What is Teaching Lab’s Contributions to the Field?

Teaching Lab seeks out opportunities to collaborate with external researchers and other organizations to contribute to the larger professional learning community. During SY2020-21, we partnered with academic researchers and practitioners alike to move our learning forward on what works in professional learning to promote equitable instruction and improved student learning experiences. 

• Teaching Lab is a founding member of the Research Partnership for Professional Learning (RPPL), which brings together top PL organizations and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University to transform professional learning practices through rigorous research. As part of this partnership, we designed studies that will allow us to know what works in PL, both design features and content, which we will carry out in SY21-22.

• Dr. David Blazar from the University of Maryland College Park conducted an external evaluation of Teaching Lab’s culturally-responsive and curriculum-aligned math professional learning in New Mexico. Findings pointed to significant gains in teacher knowledge, self-efficacy to deliver high-quality instruction, and self-reported practices that hold students to high expectations and promote strong working relationships with students and families, which are key features of Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education.

• Teaching Lab participated in Robin Hood Literacy & Technology Fund’s Blended Literacy Community of Practice as part of our innovative grant-funded ELA work carried out in District 11 in New York City.

• Teaching Lab is pioneering the integration of technology into our core PL model through collaborations with edtech organizations.

  • With funding from the Hewlett Foundation, Teaching Lab began collaborating with ASSISTments, a web-based math homework platform, to explore the use of data on curriculum implementation and student progress in a Cycle of Inquiry to accelerate teacher learning and improvement. The work through this partnership also supports broader research and learning on how open educational resources can best be implemented to support equitable instruction and student learning.

  • Through support from Robin Hood funding, Teaching Lab established a partnership with Quill, a research-based open source digital platform to improve student writing, to pilot the integration of this technology into a Cycle of Inquiry.

• Teaching Lab was selected to be one of the professional learning providers for the multi-year study Analysis of Middle School Math Systems funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Led by Mathematica, the research will examine how schools and districts can enact high-quality middle school math curricula with aligned professional learning to support teachers and priority populations of students, especially Black, Latino, English Learner-designated, and those experiencing poverty.

Teaching Lab is one of the professional learning providers for the Effective Implementation Cohort (EIC), a multi-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Managed by the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), the EIC goal is to generate insights on the key enabling conditions for effective implementation of coherent instructional systems aligned to high-quality middle-years math curriculum.