Professional Learning Programs

We continue to gather evidence that educators increase and sustain their content and pedagogical content knowledge following Teaching Lab’s professional learning programs.

ELA educators increased their content and pedagogical content knowledge across all constructs from the diagnostic to the follow-up survey. They especially increased their capacity in the category of:

• Building knowledge to increase access to grade-level texts as well as selecting for text complexity.

Supporting Students with Unfinished Learning

Math educators increased their content and pedagogical content knowledge for most constructs from the diagnostic to the follow-up survey. They especially showed gains in knowledge related to supporting students with unfinished learning and principles of equitable math instruction.

For example, educators learned about incorporating just-in-time reviews of prerequisite skills and opportunities for students to practice saying out loud how they solved a problem. These two specific constructs are critical for ensuring that all students receive high-level math instruction, especially following the impact of COVID-19. 

Evidence of Content Knowledge Sticking

Additionally, teachers in their second year of professional learning scored significantly higher on pedagogical content knowledge compared to teachers brand new to Teaching Lab professional learning, offering evidence that content and pedagogical content knowledge is sticking and reinforced after years of professional learning:

• Average ELA scores: 71% (returning participants) compared to 55% (first year participants)

• Average Math scores: 67% (returning participants) compared to 54% (first year participants)