Teachers at Work: Designing Schools Where Teachers and Students Thrive

Posted on November 8, 2018March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

Schools are the engines of economic and social mobility, where the virtues required for citizenship are wrestled with and practiced, and where the foundations of a robust and dynamic citizenship, democracy, and economy are nurtured. Teachers are the heart, soul, and muscle of our schools. Research has pointed time and time again to teachers as Read more about Teachers at Work: Designing Schools Where Teachers and Students Thrive[…]

Building Systems Knowledge for Continuous Improvement

Posted on February 12, 2018February 9, 2018 by coreeducation

In California, recent policy shifts have created a high degree of local control with the expectation that school districts will think differently about school and district improvement. However, many districts lack the individual expertise and organizational capacity to support these changes at scale. In large part, this is due to a lack of a shared Read more about Building Systems Knowledge for Continuous Improvement[…]

How School Buildings Affect Teacher Collaboration

Posted on January 22, 2018January 19, 2018 by coreeducation

Writing for Education Next, researchers James P. Spillane and Matthew Shirrell describe the findings of a four-year study of a midwestern suburban district, where they analyzed collaboration patterns among teachers and teased out the impact of teacher proximity to one another, shared workspace, and school design. Their analysis finds that physical proximity predicts staff interactions, Read more about How School Buildings Affect Teacher Collaboration[…]

Building and Supporting Improvers

Posted on June 28, 2017June 25, 2017 by coreeducation

In the Carnegie Commons blog, authors Jennifer Russell and Maggie Hannan explore how Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) can build educators’ capacity to use improvement science to learn from practice. Improvement science offers methods to guide disciplined inquiries that generate knowledge to improve practice. Improvement research—the inquiry processes that lie at its core—provides a set of Read more about Building and Supporting Improvers[…]

The Five Essential Building Blocks of a Networked Improvement Community

Posted on June 9, 2017June 2, 2017 by coreeducation

Networked improvement communities (NICs) are gaining importance as a structure for identifying and solving complex educational problems. Tackling these problems requires taking specific steps to make sure the NIC is built to last. In the Carnegie Commons blog, Sarah McKay summarizes an article, “A Framework for the Initiation of Networked Improvement Communities” published in the Read more about The Five Essential Building Blocks of a Networked Improvement Community[…]

Meta-Analysis of Teacher Coaching

Posted on May 4, 2017April 29, 2017 by coreeducation

A new study authored by researchers from Brown and Harvard universities points to one promising strategy for helping current teachers improve: one-on-one coaching. Teacher coaching has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional models of professional development. Authors reviewed the empirical literature on teacher coaching and conducted meta-analyses to estimate the mean effect of coaching Read more about Meta-Analysis of Teacher Coaching[…]

Establishing and Sustaining Networked Improvement Communities

Posted on April 27, 2017April 22, 2017 by coreeducation

Networked improvement communities are a relatively new type of collaborative research partnership between researchers and educators. With facilitation from researchers, educators identify problems of practice, the factors that drive the problems, and promising solutions. They then engage in iterative cycles of designing, implementing, testing, and redesigning solutions, while learning from variation across the settings in Read more about Establishing and Sustaining Networked Improvement Communities[…]

Implementation Science

Posted on April 12, 2017April 7, 2017 by coreeducation

Sarah McKay recently provided an excellent introduction to Implementation Science in the Carnegie Commons Blog. Excerpts of her piece appear below: The aim of implementation science is to understand how interventions are adopted, implemented, and spread. It’s less about the effectiveness of the intervention itself, because that is expected to have been evaluated prior to Read more about Implementation Science[…]

Building a Culture of Improvement: The Network to Transform Teaching

Posted on March 2, 2016February 26, 2016 by coreeducation

Currently in education, especially K-12, there is an emphasis on accountability and a pressure for rapid, large-scale implementation. National debate continues to rage over the use of testing for student and teacher evaluation, and we hunt for elusive silver bullets. Within this context, the Network to Transform Teaching (NT3) was formed with the goal of Read more about Building a Culture of Improvement: The Network to Transform Teaching[…]

Supporting Teacher Professionalism

Posted on February 26, 2016February 18, 2016 by coreeducation

A new OECD report, Supporting Teacher Professionalism, based on the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), examines the nature and extent of support for teacher professionalism across 34 countries. Teacher professionalism is defined as the knowledge, skills, and practices that teachers must have in order to be effective educators. The report focuses on lower secondary Read more about Supporting Teacher Professionalism[…]

America Achieves Launches Global Learning Network

Posted on October 17, 2014October 11, 2014 by coreeducation

Recently, over 300 dedicated school and district leaders, from across the United States and Spain came together in Washington, D.C. for the Convening of World-Leading Schools. Each attendee represented a school or schools that exhibited impressive leadership by taking the PISA-based OECD Test for Schools to better understand how well they are preparing their students Read more about America Achieves Launches Global Learning Network[…]

Engaging Educators: A Reform Support Network Guide for States and Districts

Posted on September 16, 2014September 13, 2014 by coreeducation

Many states are proactively engaging educators in shaping key reforms, including evaluation, feedback, and support systems. The Reform Support Network has released a study titled Engaging Educators: A Reform Support Network Guide for States and Districts that takes a close look at five states/districts to watch. These include Denver Public Schools; Hillsborough County, Florida; Illinois; Read more about Engaging Educators: A Reform Support Network Guide for States and Districts[…]

States Forge Ahead on Principal Evaluation

Posted on July 30, 2014September 12, 2020 by coreeducation

Since 2010, at least 36 states have adopted laws requiring principals to undergo regular assessments and increasing the rigor of those reviews, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This change is in large part due to demands set on school systems by No Child Left Behind and the later waivers granted by the Read more about States Forge Ahead on Principal Evaluation[…]

Educator Networks: A Key to Improvement

Posted on May 10, 2011April 27, 2012 by coreeducation

A new study based on the Annenberg Institute on School Reform’s (AISR) work with the Transatlantic School Innovation Alliance (TISA) adds to the emerging literature supporting the idea that peer networks among educational practitioners, both within and across schools, can improve teaching and learning.In England, there has been a focus over the past decade on Read more about Educator Networks: A Key to Improvement[…]