Eric.ed.gov – The Impact of the 2012 TNCore Math Training on Teaching Practices and Effectiveness. Policy Brief

During the spring and summer of 2012, the Tennessee Department of Education trained about 200 Common Core Coaches who then went on to facilitate summer trainings for thousands of the state’s third through eighth grade math teachers. The following summer, the training sessions reached nearly 30,000 teachers across the state, covering math, English language arts, and literacy in science, social studies, and career and technical education. The Tennessee Core Coach training model was designed to develop a network of teachers with a deep content and pedagogical knowledge of the Common Core State Standards who could pass the knowledge on to their peers during formal training sessions and informal interactions throughout the year. Coaches were Tennessee teachers selected via a competitive application and interview process. Coaches received eight days of intensive grade-level training provided by the Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, engaging with the material first as learners and then as teacher trainers. Coaches then delivered training to participants at three-day, grade-level workshops held throughout the summer. This report provides the first analysis of the effectiveness of the TNCore training on teacher practice and student achievement. The findings suggest that attendance at the summer training sessions made a significant difference to student achievement and teacher effectiveness, as measured by both observer ratings and value-added scores based on statewide TCAP math tests. Key findings include: (1) consistence of finding positive and significant effects of the TNCore math training on participants’ instructional practice and on their effectiveness at raising student test scores. These results remain consistent using methods that control for previous year scores, school-level inputs, and for the fixed characteristics of teachers; (2) Participants who had a Core Coach working at their school made significantly greater estimated increases in questioning practices compared to participants without this support; and (3) For Core Coaches, finding some evidence that the coaching process was associated with improvements in their own classroom teaching; however, uncertain whether these improvements can be attributed to their role as coaches.