Friday Institute Secures $1.3 Million in Funding to Enhance Teacher Selection and Evaluation through the Advanced Teaching Roles Program

Raleigh, NC – The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation has been awarded $1.3 million from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) to conduct an in-depth study of the selection and evaluation of teachers within North Carolina’s Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR) program. This innovative program, established by the North Carolina General Assembly, aims to improve student outcomes by creating innovative compensation and staffing models that allow highly effective classroom teachers to impact an increased number of students.

Since its launch in 2016, the ATR program has had a notable impact, including significant gains in math achievement, improvements in teacher working conditions and increased collaboration and instructional support. Although ATR has demonstrated significant potential for improving teaching and learning outcomes, it has yet to achieve the full impact envisioned by the General Assembly, according to researchers. Key factors that could account for this include extensive variation in program implementation, such as how teachers are selected and evaluated by school and district leaders.

The primary goal of this research partnership between the Friday Institute, the NC State College of Education and Basis Policy Research is to help address these challenges by examining the characteristics of effective Advanced Teachers and processes for evaluating their performance, with the aim of strengthening the program’s consistency and impact across the state. 

“Our goal is to ensure that the selection criteria for Advanced Teachers are aligned with the outcomes we want to achieve, such as improved student achievement and better teacher retention,” said Shaun Kellogg, principal investigator (PI) and senior director at the Friday Institute. “By understanding what works best for certain contexts and desired program outcomes, we can help refine these selection criteria and evaluation processes to increase the program’s positive impact.”

The study will proceed in four phases, beginning with a review of current selection criteria for Advanced Teachers and progressing to the development of new evaluation measures and recommendations for teacher identification and selection. This mixed-methods study will incorporate quantitative data analysis, in-depth interviews with program stakeholders and advanced machine learning techniques to yield insights that inform evidence-based improvements. 

The project will culminate in a practitioner convening at the Friday Institute, where state leaders, ATR district administrators and educators will review the findings and discuss strategies for enhancing the ATR program to meet diverse district needs effectively.

Callie Edwards, co-principal investigator (co-PI), director of the Program Evaluation and Education Research Group and director of strategic initiatives at the Friday Institute, emphasized the importance of collaboration.

“The voices of educators, administrators, and researchers are essential in this study,” said Edwards. “Our aim is to create a process that is fair, consistent and impactful for the districts and schools ATR serves.”

This initiative represents an important step toward strengthening educational outcomes across North Carolina and serves as a model for educator policy and practice beyond the state.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Shaun Kellogg
Senior Director 
Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
Email: shaun.kellogg@ncsu.edu 
Phone: (919) 513-8563

The first draft of this article was generated using ChatGPT.