Schools with On-Demand Professional Learning Outperform Respective Districts, Neighboring Schools

New Research Shows 18.9 Percent Gains in Math Proficiency, 15.3 Percent Gains in Reading Proficiency

We recently published an independent research study showing schools that were highly engaged in on-demand professional learning experienced greater gains in student proficiency scores than neighboring schools or districts. The results indicate that educators’ use of on-demand professional learning can have a statistically significant impact on student achievement scores for all schools regardless of type or settings and give schools an advantage over neighboring schools or districts with comparable student populations.

This study published in the International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IAES publication) is among the first research to demonstrate a link between professional learning and student achievement. The results are revolutionary for public education as they provide a framework for systematically helping educators improve in effectiveness and positively impact student achievement in a model that is scalable across all schools and systems and to all student populations.

“For the first time, the education community has access to research that shows how to solve an identifiable, measurable, overarching problem in education that is responsible for the other symptoms of education failure,” said Chet D. Linton, CEO and president of School Improvement Network. “It also demonstrates the solution—high-engagement with on-demand professional learning resources delivers dramatic improvement in student achievement in any school environment or type.”

The study measured student proficiency scores in 169 schools in 73 districts across 19 states and found the following:

Math - Schools whose educators were highly-engaged in on-demand professional learning experienced a 18.9 percent gain in the number of students who tested advanced or proficient in math Neighboring schools and districts without the professional learning experienced only a 4.2 percent increase in math

Reading - Schools whose educators were highly-engaged in on-demand professional learning experienced a 15.3 percent gain in the number of students who tested advanced or proficient in reading Neighboring schools and districts without the professional learning experienced only a 2.5 percent increase in reading

This is the eighth study commissioned by School Improvement Network that positively correlates on-demand professional learning with increased student achievement and educator effectiveness, and quantifies how to systematically increase both.

Click here to see the full study.

Click here to see the on-demand professional learning used by educators in this study.