We get uncommon results in uncertain times.
You face pressure to accelerate learning. We want to build an education system that serves everyone. That's why we ensure partners have reliable and practical evidence of what is changing, and we share our research with the field.
Evidence matters.
Our best-in-class evaluation tools and rigorous methods meet the high bar of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), allowing us to build on what is working and enable lasting instructional improvement across student learning and experience, teacher knowledge and practice, and school and system conditions.
We’re proud to have 21 cases of positive student impact that meet ESSA Tier 3 standards or above from 2015 to 2024, including an ESSA Tier 1 study that was accepted by the What Works Clearinghouse without reservations. That’s impact you can trust.
Scaling What Works: Research from 40+ PL Programs
Across the country, educators are proving that when professional learning is coherent, sustained, and aligned across roles, student growth follows.
Rigorous research on district and school network professional learning programs supported by Leading Educators uncovered 21 positive cases of student impact with ESSA Tier 3 or higher evidence. Scaling What Works reveals the conditions that make this happen—and how systems can design for success, even amid budget pressures and complexity.
What Works Clearinghouse Tier 1 Impact
A RAND Corporation study of our Chicago Collaborative professional development program is one of only two studies of professional development in the What Works Clearinghouse to receive an ESSA Tier 1 rating in the past decade. The study found that an average teacher rose to the top third of effectiveness.
The Need
To accelerate learning, systemic change can’t wait.
School systems face increasingly complex choices about how and where to spend limited resources to maximize student outcomes, and they often operate from incomplete information about which investments will make a difference.
Professional learning has the potential to make a significant difference in student learning by strengthening educators’ knowledge, skillfulness, and adaptability. But how can school systems identify which professional learning initiatives will make a difference, and which will waste precious time, effort, and money?
That’s why we prioritize best-in-class research alongside strong implementation to uncover what works and make it spread in context with different strengths and conditions.
We’re proving what’s possible.
While the large majority of education interventions produce weak or null effects, we’re breaking the trend.
Schools supported by Leading Educators begin with clear areas of need, with scores below those of 70-93% of schools in the state. Following intervention, they frequently outpace the gains in similar schools, experiencing an impact equivalent to 9 months of additional learning on average.
- In math, supported schools have improved 8 to 34 percent, outpacing growth in similar schools.
- In ELA, supported schools have improved by 12 to 18 percent, outpacing growth in similar schools.
- Some districts that implemented the Leading Educators’ approach systemwide gained 1 to 3 NAEP points more than comparable large-city districts.
Better yet, those results endure years after partnership. One randomized control trial found that Leading Educators’ support resulted in student growth that outpaced learning in schools with similar characteristics.
What We're Up Against
It’s often said that the system we have is getting the results it was designed for. So, what needs to change to accelerate learning? Here’s what the research says we’re up against.
$18,000 per teacher
spent every year on professional development that doesn’t work. For-profit vendors and curriculum providers have flooded the market with one-size-fits-nobody workshops and trainings that fail to address the complexity of excellent teaching.
133 hours
wasted each year in each core subject on assignments that are not grade-appropriate (TNTP, 2018). Few teachers receive deep development on college and career readiness standards during their preparation programs and on the job.
Only 3 in 10 teachers
show improvement from common "one-and-done" PD despite $8 billion of yearly spending nationwide. Traditional models aren't working, but teachers still need opportunities to improve.
$18,000 per teacher
spent every year on professional development that doesn’t work. For-profit vendors and curriculum providers have flooded the market with one-size-fits-nobody workshops and trainings that fail to address the complexity of excellent teaching.
133 hours
wasted each year in each core subject on assignments that are not grade-appropriate (TNTP, 2018). Few teachers receive deep development on college and career readiness standards during their preparation programs and on the job.
Only 3 in 10 teachers
show improvement from common "one-and-done" PD despite $8 billion of yearly spending nationwide. Traditional models aren't working, but teachers still need opportunities to improve.
Expanding Horizons: 2024 Annual Report
Our 2024 Annual Report is a journey through our major achievements from the past year. We highlight programmatic successes, growth, and lessons learned that pave the path to where our mission will go next.
Sparking double-digit literacy gains in Harlem
One year into the New York City Reads initiative, there is a rare bright spot. Harlem Community School District 5 is seeing its highest literacy rates in decades after science of reading support from Leading Educators.
- By the end of the 2023-24 school year, 38% of the district’s students scored at or above grade-level expectations for reading on iReady, a significant improvement from just 14% at the start of the school year.
Transforming Charleston County's turnaround schools
As school districts across the country work to recover from pandemic disruptions and prepare all students for the future, the coastal lands of Charleston County, South Carolina, offer a shining example of what is possible.
Acceleration Schools have reversed pre-pandemic declines and accomplished significant improvement in math and ELA proficiency from 2021 to 2023. Literacy scores in turnaround schools have doubled, substantially outpacing state averages and other Title I schools.
How? Since 2020, Leading Educators and Charleston County School District‘s turnaround schools have partnered to build robust professional learning and coaching infrastructure tied to high-quality instructional materials, so teachers the the support and professional conditions to practice what they teach.
Getting real results beyond test scores
Together with our partners, we aim to improve not only learning outcomes but life outcomes.
Lasting systemic change fundamentally shifts what teachers know, think, and do, as well as the support and conditions that all make it stick. So, we assess our impact on all three in addition to student outcomes, equipping partners to sustainably accelerate learning.
Best-in-class impact on student learning
We’re driven to see all students learn to high levels, no matter where they start. We use rigorous evaluation methods to understand both changes in knowledge and in students’ experiences, recognizing that they’ll need more than academics to be ready for the world that awaits them.
Explore Our Studies
For decades, there’s been little evidence that teacher professional development makes a difference for students. We’re changing that.
Several rigorous studies over the past decade demonstrate that Leading Educators’ job-embedded, content-specific approach to strengthening teaching leads to statistically significant gains for students that surpass those of other leading interventions. Learn more below.
2024: long-term study
A new quasi-experimental study of Leading Educators’ work provides new proof for the power of teacher professional development, finding significant results for students.
This study explores what allowed teacher leaders in three cities to get lasting results in math and literacy using 10 years of data end rigorous methods.
2022: results from Chicago
A new randomized control trial by RAND Corporation shows that educators significantly increased student achievement after participating in Leading Educators’ Chicago-based PD program. These findings challenge the misconception that teacher professional development is ineffective and costly—the content and components matter.
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2019: Michigan and Louisiana fellowships
A RAND-supported study found significant effects on student learning in math and ELA in Michigan after just one year of content-specific programming.
2015: Louisiana fellowship impact
Our first RAND study of Leading Educators’ fellowship model found significant effects on math learning in Louisiana.
"It's really hard for those in the system to be experts at everything. And so to the degree that we can specialize and focus our energy on certain areas, then we can lean on partners to carry the water on some other areas of their expertise."
Kevin Polston, Superintendent at Kentwood Public Schools
Strengthening the System
Strong, actionable development can help teachers build on their strengths so students’ opportunities in the classroom continue to expand over time. That’s why we help partners scale professional learning systems, designed for them, that are radically improving instruction today.
We guide district leaders to connect the structures, conditions, and leadership necessary for teachers to practice what they teach, together, so that every student learns what they need to succeed. When a school is a place where teachers, as well as students, learn, new levels of progress become possible.
Sustained Conditions for Continuous Improvement
Every community has inherent strengths to build upon for even greater impact. Years of partnerships and the research on professional learning have helped us distill those characteristics that make some school systems more successful than others at reaching strong teaching and leadership at scale. We call these resources the enabling conditions.
Evaluation Advisory Board
Robert Berry
Miah Daughtery
Jessica Eadie
Heather Hill
Matthew Steinberg
About Robert Berry
Robert Q. Berry, III is the Samuel Braley Gray Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Virginia the Curry School of Education & Human Development with an appointment in Curriculum Instruction and Special Education.
A former mathematics teacher, he teaches elementary and special education mathematics methods courses in the teacher education program at the University of Virginia. Additionally, he teaches graduate level mathematics education courses and courses for in-service teachers seeking a mathematics specialist endorsement. His research focuses on equity issues in mathematics education, pre-and in-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching, and mathematics instructional quality. Berry has extensive experience in classroom observation and has collaborated with other researchers to develop an observation instrument, Mathematics Scan, to examine mathematics teaching quality.
A former mathematics teacher, he teaches elementary and special education mathematics methods courses in the teacher education program at the University of Virginia. Additionally, he teaches graduate level mathematics education courses and courses for in-service teachers seeking a mathematics specialist endorsement. His research focuses on equity issues in mathematics education, pre-and in-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching, and mathematics instructional quality. Berry has extensive experience in classroom observation and has collaborated with other researchers to develop an observation instrument, Mathematics Scan, to examine mathematics teaching quality.
"My hope is that we will build on the mathematical lives of Black kids in the spaces in which they learn, live, and grow."
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About Miah Daughtery
A focused and passionate educator, Miah has more than ten years' experience at the classroom, district, and state levels.
After graduating from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Miah began her journey as a reading and English teacher in the Detroit Public Schools. From Detroit she moved to the Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas, NV, where she continued to teach and build an expertise in secondary ELA, standards, adult learning, curriculum development, and professional development by serving as a district secondary literacy project facilitator, serving all of the district's middle and high school ELA teachers. After a suite of rich and robust experiences as a district leader, Miah transitioned to the Tennessee Department of Education where she served as the K-12 Literacy Coordinator. In this capacity, Miah's primary responsibilities included developing systems to ensure content accuracy and alignment for the literacy portion of the state assessment, TNReady.
In 2016, Miah completed her doctoral studies at Vanderbilt's Peabody College, obtaining an Ed.D in Educational Administration and Public Policy. Miah joined the Achieve staff in 2016 as the Director, ELA & Literacy. In that role, Miah led the work of ensuring states maintain high college-and-career standards for ELA and assessment systems that align to those standards. Miah provided guidance to states reviewing and revising their state standards and assessments.
After graduating from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Miah began her journey as a reading and English teacher in the Detroit Public Schools. From Detroit she moved to the Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas, NV, where she continued to teach and build an expertise in secondary ELA, standards, adult learning, curriculum development, and professional development by serving as a district secondary literacy project facilitator, serving all of the district's middle and high school ELA teachers. After a suite of rich and robust experiences as a district leader, Miah transitioned to the Tennessee Department of Education where she served as the K-12 Literacy Coordinator. In this capacity, Miah's primary responsibilities included developing systems to ensure content accuracy and alignment for the literacy portion of the state assessment, TNReady.
In 2016, Miah completed her doctoral studies at Vanderbilt's Peabody College, obtaining an Ed.D in Educational Administration and Public Policy. Miah joined the Achieve staff in 2016 as the Director, ELA & Literacy. In that role, Miah led the work of ensuring states maintain high college-and-career standards for ELA and assessment systems that align to those standards. Miah provided guidance to states reviewing and revising their state standards and assessments.
"Reading does open new worlds for students—they build an understanding of their own world and develop more tolerant communities by reading the stories of others."
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About Jessica Eadie
Jessica Eadie is the Chief Operating Officer at Student Achievement Partners. Jessica joined Student Achievement Partners in 2011 from the New York City Department of Education where she was the Executive Director of Assessment.
Jessica holds a bachelor's from Boston College and a master's in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Jessica holds a bachelor's from Boston College and a master's in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
"I believe education has the power to be life-changing. However, for far too many young people, especially those who are marginalized by our country and educational system, we have not made good on education’s promise."
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About Heather Hill
Heather C. Hill studies policies and programs designed to improve mathematics teacher and teaching quality. Her recent research focuses on: teacher professional development, instructional coaching, teacher evaluation, changes over time in teachers' mathematical knowledge and instructional quality in mathematics, and the teacher experiences and characteristics that lead to high-quality instruction and stronger student outcomes.
Hill and her team have developed assessments that capture teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching and teachers' mathematical quality of instruction, assessments now widely available to researchers, instructional coaches, evaluators, and policy-makers via online training and administrative systems.
Hill is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and serves on the AERA grants board, on the editorial boards of several journals, and as an advisor to numerous research projects and policy efforts in both the U.S. and abroad. She is co-author of Learning Policy: When State Education Reform Works with David K. Cohen (Yale Press, 2001).
Hill and her team have developed assessments that capture teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching and teachers' mathematical quality of instruction, assessments now widely available to researchers, instructional coaches, evaluators, and policy-makers via online training and administrative systems.
Hill is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and serves on the AERA grants board, on the editorial boards of several journals, and as an advisor to numerous research projects and policy efforts in both the U.S. and abroad. She is co-author of Learning Policy: When State Education Reform Works with David K. Cohen (Yale Press, 2001).
"Understanding students’ weaknesses is only useful if it changes practice. And, to date, evidence suggests that it does not change practice — or student outcomes. Focusing on the problem has likely distracted us from focusing on the solution."
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About Matthew Steinberg
Dr. Matthew P. Steinberg is an Associate Professor of Education Policy in the College of Education and Human Development, a University Affiliate Faculty at the Schar School of Policy and Government, and Director of EdPolicyForward: The Center for Education Policy at George Mason University.
Dr. Steinberg is an Affiliated Researcher with the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, a Faculty Affiliate with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, and an IUR Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research. Dr. Steinberg's research addresses issues of educational significance at the intersection of the economics of education and education policy, including: teacher evaluation and human capital; urban school reform; school discipline and safety; and school finance. His work informs local and national policy discussions on the impact of education policies and practices on the distribution of teacher effectiveness and the educational outcomes of students, particularly the most disadvantaged among the population.
A recipient of the 2016 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Steinberg received his PhD in public policy from the University of Chicago. Prior to graduate study, he was an investment banker and a New York City Teaching Fellow.
Dr. Steinberg is an Affiliated Researcher with the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, a Faculty Affiliate with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, and an IUR Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research. Dr. Steinberg's research addresses issues of educational significance at the intersection of the economics of education and education policy, including: teacher evaluation and human capital; urban school reform; school discipline and safety; and school finance. His work informs local and national policy discussions on the impact of education policies and practices on the distribution of teacher effectiveness and the educational outcomes of students, particularly the most disadvantaged among the population.
A recipient of the 2016 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Steinberg received his PhD in public policy from the University of Chicago. Prior to graduate study, he was an investment banker and a New York City Teaching Fellow.
"Systems which rely on potentially biased measures of teacher performance will have important consequences for the diversity of the teacher workforce and for a district’s ability to recruit and support teachers who represent the students they teach and the community in which its schools are located."
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