Carrie Conaway
Chief Strategy and Research Officer, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Educator Preparation and Licensure in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has partnered with the Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research on a series of studies related to educator preparation and licensure policy. The first project examined the correlation between educator pathways into the profession (e.g., traditional teaching degrees versus alternative preparation programs) and teachers’ impact on later student outcomes. Later studies have covered equitable assignment of effective educators to students, an alternative licensure pathway for nontraditional candidates, and the relationship between student teachers’ performance evaluations and their later impact in the classroom. Carrie Conaway, chief strategy and research officer at DESE, will share findings from these projects along with thoughts on what makes this a successful research partnership.