What is RATE?
RATE stands for Rapid Assessment of Teacher Effectiveness. It is a simple observation instrument that school administrators, mentors, and teacher educators can use. It predicts which teachers will need more support in order to be highly successful instructors of math. Knowing this allows school administrators to allocate support and resources where it is needed most.
What is the RATE Project?
The RATE Project involves collaboration with researchers around the world who are contributing to the development of RATE. Currently, it includes research efforts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Turkey. This website will present the results of these efforts as they become available.
Who is leading the RATE Project?
RATE was conceived by Dr. Michael Strong, a researcher at the University of California Santa Cruz. He is directing the development of RATE with his colleague Dr. John Gargani, President of Gargani + Company, an evaluation consulting firm in Berkeley, California.
What is the research evidence for RATE?
RATE has been pilot tested in studies with randomized experimental designs. They have demonstrated RATE’s ability to predict which teachers would be more or less successful in helping students learn math. These small studies have found that RATE can correctly classify teachers into these “more and less” categories between 75% and 100% of the time. School administers using their intuitive judgments do no better than chance (50%).
How can you help?
Start-up support was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The completion of our work depends on the collaboration of researchers, the participation of school districts in which RATE can be pilot tested, and the financial support of funding agencies. Contact us to learn more about how you can help.