Ryan Balch

Senior Lecturer in Psychology

Ryan Balch started teaching at Vanderbilt in 2014 and has taught classes in social psychology, education policy, and school leadership, and has served as a university mentor to student teachers pursuing licensure in science and math. He completed his Ph.D. in Education Policy at Vanderbilt University as an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Fellow, where his dissertation focused on the development and validation of student surveys on teacher practice. Following graduation, Ryan was the director of teacher and principal evaluation for Baltimore City Schools. During this time, he oversaw the creation and implementation of the district’s new systems of evaluation. Previously, Ryan worked as a science teacher and administrator for seven years at Riverwood High School in Atlanta, Georgia. He has a B.A. in Psychology from Duke University and a M.A. in Science Education from Georgia State University.

Representative Publications

Balch, R. The Implementation of Student Surveys as Measure of Teacher Effectiveness (In Press). Student Feedback and its Use in the Development of Teaching and Teachers.

Balch, R. (2016). Using student surveys at the elementary and secondary levels. Improving teacher evaluation systems: Making the most of multiple measures, 77-88.

Balch, R., & Springer, M. G. (2015). Performance pay, test scores, and student learning objectives. Economics of Education Review, 44, 114-125.

Balch, R., & Koedel, C. (2014). Anticipating and incorporating stakeholder feedback when developing value-added models. Education Policy Analysis Archives/Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas, 22, 1-14.