Using Evidence to Support Innovation in Teacher Professional Development
In 2018, AIR and its partners began a six-year project to build on evidence of impacts from prior studies. Three prior studies had found positive impacts on student achievement from observing K-12 teachers and giving them feedback using a multidimensional rubric called The Danielson Group's Framework for Teaching (FFT).
What other professional learning activities could teachers do using the FFT, and do those activities have a positive impact on student achievement?
To pursue these questions, AIR worked with several school districts and two organizations at the forefront of K-12 teacher professional learning—The Danielson Group and Learning Forward. The project was supported by a federal Education Innovation and Research grant.
Digital Story
Explore our digital story, Learning Together: Insights from the Professional Learning with Impact Program, for highlights of what AIR and its partners learned as they:
- Developed and piloted a program to use the FFT in new ways,
- Rigorously evaluated the new program; and
- Studied how to scale up the program’s practices.
Developing and Piloting a New Program
The project began in 2018 in a series of conversations between AIR’s Andrew Wayne and Charlotte Danielson, the creator of the Framework for Teaching (FFT). The pair reached out to Stephanie Hirsh, who had recently formalized a model for “teacher learning teams” at Learning Forward.
The partners built on their existing resources to create a program with two integrated activities. First, instructional coaches facilitate meetings of grade-level teams. Second, the common challenges and goals of the grade-level team provide a focus for individual, one-on-one coaching. All learning is grounded in the FFT.
The partners developed a detailed program guidebook and named the program Professional Learning with Impact (PLI).
To further develop and test the program, AIR created partnerships with school districts seeking support for grade-level team meetings and coaching. From 2019 to 2021, schools participated in pilots, which provided evidence that helped the partners refine the program.
Rigorously Evaluating the Implementation and Impact of the Refined Program
The final report and research brief contain detailed findings and takeaways.
In 2024, the project will publish an article, Do programs designed to help teachers improve instruction affect their well-being? examining the impact of the PLI program and another program on measures of teacher well-being.
AIR conducted an evaluation of implementation and impact across two years, 2021 to 2023. To launch the study, AIR randomly assigned schools to implement the PLI program or serve in a control group.
After two years, the study found that the PLI program had a positive impact on students’ achievement in English Language Arts. However, the study found no statistically significant impacts on students’ achievement in math or on the study’s measures of teacher self-efficacy or the quality of classroom practice.
According to the study’s implementation data, a little under two-thirds of teachers engaged in any individual coaching, and the average coaching “dose” was minimal. Thus, what caused the positive impact on achievement was most likely the grade-level team meetings and workshops related to the FFT.
To learn more, read our research brief summarizing the evaluation findings or the detailed evaluation report.
Studying How to Scale Up the Program’s Practices
Starting in summer 2023, AIR and its partners worked with four school districts to explore how to scale up the program’s practices. From the stories of these four districts, AIR gleaned several insights about scaling professional learning programs like PLI. Three of the four districts indicated they were likely to continue to use some aspects of the PLI program in the 2024-25 school year.
Explore what we learned from scaling the program in our digital story: How to Scale Teacher Professional Learning Programs: Insights from Four Districts' Experiences.
Professional Learning with Impact Program Materials
Interested in exploring or using the Professional Learning with Impact program materials? All final materials produced under the grant are available below. Click on the relevant section to access the files.
