Description of Project:

The E3TL Consortium will work in 10 districts in New York and Rhode Island as well as the New York State United Teachers and Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals to support the implementation of rigorous and comprehensive performance-based teacher evaluation systems that include standards for effectiveness in instructing limited-English-proficient students and students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. The overall goal of this project is to implement, with fidelity, effective performance-based teacher evaluation systems that (a) articulate an agreed-upon vision of effective teaching, (b) accurately identify teachers on a continuum of performance and (c) provide accurate data that can be used to help teachers improve and develop to increase student achievement. The E3TL Consortium will provide training and professional development based on best practices to improve teacher knowledge, classroom instruction, and student achievement and produce sustained change over time.

Research indicates that fidelity of implementation is critical to the success of comprehensive teacher evaluation systems in improving teaching quality and increasing student achievement. The E3TL Consortium will identify quality implementation components of performance-based teacher evaluation systems to assist in the scale-up of such systems across the country. As a cross-state, multidistrict consortium, the resources of districts and local and state unions will be pooled and used to leverage capacity to meet needs. Additionally, the consortium will act as a professional learning network through which challenges and opportunities will be collaboratively addressed and lessons learned will be shared.

Description of Evaluation:

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) will collect data on program implementation and outcomes. Using a mixed-methods approach, AIR will investigate the extent to which, across all districts, E3TL trainings are implemented with fidelity to the Danielson model and reflect features of high-quality professional development. Further, AIR will assess changes in attitudes and beliefs regarding the purposes and uses of teacher evaluation among teachers and administrators who participate in the study. Evaluators will also collect student achievement data in participating districts as the new teacher evaluation systems are implemented.

Description of Project:

Every Child Ready (ECR) is a data-driven, evidence-based, Response to Intervention (RtI) model for preschools that dramatically improves the learning outcomes for young children. This development project will devote resources in two critical areas: (1) testing the validity and reliability of ECR through a randomized control evaluation and (2) organizing and documenting the lessons, practices, training, tools, technology, measurements and professional development to implement ECR at scale with consistent, quality outcomes. ECR builds on seminal Abecedarian and HighScope early childhood education research studies and will be evaluated by the lead investigator of the Carolina Abecedarian study.

AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation is a Washington, DC-based organization with a record of closing achievement gaps before children enter kindergarten. It developed ECR through the DC Partnership for Early Literacy, a 3-year partnership with DC Prep Public Charter School, Early Childhood Academy, and AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School. The ECR project will positively impact 1,200 students at these schools over 24 months; most of these students are from high-poverty backgrounds and at risk of education failure.

ECR project goals are as follows:

• All participating children arrive at kindergarten with the language, early literacy, early math and social/emotional skills necessary for school success.
• All participating classrooms implement the ECR model with fidelity.
• Children who participate in ECR demonstrate higher achievement in early elementary school than their nonparticipating peers.
• ECR becomes a documented system of tools and practices available to be scaled and shared.

AppleTree Institute has gained the support of core stakeholders and partner organizations that are strongly committed and ready to implement ECR. Several local and national funders are providing additional funding to ECR: The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Fight for Children, the Education Collaboration Fund at J.P. Morgan, Boeing Company Charitable Trust, the Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation, PNC Foundation, Edison Electric Institute, Andrew and Julie Klingenstein Family Fund, CityBridge Foundation, Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, and the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.

Description of Evaluation:

An independent external evaluation will assess the extent to which the project achieves its goals. Dr. Craig Ramey and Dr. Sharon Ramey, frequently cited research and program development leaders, will lead the evaluation, which will include a randomized controlled trial. It is anticipated that the treatment group will contain 800 children in 42 classrooms in three public charter schools. The evaluation will assess the extent to which the program impacts the development of young children's language, early literacy, early math, and social/emotional skills and their later elementary school achievement.