Project Activities
Research question
- How did TSL grantees prioritize their funding activities? Did they directly address educator equity or diversity as much as the program expected?
- What would have been the effect of a teacher leader role strategy on student achievement, educator retention and satisfaction? Was the teacher leader strategy cost effective?
Structured Abstract
Design
This is both a study of TSL program implementation and was intended to have been an impact study examining the effectiveness of having a teacher in a leader (coaching) role for two years. Implementation information came from a survey of 14 2017 TSL grantees describing their funded strategies during the three-year grant period, including strategies related to teacher leaders. The impact evaluation included approximately 90 schools in 8 districts across the country, with about half of the schools within each district assigned by lottery to implement the teacher leader model beginning in the 2020–21 school year. Using teacher and principal surveys, teacher leader activity forms, and district and school administrative records, schools with teacher leaders were compared to schools continuing with their typical teacher support practices to estimate the causal impact of the teacher leader model on key teacher and student outcomes.
Key findings
From the first report on district grantees' use of Teacher and School Leader funds and how well aligned this is with key aspects of the program:
- TSL districts prioritized strategies to improve their educator workforce over strategies to improve their data infrastructure. This finding may suggest that districts already had an infrastructure that they felt was mostly sufficient to drive decisions and thus used the grant's flexibility to prioritize other strategies. Among other possible explanations is that districts still planned to prioritize upgrading their infrastructure, but primarily with non-TSL grant funds.
- TSL districts most commonly prioritized performance-based compensation and personalized support. Districts were required to have both activities in place but were not required to use grant funds to support them. Nevertheless, most reported using grant funds for performance-based compensation such as bonuses or on programs for teacher leaders who provide personalized support and feedback to teachers.
- TSL districts may not have prioritized funding activities that directly addressed educator equity or diversity as much as the program expected. Although all districts proposed to address equity and diversity, as encouraged by the U.S. Department of Education, most of their reported high-priority activities did not appear to specifically address these goals. Only some indicated that the prioritized activities were to improve educator diversity, and few reported that increasing underserved students' equitable access to effective educators was central to their high-priority activities.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
The first report, titled Federal Support for Attracting, Training, and Retaining Educators: How Districts Receiving Teacher and School Leader Grants Use Their Funds, was released in March 2023.
The contract for this study was canceled in February 2025. NCEE is evaluating what further publications, if any, may arise from this work.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
