Allegheny County Education Research (ACER) Project

Began in January 2020

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RFA’s Allegheny County Education Research (ACER) project is designed to inform education policy discussions in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County through rigorous, objective policy briefs and research-based commentaries.

The goal is to provide accessible and actionable research that helps local education policymakers, practitioners, families and the community at large better understand what is and is not working for youth and to ultimately contribute to system-wide improvements. To get on our contact list or to provide input and feedback about ACER, contact Mary Eddins, Policy Associate, at meddins@researchforaction.org or 412-223-3322.

ACER is made possible through generous support of The Heinz Endowments, as is the Pennsylvania Clearinghouse for Education Research project (PACER), RFA’s statewide education policy research project.

Project Director(s)

David Lapp

Senior Fellow, Policy Research

Research Team

Leana Cabral

Senior Research Associate

Mary Eddins

Research Associate

Dae Y. Kim

Chief Statistician

Anna Shaw-Amoah

Former RFA Employee

Related Publications

Publication

Small but Mighty: Lessons from Black Teachers’ Experiences in Allegheny County

Siettah Parks, Kevin Burgess, Leana Cabral, Mary Eddins, Alita Robinson

RFA studied why Black teachers were leaving their jobs more than White teachers in Allegheny County from 2014 to 2020. RFA analyses have found that the number of Black teachers in the area was consistently…

Allegheny County Student and Teacher Race and Ethnicity, 2022-23

Publication

Allegheny County Teacher and Student Demographics: 2022-23 Update

Mary Eddins, David Lapp, Anna Shaw-Amoah

This ACER brief updates RFA’s prior analyses of teacher and student race and ethnicity in Allegheny County public schools with data current through the 2022-23 school year. We found that in 2022-23, teachers of color (TOCs)…

Publication

Access to Experienced Teachers in Allegheny County

Mary Eddins

Using personnel records from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), this ACER report, takes a closer look at teacher experience in Allegheny County, examining whether equity gaps exist between district and charter schools and between…

Publication

Teacher Mobility in Allegheny County, 2014-15 through 2019-20

Mary Eddins, Molly Pileggi

Teacher mobility, or teacher turnover, has long garnered attention as a critical educational equity gap. This attention is warranted as, within schools, teachers have the single greatest impact on student achievement. The unprecedented interruptions to school-based learning and the trials…

Publication

Students Experiencing Homelessness in Allegheny County

Anna Shaw-Amoah

Close to 3,000 students in Allegheny County public schools were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2018-19 school year, or 2.0% of the total student population. Meanwhile, homelessness rates have been growing in recent years…

Publication

FAQ: Allegheny County Teachers of Color

Mary Eddins

In a December 2020 project, Research for Action provided statewide analysis and released seven years of new data on teacher demographics for each Pennsylvania public school. Here, as part of our ACER project, we address…

Publication

School Police Presence in Allegheny County

Mary Eddins, David Lapp

In recent years, some school districts across Allegheny County have made noteworthy changes to school policing. While some districts have sought to reduce or eliminate reliance on police, a growing number of other districts in…

Publication

Allegheny County Students in Foster Care

Anna Shaw-Amoah, Dae Y. Kim, David Lapp

Students in foster care require additional supports from schools in order to maintain educational stability. And, in the time of COVID-19 school shutdowns, experts warn that vulnerable students such as those in foster care may…

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