School systems spend on average $6,000 a teacher on professional learning each year, amounting to $18-20 billion per year. Yet only 29 percent of teachers are satisfied with their professional development.
Teaching Lab offers a low cost (<$1,000/teacher/year), high-impact teacher professional learning program that integrates curriculum implementation, professional learning, and teacher leadership skills, empowering teacher leaders to lead professional learning on their own in three to five years.
When Teaching Lab introduced their virtual learning management system in 2020, they believed it would allow them to deliver professional learning more cost-effectively and scalably. To test their hypothesis, they engaged Dr. David Blazar of the University of Maryland to conduct an external evaluation of a six-week virtual professional learning program, which was provided to 50+ math educators across New Mexico in spring 2021.
The study found that the Teaching Lab virtual learning management system significantly decreased the cost of delivering professional learning without sacrificing impact. Specifically, teachers showed significantly meaningful improvement in knowledge of math pedagogy, self-efficacy at delivering high-quality instruction, and self-reported practices related to high expectations for student learning, with changes equal to or larger than the differences between novice and veteran teachers. This suggests that, after six weeks, teachers advanced as much as a novice educator would after years of teaching.
In 2021, Teaching Lab reached over 5,000 educators serving over 400,000 students per year with their virtual professional learning model.
Overdeck Family Foundation supported the launch of Teaching Lab’s virtual learning management system with a COVID relief grant, allowing Teaching Lab to meet the immediate need for virtual professional learning. Our funding also allowed Teaching Lab to evaluate and further innovate on their virtual program, increasing reach and cost-effectiveness.
Enhancing each stage of childhood learning, from birth to high school.
Overdeck Family Foundation focuses exclusively on education, providing funding across four focus areas that encompass the whole child from birth through high school both inside and outside the classroom.