Impact Study of Feedback for Teachers Based on Classroom Videos
Contract Information
Current Status:
Ongoing.
Duration:
September 2016 – January 2023
Cost:
$18,367,939
Contract Number:
ED-IES-16-C-0021
Contractor(s):
Mathematica Policy Research
WestEd
Decision Information Resources
Clowder Consulting
Pemberton Research
IRIS Connect
Educopia
Teachstone
Contact:
Helping teachers be as effective as possible remains a key national priority, given their role in student success. Classroom management and instructional practices are foundational to effective teaching, but mostly a struggle for lower-performing teachers and those early in their career to do well. This is particularly problematic because these teachers disproportionately work in high-need schools where strong teaching is essential to close student achievement gaps. This study expands the currently limited evidence on how to improve teacher practices to increase student achievement. It evaluates one promising strategy — individualized, written feedback and coaching based on videos of classroom teaching. Using videos has the benefit of allowing the coach to show the teacher his or her own practice during the feedback sessions. Because coaching can be costly, the study tested and provides information about the effectiveness of differing amounts of coaching.
- What is the impact of 8 structured cycles of written feedback and one-on-one coaching on teaching practices and student achievement?
- What is the impact of 5 cycles, and are these effects different from providing 8 cycles?
The effectiveness study included approximately 350 fourth- or fifth-grade teachers in over 100 elementary schools from 14 districts across the country. Schools were randomly assigned into three groups: one where teachers received five highly structured cycles of focused, professional coaching during a single school year, one where teachers received more coaching (eight cycles), and one that continued with its usual strategies for supporting teachers. Teachstone was selected through a competition to provide the virtual coaching largely because their program, My Teaching Partner, already had some evidence of effectiveness in a smaller-scale study. Data collection included: Teachstone's online platform and coach logs to provide information on implementation; a teacher survey to gather information on teacher characteristics and professional development experiences; teacher observations to provide information about classroom practice; and administrative records to assess students' state math and English language arts achievement for school years 2017–18 and 2018–19.
The study report, titled Study of Teacher Coaching Based on Classroom Videos: Impacts on Student Achievement and Teachers' Practices, was released in June 2022.
- Compared to teachers not receiving the study's coaching, five cycles of video-based coaching improved student test scores in English language arts at the end of the school year.
- Although the 5-cycle coaching led to a similar improvement in student scores in math, the study could not definitively conclude that the coaching improved math achievement.
- Eight cycles of coaching were not effective, perhaps due to time constraints.