Supportive Evaluation: How Federal Opportunities Can Enhance State Transformations

• In Event: Within Reach: A State Transformation Toward Universal, Paid, Sustainable Teacher Residencies in New Mexico

Abstract

Objectives: This portion of the symposium will frame the set of work that has begun to create a high-quality, What Works Clearinghouse-aligned research evaluation that will both document impacts of the New Mexico residency initiative and will support program improvements across the state as a result of the collaboratively-designed implementation study and a series of engagements each year with stakeholders around data the evaluation collects. As part of this presentation, some of the state’s commitments to data gathering and interoperability will be shared to elevate the promising practices the state is adopting, which will support comparisons between residency impacts and outcomes in other pathways as well.
Framework: The evaluation framework is grounded in the What Works Clearinghouse and Education Innovation and Research evaluation frameworks, which ensure that findings of impact will be deemed to have strong evidence through the evaluation design, and the implementation research can articulate how various elements of the logic model serve as mediators for various evaluation outcomes.
Modes of inquiry/Evidence: Administrative data from the state, including achievement outcomes in co-teaching residency classrooms, employment, demographic, and retention data of residency graduates, clinical placement data from programs across the state, and data on how various programs are implementing residencies.
Warrants: To date, warrants that have promising but not fully tested evidence include increased enrollment in teacher preparation, increased diversity, and increased graduation rates of graduates. Programs also welcome rigorous implementation research and impact evaluation designs.
Significance: Understanding the impact of legislative investments is critical to long-term sustainability of any state investment, and federal grant programs, in this particular case the Education Innovation and Research program, can provide the resources needed to create the research base to make the case for continuing or ceasing investments.

Author

• Anna Nicotera, Basis Policy Research