Projects

The Better Math Teaching Network (BMTN) is a community of researchers, teachers, and instructional leaders who are using student-centered instructional techniques to increase the number of students who are deeply engaged in making sense of and understanding algebra. They are organized as a networked improvement community (NIC), which means that they use principles of improvement science to develop, test, refine, and share promising instructional routines throughout the network. The BMTN now has more than 60 members-most of whom are high school algebra teachers-who represent a variety of districts and schools from every state in New England.

Click on a report to view the PDF:

Teacher Participation in an Improvement Network Engaging Students in High School Algebra Scaling the Impact of a Networked Improvement Community Beyond the Networked Improvement Community

Student Centered Assessment Network (SCAN)

This Student Centered Assessment Network (SCAN) supports a networked improvement community (NIC) focused on the development of student-centered assessment to expand what is known about student-centered assessment and effective practices for data-driven instructional change.

Tennessee Early Literacy Network (TELN)

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) is working with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to form networked-improvement communities as part of the Tennessee Early Literacy Network (TELN), led by the state's regional offices. TELN brings districts together to collaborate in seeking practical solutions to a defined problem of practice and engaging in continuous improvement cycles to learn what works in solving the problem in their specific context. In the near term, the aim of TELN is to improve early reading outcomes. In the longer-term, these improvement networks are intended to shift how the TDOE empowers and builds capacity of regions and districts to problem solve, find better solutions, and improve student achievement in their own unique contexts - part of the effort to empower districts under the Commissioner's Tennessee Succeeds strategic plan.

In fall 2017, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) launched the Networks for School Improvement Strategy (NSI) with the aim of significantly increasing the number of black, Latino, and low-income students earning a high school diploma, enrolling in a postsecondary institution, and staying on track to earn a credential with labor-market value. NSIs are groups of secondary schools working in partnership with intermediary organizations to achieve a common goal using continuous improvement methods. Intermediaries play a critical role in coordinating, facilitating, and supporting schools as they participate in NSIs.