SRI is conducting an independent evaluation of the Florida Master Teacher Initiative, which is creating master teachers through a job-embedded Master’s degree program with an early-childhood education specialization. Supported by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund development grant, the initiative's partners include Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the University of Florida, The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The initiative also creates community and shared leadership through the Teacher Fellows program, and improves administration and leadership strategies through the Principal Fellows program.

SRI will conduct teacher surveys, classroom observations, and analysis of student standardized test performance data in 50 Title 1 elementary schools randomly assigned to either the treatment or control condition in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (the nation’s fourth-largest school district).

SRI's randomized controlled trial will determine the initiative’s impact on prekindergarten through third-grade teachers and their students. It will also test how teacher characteristics and participation levels influence outcomes. The evaluation will collect formative data through interviews with teachers, principals, and professors-in-residence associated with the Master’s degree program.