Content Development

Translation of groundbreaking research into actionable resources on improving feedback for teachers

Client: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Teachers rarely get accurate and meaningful feedback on their instruction.

To address this problem, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a cutting-edge research project–the Measures of Effective Teaching project–to find out what it takes to produce valid and reliable information on teachers’ practice.

The foundation engaged KDP to help translate that research into a set of actionable resources for district leaders. KDP worked with researchers and practitioners to produce a suite of knowledge products on how to build and improve systems that can provide educators with quality feedback on their teaching.

Those products included a book, “Better Feedback for Better Teaching,” as well as practice guides on implementing the key components of a classroom observation system. Many of these resources may be found on the KDP Knowledge Center. KDP also helped build awareness of these resources through presentations and summaries in professional publications.


Messaging

Making a compelling case for innovative continuous improvement strategies

Client: Carnegie Corporation of New York

A major lesson from the past decade is that when educational improvement strategies are pursued in isolation, educators must expend valuable time and energy figuring out how they fit together.

For this reason, Carnegie Corporation of New York has prioritized investments in improvement strategies that avoid creating unnecessary conflicts and undue burdens for practitioners.

As part of this work, the Corporation engaged KDP to help build an understanding of the importance of these strategies among a broad spectrum of educational leaders–in the public and nonprofit sectors, and at the state and local levels.

KDP worked with the Corporation and several of its partner organizations to develop a high impact report, “From Fragmentation to Coherence,” including infographics, illustrative examples, and recommended resources on highlighted strategies. KDP also helped draw attention to the report through commentaries and social media.

 


Knowledge Management and Communications

Supporting a leading research partnership in developing internal processes for producing accessible and relevant content

Client: Tennessee Education Research Alliance

The Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) brings the analytic expertise of many of the country’s top education scholars to bear on the most pressing challenges facing school leaders in the Volunteer State.

From its home at Vanderbilt University, TERA has made it a priority to produce and widely share content that is highly accessible, meaningful, and relevant to nontechnical audiences and policymakers.

KDP’s engagement with TERA goes back to the research group’s founding, when we helped plan the alliance’s launch event and supported communications about TERA’s unique mission and approach. KDP then played a lead role in facilitating TERA’s first convening of researchers and practitioners to define a research agenda.

KDP continues to support TERA in honing tools and processes for developing new content on its growing body of knowledge on school improvement in the state. Amid this ongoing engagement, TERA has generated a steady stream of accessible content to share important new insights on education in Tennessee.


Knowledge Sharing

Dissemination of lessons learned from USDOE grantees on improving educator effectiveness

Client: Mathematica Policy Research

The US Education Department supports the enhancement of evidenced-based programs for teacher and principal development with grants from the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) program. A major goal of SEED is to share lessons learned from grantees with state and local education leaders, researchers, and education groups.

KDP helped facilitate this knowledge sharing as part of a three-year partnership with DOE contractor Mathematica Policy Research.

As subcontractor to Mathematica, KDP collaborated with SEED grantees to develop a series of briefs, webinars, and virtual technical assistance forums to share a wealth of usable knowledge on such topics as designing blended professional learning for teachers, creating district supports of instructional coaching, and preparing principals to be instructional leaders.

SEED grantees featured in these events included the New Teacher Center, WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship, and the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching.