Aaron Ainsworth
@ajainsworth.bsky.social
Ed Policy PhD student at UCI studying K-12 educator labor markets and policy • Vanderbilt & UNLV alum • former Las Vegas teacher • 🏳️🌈
www.aaronjainsworth.com
www.aaronjainsworth.com
I’m excited to share a new EdWorkingPaper with @andydebarros.bsky.social. Evaluations are an increasingly common way school systems globally are trying to help teachers improve, but is more always better?
A 🧵
doi.org/10.26300/ms3...
A 🧵
doi.org/10.26300/ms3...
Evaluation Scores and Student Learning under Compulsory Teacher Re-Evaluation
We examine how lower-performing public school teachers respond to more frequent formative evaluations. A 2011 reform in Chile required teachers rated "basic" (the second-lowest category) to be re-eval...
doi.org
September 15, 2026 at 9:53 PM
I’m excited to share a new EdWorkingPaper with @andydebarros.bsky.social. Evaluations are an increasingly common way school systems globally are trying to help teachers improve, but is more always better?
A 🧵
doi.org/10.26300/ms3...
A 🧵
doi.org/10.26300/ms3...
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
“The United States now has the largest gap in reading performance between its lowest and highest-achieving students of any of the dozens of countries that participated in PISA.”
Reading Ability Craters on PISA International Exam, Both in the United States and Abroad
The U.S. outperformed most countries in reading and science, but the results show a global phenomenon of poorer readers.
www.edweek.org
September 8, 2026 at 4:32 PM
“The United States now has the largest gap in reading performance between its lowest and highest-achieving students of any of the dozens of countries that participated in PISA.”
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
New CALDER paper by @marylaski.com, Calen Clifton, & @cedr.bsky.social studies the impact of team teaching in AZ. Student achievement effects are mostly null overall, but middle school math improves. Teachers also see lower turnover & higher evaluation ratings.
Read: caldercenter.org/publications...
Read: caldercenter.org/publications...
August 10, 2026 at 5:14 PM
New CALDER paper by @marylaski.com, Calen Clifton, & @cedr.bsky.social studies the impact of team teaching in AZ. Student achievement effects are mostly null overall, but middle school math improves. Teachers also see lower turnover & higher evaluation ratings.
Read: caldercenter.org/publications...
Read: caldercenter.org/publications...
Excited to see our study on four-day school weeks and teacher retention out at Education Finance & Policy!
Using 18 years of data from Oregon, we find that switching to a four-day week actually increased teacher turnover by about 2 percentage points.
direct.mit.edu/edfp/article...
1/4
Using 18 years of data from Oregon, we find that switching to a four-day week actually increased teacher turnover by about 2 percentage points.
direct.mit.edu/edfp/article...
1/4
Less Is More? The Causal Effect of Four-Day School Weeks on Teacher Turnover
Abstract. The use of four-day school weeks (4dsw) in the United States has expanded rapidly over the past two decades. Previous work examines the impact of 4dsw on student outcomes, but less research ...
direct.mit.edu
June 16, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Excited to see our study on four-day school weeks and teacher retention out at Education Finance & Policy!
Using 18 years of data from Oregon, we find that switching to a four-day week actually increased teacher turnover by about 2 percentage points.
direct.mit.edu/edfp/article...
1/4
Using 18 years of data from Oregon, we find that switching to a four-day week actually increased teacher turnover by about 2 percentage points.
direct.mit.edu/edfp/article...
1/4
Education Policy and IBCK crossover episode!
Episode 51: Grit
In 2013, education reformers decided to fix America's schools the old-fashioned way: By consulting the 16th most popular Ted Talk.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
In 2013, education reformers decided to fix America's schools the old-fashioned way: By consulting the 16th most popular Ted Talk.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
Grit
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · April 30 · 1h 19m
podcasts.apple.com
April 30, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Education Policy and IBCK crossover episode!
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
A lot of folks were approvingly sharing Kelsey Piper's post about the problems of educational research. Here's my take. // Ill-Informed Essays About Education Research are Weak and Sloppy. Why?
edpolicyhub.substack.com/p/ill-inform...
edpolicyhub.substack.com/p/ill-inform...
Ill-Informed Essays About Education Research are Weak and Sloppy. Why?
Morgan Polikoff
edpolicyhub.substack.com
April 23, 2026 at 8:44 PM
A lot of folks were approvingly sharing Kelsey Piper's post about the problems of educational research. Here's my take. // Ill-Informed Essays About Education Research are Weak and Sloppy. Why?
edpolicyhub.substack.com/p/ill-inform...
edpolicyhub.substack.com/p/ill-inform...
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
Interested in some highlights from our latest paper about the effects of Ethnic Studies while it scales district-wide?
Our friends at EdWorkingPapers have you covered.
edworkingpapers.com/policy-pract...
Our friends at EdWorkingPapers have you covered.
edworkingpapers.com/policy-pract...
Cultural Relevance at Scale: The Effects of an Ethnic Studies Expansion on Academic Outcomes
Ethnic Studies (ES) has emerged as a promising approach to address this challenge. By centering the histories, cultures, and lived experiences of communities of color, ES is designed to make learning ...
edworkingpapers.com
April 28, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Interested in some highlights from our latest paper about the effects of Ethnic Studies while it scales district-wide?
Our friends at EdWorkingPapers have you covered.
edworkingpapers.com/policy-pract...
Our friends at EdWorkingPapers have you covered.
edworkingpapers.com/policy-pract...
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
🚨 Hey You! 🚨
Still at #AEFP tomorrow? Come check out my presentation at 11:45 AM in Vevey 2, where I’ll present some extremely hot off the press work on a statewide teacher compensation policy in Texas
Still at #AEFP tomorrow? Come check out my presentation at 11:45 AM in Vevey 2, where I’ll present some extremely hot off the press work on a statewide teacher compensation policy in Texas
March 20, 2026 at 10:45 PM
🚨 Hey You! 🚨
Still at #AEFP tomorrow? Come check out my presentation at 11:45 AM in Vevey 2, where I’ll present some extremely hot off the press work on a statewide teacher compensation policy in Texas
Still at #AEFP tomorrow? Come check out my presentation at 11:45 AM in Vevey 2, where I’ll present some extremely hot off the press work on a statewide teacher compensation policy in Texas
Cool new study about a foundational skills intervention in Zambia showing positive effects that persist into middle grades. Doubling intervention costs by providing teacher PD produced no additional gains. An RCT, DiD, multiple treatment arms!! So much great stuff to see here, congrats!
New paper on skill formation, with evidence from Zambia's foundational skills program (Teaching at the Right Level / Catch Up)
Targeting Foundational Skills at Scale: Skill Specificity and Transfer
w/ T. Lubozha
Preprint & brief
de-barros.com/publication/...
Also @cesifo.org @cega-uc.bsky.social
Targeting Foundational Skills at Scale: Skill Specificity and Transfer
w/ T. Lubozha
Preprint & brief
de-barros.com/publication/...
Also @cesifo.org @cega-uc.bsky.social
March 19, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Cool new study about a foundational skills intervention in Zambia showing positive effects that persist into middle grades. Doubling intervention costs by providing teacher PD produced no additional gains. An RCT, DiD, multiple treatment arms!! So much great stuff to see here, congrats!
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
Glad to see our work about special ed and gifted identification across the income distribution appear in this week's @chalkbeat.org
Plus quick hits on AI cheating, strikes, gifted ID, and time in class in this Chalkbeat Ideas roundup.
States made less of an effort to fund schools after federal COVID dollars surged — coincidence or crowd-out?
Plus quick hits on AI cheating, strikes, gifted ID, and time in class in this Chalkbeat Ideas roundup.
bit.ly
March 13, 2026 at 3:37 AM
Glad to see our work about special ed and gifted identification across the income distribution appear in this week's @chalkbeat.org
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
Excited to share a new EdWorkingPaper on the relationship between family income and disability ID. 🧵
TLDR: Low-income students are much more likely to receive SPED services while high-income students are more likely to get 504 plan accommodations.
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1374
TLDR: Low-income students are much more likely to receive SPED services while high-income students are more likely to get 504 plan accommodations.
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1374
School-Based Disability Identification Varies by Student Family Income
Currently, 18 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive additional supports through the identification of a disability. Socioeconomic status is viewed as central to understanding who gets ...
edworkingpapers.com
February 27, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Excited to share a new EdWorkingPaper on the relationship between family income and disability ID. 🧵
TLDR: Low-income students are much more likely to receive SPED services while high-income students are more likely to get 504 plan accommodations.
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1374
TLDR: Low-income students are much more likely to receive SPED services while high-income students are more likely to get 504 plan accommodations.
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1374
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
Stunning work:
"Currently, 6.1 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive gifted education ... Under 4 percent of students in the lowest income percentile are identified as gifted, compared with 20 percent of those in the top income percentile."
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1375
"Currently, 6.1 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive gifted education ... Under 4 percent of students in the lowest income percentile are identified as gifted, compared with 20 percent of those in the top income percentile."
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1375
Gifted Identification Across the Distribution of Family Income
Currently, 6.1 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive gifted education. Using education and IRS data that provide information on students and their family income, we show pronounced dif...
edworkingpapers.com
February 25, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Stunning work:
"Currently, 6.1 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive gifted education ... Under 4 percent of students in the lowest income percentile are identified as gifted, compared with 20 percent of those in the top income percentile."
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1375
"Currently, 6.1 percent of K-12 students in the United States receive gifted education ... Under 4 percent of students in the lowest income percentile are identified as gifted, compared with 20 percent of those in the top income percentile."
edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1375
Really fascinating work on a unique teacher pay reform!
What happens when you shrink salary differences between districts, increase beginning teacher pay by over $10,000, and compress salary schedules?
@gzamarro.bsky.social, @jbmcgee.bsky.social, @taylornwilson.bsky.social, Miranda Vernon, and I find out in our new CALDER working paper: bit.ly/4l4b5hO
@gzamarro.bsky.social, @jbmcgee.bsky.social, @taylornwilson.bsky.social, Miranda Vernon, and I find out in our new CALDER working paper: bit.ly/4l4b5hO
February 26, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Really fascinating work on a unique teacher pay reform!
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
🚨Thrilled to share our new @nber.org WP.
Research and policy often assume teacher effectiveness is essentially fixed.
We revisit this question by studying what happens when high-performing teachers are incentivized to transfer to struggling schools.
🧵
nber.org/papers/w34845
Research and policy often assume teacher effectiveness is essentially fixed.
We revisit this question by studying what happens when high-performing teachers are incentivized to transfer to struggling schools.
🧵
nber.org/papers/w34845
February 18, 2026 at 7:31 PM
🚨Thrilled to share our new @nber.org WP.
Research and policy often assume teacher effectiveness is essentially fixed.
We revisit this question by studying what happens when high-performing teachers are incentivized to transfer to struggling schools.
🧵
nber.org/papers/w34845
Research and policy often assume teacher effectiveness is essentially fixed.
We revisit this question by studying what happens when high-performing teachers are incentivized to transfer to struggling schools.
🧵
nber.org/papers/w34845
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
New–
A great teacher might not stay great in schools with less supportive learning environments. This is an important wrinkle on the "teachers are the most important in-school factor" line. It's more like: teachers + context.
www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/17/t...
A great teacher might not stay great in schools with less supportive learning environments. This is an important wrinkle on the "teachers are the most important in-school factor" line. It's more like: teachers + context.
www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/17/t...
Teaching as a team sport: What happens when a great teacher moves to a struggling school?
New research on a federal program found that when top teachers transferred to high-need schools, their performance dropped significantly. Teacher effectiveness may not be a fixed skill.
www.chalkbeat.org
February 18, 2026 at 2:36 PM
New–
A great teacher might not stay great in schools with less supportive learning environments. This is an important wrinkle on the "teachers are the most important in-school factor" line. It's more like: teachers + context.
www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/17/t...
A great teacher might not stay great in schools with less supportive learning environments. This is an important wrinkle on the "teachers are the most important in-school factor" line. It's more like: teachers + context.
www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/17/t...
I’m really glad to see that our paper is now out at Ed Researcher! We examine turnover among the half of school employees who are not teachers to understand how their turnover compares. Using Oregon data (2007-23) for all public school employees, there are 3 new patterns that we document:
A 🧵
A 🧵
Revolving School Doors? A Longitudinal Examination of Teacher, Administrator, and Staff Contributions to School Churn - Emily K. Penner, Yujia Liu, Aaron J. Ainsworth, 2026
Non-teaching staff comprise over half of all school employees, and their turnover may be consequential for school operation, culture, and student success, yet w...
journals.sagepub.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:39 PM
I’m really glad to see that our paper is now out at Ed Researcher! We examine turnover among the half of school employees who are not teachers to understand how their turnover compares. Using Oregon data (2007-23) for all public school employees, there are 3 new patterns that we document:
A 🧵
A 🧵
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
We are failing our kids
December 16, 2025 at 3:06 PM
We are failing our kids
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
Very excited for the latest paper from the international administrative data network I am a part of!
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
July 16, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Very excited for the latest paper from the international administrative data network I am a part of!
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
Led by @aresherman.bsky.social we show that 75% of pay differences between immigrants and native-born workers arise because of sorting into different jobs, with 25% due to unequal pay within jobs.
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
New @caldercenter.bsky.social WP! A study from my dissertation, w/ @roddy-theobald.bsky.social, @natejones.bsky.social, & @lizbettini.bsky.social. We find staff turnover matters for SWDs. Ungated WP & one pager:
• Working paper: tinyurl.com/j3rykkp9
• One-pager: tinyurl.com/bddtzxtp
• Working paper: tinyurl.com/j3rykkp9
• One-pager: tinyurl.com/bddtzxtp
May 20, 2025 at 4:49 PM
New @caldercenter.bsky.social WP! A study from my dissertation, w/ @roddy-theobald.bsky.social, @natejones.bsky.social, & @lizbettini.bsky.social. We find staff turnover matters for SWDs. Ungated WP & one pager:
• Working paper: tinyurl.com/j3rykkp9
• One-pager: tinyurl.com/bddtzxtp
• Working paper: tinyurl.com/j3rykkp9
• One-pager: tinyurl.com/bddtzxtp
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
Successful pushback to DOGE cuts. Funding had run out for the Education Dept's online library ERIC last week, but funding has restarted. But only half as much. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Education Department restarts online library ERIC
New contract slashes budget in half, but library will continue to operate
hechingerreport.org
April 28, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Successful pushback to DOGE cuts. Funding had run out for the Education Dept's online library ERIC last week, but funding has restarted. But only half as much. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
If you have research dependent on these data here is my suggestion
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
Research with restricted-use data is more precise, powerful, and relevant. Faculty and staff will be working through the weekend to answer important research questions before we no longer can. This is not normal, necessary, or efficient.
AERA has just learned that all restricted-use NCES data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20. We urgently request that all AERA members and others in the research community with restricted-use licenses take these two actions: www.aera.net/Research-Pol...
March 15, 2025 at 12:21 AM
If you have research dependent on these data here is my suggestion
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
DHS just detained a Columbia student who helped lead campus protests—a direct attack on campus activism. This timeline shows why authoritarians fear student protests: they're often the first and most effective catalysts for pro-democracy movements.
March 9, 2025 at 9:05 PM
DHS just detained a Columbia student who helped lead campus protests—a direct attack on campus activism. This timeline shows why authoritarians fear student protests: they're often the first and most effective catalysts for pro-democracy movements.
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
I was just informed that the Department of Education has taken down all its Civil Rights data. If you need it, alternative sites are now hosting it for the public. See links in this thread. ocrdata.ed.gov/notfound
Civil Rights Data | U.S. Department of Education
Understand trends in student opportunity, security, and diversity.
ocrdata.ed.gov
March 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I was just informed that the Department of Education has taken down all its Civil Rights data. If you need it, alternative sites are now hosting it for the public. See links in this thread. ocrdata.ed.gov/notfound
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
8/ The billionaire paradox has become America's tragedy: a small elite willing to sacrifice both democratic principles and economic growth on the altar of their tax privileges.
March 4, 2025 at 8:00 PM
8/ The billionaire paradox has become America's tragedy: a small elite willing to sacrifice both democratic principles and economic growth on the altar of their tax privileges.
Reposted by Aaron Ainsworth
It's come on and offline since, but.... download what you need ASAP
February 11, 2025 at 9:15 PM
It's come on and offline since, but.... download what you need ASAP