Practical Applications of Hierarchical Linear Models to District Evaluations

Abstract

This paper provides a practical application of hierarchical linear models (HLM) in an evaluation of effective schools for a large school district (the Prince George's County School District in Maryland). The HLM model is used first to rank elementary schools on their effectiveness at improving student learning in reading and mathematics and is also used to evaluate which factors contribute to school effectiveness. Teacher training was found to be the largest factor at contributing to school effectiveness after controlling for school context variables (School poverty and percent minority). It was found that this approach not only provides a rigorous statistical procedure, but also was easy to communicate to education policy makers. Plans for future analysis are also included.