. The data suggest that the percentage of students who receive at least one SDO decreases as policy assigns schools an additional 25 observations and that in-school suspension reductions drive this relationship.…
Improvement science and school leadership: The precarious path to dynamic school improvement
School systems have increasingly turned to continuous improvement (CI) processes because traditional school improvement plans (SIPs) have resulted in neither reaching set goals nor maintaining performance in challenging times. Improvement science is one way of enacting CI that combines CI with networked improvement to encourage educational equity and build organizational resilience. This study examines the efforts of a school district in the Unit…
High-leverage teacher evaluation practices for instructional improvement
This study's purpose is to extend our understanding of school leadership for student learning by identifying high-leverage teacher evaluation practices that improve teaching. A partnership with a state education agency administered a teacher questionnaire regarding evaluation practices multiple times in one semester, then linked teacher responses to their next within-semester observation score. Broadly, teachers reported on scoring practices, the…
Documenting the Distribution of Instructional Coaching Programs
We present data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey to document the prevalence of instructional coaching programs (ICPs) and consider how ICPs are distributed by school level, urbanicity, new teachers in a school, student enrollment, school poverty levels, student achievement levels, and state. We show that ICPs are most common in elementary schools, schools located in cities, schools with larger pro…
Examining the Presence and Equitable Distribution of Instructional Coaching Programs and Coaches’ Teaching Expertise Across Tennessee Schools
Using unique statewide panel data from Tennessee, we describe instructional coach (IC) and teacher peer observer (TPO) distributions in terms of their teaching expertise and observable school and district characteristics. The evidence suggests ICs are more likely to work in districts with lower-performing teachers while working in schools with higher-performing teachers. District characteristics largely determine where TPOs work. We also find tha…
The Labor Market Trajectories of Tennessee Instructional Coaches and Teacher Peer Observers
Purpose: This study’s purpose is to provide statewide evidence on the mobility patterns of instructional coaches (ICs) and teacher peer observers (TPOs). Research Methods/Approach: Using 5 years of administrative and survey data from Tennessee, we conduct descriptive and regression analyses to document the mobility of classroom teachers, ICs, and TPOs from one year to the next. These outcomes identify if a teacher, IC, or TPO remains in the same …
The (In)Consistency of Teacher Survey Responses About Teacher Evaluation Implementation: Implications for Principal Professional Development
Principals can affect several consequential schooling processes and outcomes. However, their effectiveness varies substantially and is distributed across schools inequitably, underscoring the importance of effective principal professional development (PPD), which begins by using needs assessments to inform PPD content. A researcher-practitioner partnership assessed principal needs via monthly teacher surveys about specific teacher evaluation skil…
Linking Student Outcomes to School Administrator Discretion in the Implementation of Teacher Observations
Purpose: Many studies have explored school administrator discretion in the implementation of teacher evaluation and observation systems. However, we are unaware of any studies that quantitatively link discretionary administrator behaviors to student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to (a) explore the determinants of observations arising from administrator discretion and (b) explore the extent to which “discretionary observations” were asso…
Making Do: Why Do Administrators Retain Low-Performing Teachers
Previous reports suggest that administrators rarely dismiss low-performing teachers despite the changing policy landscape allowing them to do so. This brief uses survey data from Tennessee to investigate the underlying reasons explaining administrators’ decisions to retain low-performing teachers. The presented analysis suggests that administrators largely retain low-performing teachers due to a persistent belief that these teachers will improve …
No prominent works on this page.
Linking Student Outcomes to School Administrator Discretion in the Implementation of Teacher Observations
Purpose: Many studies have explored school administrator discretion in the implementation of teacher evaluation and observation systems. However, we are unaware of any studies that quantitatively link discretionary administrator behaviors to student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to (a) explore the determinants of observations arising from administrator discretion and (b) explore the extent to which “discretionary observations” were asso…
Making Do: Why Do Administrators Retain Low-Performing Teachers
Previous reports suggest that administrators rarely dismiss low-performing teachers despite the changing policy landscape allowing them to do so. This brief uses survey data from Tennessee to investigate the underlying reasons explaining administrators’ decisions to retain low-performing teachers. The presented analysis suggests that administrators largely retain low-performing teachers due to a persistent belief that these teachers will improve …
Examining the Presence and Equitable Distribution of Instructional Coaching Programs and Coaches’ Teaching Expertise Across Tennessee Schools
Using unique statewide panel data from Tennessee, we describe instructional coach (IC) and teacher peer observer (TPO) distributions in terms of their teaching expertise and observable school and district characteristics. The evidence suggests ICs are more likely to work in districts with lower-performing teachers while working in schools with higher-performing teachers. District characteristics largely determine where TPOs work. We also find tha…
The Labor Market Trajectories of Tennessee Instructional Coaches and Teacher Peer Observers
Purpose: This study’s purpose is to provide statewide evidence on the mobility patterns of instructional coaches (ICs) and teacher peer observers (TPOs). Research Methods/Approach: Using 5 years of administrative and survey data from Tennessee, we conduct descriptive and regression analyses to document the mobility of classroom teachers, ICs, and TPOs from one year to the next. These outcomes identify if a teacher, IC, or TPO remains in the same …
The (In)Consistency of Teacher Survey Responses About Teacher Evaluation Implementation: Implications for Principal Professional Development
Principals can affect several consequential schooling processes and outcomes. However, their effectiveness varies substantially and is distributed across schools inequitably, underscoring the importance of effective principal professional development (PPD), which begins by using needs assessments to inform PPD content. A researcher-practitioner partnership assessed principal needs via monthly teacher surveys about specific teacher evaluation skil…
Improvement science and school leadership: The precarious path to dynamic school improvement
School systems have increasingly turned to continuous improvement (CI) processes because traditional school improvement plans (SIPs) have resulted in neither reaching set goals nor maintaining performance in challenging times. Improvement science is one way of enacting CI that combines CI with networked improvement to encourage educational equity and build organizational resilience. This study examines the efforts of a school district in the Unit…
High-leverage teacher evaluation practices for instructional improvement
This study's purpose is to extend our understanding of school leadership for student learning by identifying high-leverage teacher evaluation practices that improve teaching. A partnership with a state education agency administered a teacher questionnaire regarding evaluation practices multiple times in one semester, then linked teacher responses to their next within-semester observation score. Broadly, teachers reported on scoring practices, the…
Documenting the Distribution of Instructional Coaching Programs
We present data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey to document the prevalence of instructional coaching programs (ICPs) and consider how ICPs are distributed by school level, urbanicity, new teachers in a school, student enrollment, school poverty levels, student achievement levels, and state. We show that ICPs are most common in elementary schools, schools located in cities, schools with larger pro…
Policy-Assigned Teacher Observations, Their Implementation, and Student Discipline Outcomes: Main, Mediated, and Moderated Relationships
This study is the first to estimate main, mediated, and moderated relationships between policy-assigned observations and various student discipline outcomes (SDOs). We also examined the relationships between SDOs and observations conducted. The data suggest that the percentage of students who receive at least one SDO decreases as policy assigns schools an additional 25 observations and that in-school suspension reductions drive this relationship.…
Sources of Variance in Principals’ Ratings of Teaching: Baseline and Within-Year Growth Trends
We utilized two years of teacher observation data from a large urban district to examine the timing, sources of variance, and growth of classroom observation ratings by evaluators and teacher self-assessments. Teachers represented the largest source of variance, and the average teachers’ scores experienced modest within-year increases. We found near-zero variance in individual teacher growth, which may reflect homogeneity or data limitations. Fin…
Saving the Best for Last: Rating Elevation in Low-Performing or Novice Teachers’ Final Formal Observations
Evaluators “save the best for last” by systematically elevating the final year-end observation scores for novices or low-performing teachers. Examining 5,251 K–12 teachers, we document a striking reversal: evaluator scores typically fell below teacher self-assessments across initial and midyear observations but exceeded them by approximately 0.25 SD in final year-end observations. This pattern was robust to unobserved differences across annual te…
Reformed teacher evaluation in rural Missouri: Main and moderated relationships with student achievement and relationships-to-expenditure ratios
We extend rural educator labor market research by estimating a reformed teacher evaluation system's relationships with student achievement, identifying the settings with positive relationships, and incorporating evaluation expenditures. That the literature omits these contributions is concerning, as research implies it hinders evidence-based policymaking for rural districts, which outnumber urban districts in the USA. We apply a difference-in-dif…
Educational Assessment and Improvement (8 works) · Mathematics education (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (8 works) · Pedagogy (7 works) · Political science (6 works) · School Choice and Performance (6 works) · Evaluation and Performance Assessment (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works)