Teacher Quality and Learning

It is well known that effective teachers can accelerate student learning, but often, too little is known about what makes a teacher effective. SRI offers a team of nationally recognized experts in research on teacher quality and learning. Human capital issues—teacher recruitment, retention, evaluation, and alternative compensation—are central to our studies of teacher quality and learning outcomes. SRI's education researchers also focus on teacher development, including preparation, induction, and ongoing professional development.

SRI researchers also investigate important teacher professional development programs, courses, and new approaches, such as using social networks. Researchers also study strategic teaching moves and adaptive expertise in teachers' professional learning.

SRI innovations create new opportunities for teachers to interact and learn, new ways to bridge teacher professional development plans to classroom improvements, and new uses for digital books to enhance teacher learning.

Projects

Autistic girl in a learning activity with teacher
Design and IDEA-Related Analyses for the National Assessment

SRI is analyzing multiple aspects of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Topics: Community College and Workforce: Disabled Veterans: Transitions to Civilian Life Early Childhood Program Design and Implementation Research on Learning Special Education/Disability Teacher Quality and Learning
teacher working with a young student
Teacher Professional Development in Chicago

SRI is evaluating the impact of teachers' participation in a U.S. Department of Education-sponsored program to achieve high standards for pre-K to grade 3 students in mathematics.

Topics: Assessment Design and Evaluation Early Childhood Policy Analysis School Improvement Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Teacher Quality and Learning
teacher sitting on floor with young students
Learning Progressions

An SRI team is studying how young children with and without learning disabilities think about and learn important concepts in mathematics.

Topics: Assessment Design and Evaluation Community College and Workforce: Disabled Veterans: Transitions to Civilian Life Early Childhood Learning Technologies Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Special Education/Disability Teacher Quality and Learning
teacher and young student smiling at camera
What Works Clearinghouse

For this government resource, SRI is reviewing research and practice guide development relevant to students with disabilities.

Topics: Implementation Evaluation Learning Technologies Policy Analysis Reading, Writing and Humanities Research on Learning School Improvement Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Special Education/Disability Teacher Quality and Learning
teacher working with young students
Alternative Certification: A National Study

SRI conducted a comprehensive study of alternative teacher certification programs to determine the characteristics of those that were effective.

Topics: Teacher Quality and Learning
science teacher in front of students at chalkboard
Evaluation of the ITEST Program

SRI is evaluating the impact and effectiveness of a federally funded effort to meet growing demand for professionals and information technology workers in the United States.

Topics: Learning Technologies Out-of-School Learning School and Community Partnerships Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Teacher Quality and Learning
teacher working with a young student
Evaluation of the Florida Master Teacher Initiative

SRI is determining the initiative's impact on improving academic outcomes for more than 30,000 high-need children.

Topics: Early Childhood Large-Scale Surveys School and Community Partnerships School Improvement Teacher Quality and Learning
teacher in front of students raising their hands
National Evaluation of the Teacher Incentive Fund

SRI is evaluating this fund, which develops and implements performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools.

Topics: School Improvement Teacher Quality and Learning
Teacher watches her students writing
National Evaluation of Writing Project School Partnerships

The study design included a multimethod approach to documenting how the partnerships were developed and implemented in participating schools and sites.

Topics: 21st Century Skills Educational Impact Evaluation Randomized Controlled Trials and Quasi-Experimental Designs Reading, Writing and Humanities Teacher Quality and Learning
Young male teacher smiling at camera with students behind him
Study of the Rio Grande Valley Center for Teaching and Leading Excellence

SRI is analyzing the impact of the Center's efforts to recruit, support, and train effective teachers in Texas.

Topics: School Improvement School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction School Improvement: Student Success Teacher Quality and Learning

Press Releases

Classroom
Study Finds Beginning Teachers in California Face a Bumpy Path to a Teaching Career

California state policies designed to promote and enhance the effectiveness of beginning teachers fail to match employment realities. Most significantly, beginning teachers often do not get the support they critically need to be effective in the classroom.

Topics: Case Studies in Education School Improvement School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning

SRI In the News

Study Finds Obtaining Tenure for New Teachers Difficult

Listen to reporter Stephanie Martin speaking with Daniel Humphrey, director of the Center for Education Policy at SRI International about the difficulty facing new California teachers looking for tenure.

Topics: Case Studies in Education School Improvement School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning
Finding new breed of teachers

Report on an alternative teacher certification program in Arizona, featuring an interview with SRI's Daniel Humphrey.

Topics: Teacher Quality and Learning

Events

Engaging Industry and Students in Workforce Education Partnerships

SRI researchers Louise Yarnall and co-principal investigator Raymond McGhee presented preliminary findings from their National Science Foundation-funded studies of workforce partnerships.

Topics: Assessment Design and Evaluation Community College: Reform to Support Real-World Learning Community College: Transitions Learning Technologies Teacher Quality and Learning

Publications

California’s Beginning Teachers: the Bumpy Path to a Profession

This study addresses education policies that affect beginning teachers in California—induction, clear credentialing, evaluation, and tenure.

Topics: Case Studies in Education School Improvement School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning
Making Industry Partnership Work in ATE: Insights from Targeted Research

Community colleges and their industry partners need insight into how to coordinate their resources to address changing workforce training needs. This poster illustrates how to check progress in building partnership capital and updating instructional programming.

Topics: Assessment Design and Evaluation Community College: Reform to Support Real-World Learning Community College: Transitions Learning Technologies Teacher Quality and Learning
National Evaluation of Writing Project School Partnerships - Final Report (Executive Summary)

Final report on SRI's examination of the effects of partnerships on teacher practices and student writing. The cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) included a multimethod study to document how partnerships were developed and implemented in participating schools and sites.

Topics: 21st Century Skills Educational Impact Evaluation Randomized Controlled Trials and Quasi-Experimental Designs Reading, Writing and Humanities Teacher Quality and Learning
National Evaluation of Writing Project School Partnerships - Final Report (with Appendices)

Final report on SRI's examination of the effects of partnerships on teacher practices and student writing. The cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) included a multimethod study to document how partnerships were developed and implemented in participating schools and sites.

Topics: 21st Century Skills Educational Impact Evaluation Randomized Controlled Trials and Quasi-Experimental Designs Reading, Writing and Humanities Teacher Quality and Learning
National Evaluation of Writing Project School Partnerships - Final Report (without Appendices)

Final report on SRI's examination of the effects of partnerships on teacher practices and student writing. The cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) included a multimethod study to document how partnerships were developed and implemented in participating schools and sites.

Topics: 21st Century Skills Educational Impact Evaluation Randomized Controlled Trials and Quasi-Experimental Designs Reading, Writing and Humanities Teacher Quality and Learning
Evaluation of the California Subject Matter Project: Cross Case Summary

The CSMP is a network of nine discipline-based statewide projects, each of which supports a number of regional sites housed on university campuses throughout California.

Topics: Evaluation Planning and Design School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning
Evaluation of the California Subject Matter Project: California Physical Education-Health Project Case Study

Imagine a physical education classroom in which students who are learning to catch a ball receive instruction on the mechanics of how to stand and hold their hands in order to catch it and the knowledge of why they should do so.

Topics: Evaluation Planning and Design School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning
Evaluation of the California Subject Matter Project: The California Arts Project Case Study

The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities recently reviewed arts education and found the arts to be an important avenue through which schools can prepare students to be creative problem solvers who think “outside the box to address challenges.”

Topics: Evaluation Planning and Design School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning
Evaluation of the California Subject Matter Project: California Science Project Case Study

The California Science Project network of 18 sites strives to provide high-quality, standards-based professional development for teachers throughout the state.

Topics: Evaluation Planning and Design School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning
Evaluation of the California Subject Matter Project: History-Social Science Project Case Study

This case study describes the development of the CHSSP, an organization of teachers, historians, and associated scholars that provides training, teacher development, and leadership opportunities.

Topics: Evaluation Planning and Design School Improvement: Curriculum and Instruction Teacher Quality and Learning

Divisions, Centers & Labs