Teacher professional development is a concept that can be met with skepticism by educators in the field. Too often the experiences provided to teachers don't correlate with their personal goals or classroom aspirations. That's where our project comes in.
The Empowering Teacher Learning Project is a 5-year, $12M research project funded by the N.C. Department of Education that will measure the impacts of a teacher-directed professional learning program in rural, western North Carolina middle schools.
As part of the program, teachers will earn licensure renewal credits (CEUs) by completing teacher-selected, online, competency-based micro-credentials.
At the heart of this partnership between NC Schools, App State, NCDPI and Digital Promise, is the idea that when teachers are given choice and support in their professional learning, it can lead to benefits for teachers, students, and communities.
Program Benefits
- Teachers earn $250 per micro-credential
- Teachers decide on professional learning needs, goals, topics, and pacing
- Teachers earn competency-based onlinemicro-credentials
- Coaches (ETL Navigators) support teachers on micro-credential journey
- 100% of earned micro-credentials can be used towards recertification CEUs
- Research team will measure project impacts and share all relevant data with districts
Recruitment and Support
The ETL Partnership recruits rural, high-need middle schools in western North Carolina. Once district and school administrators agree to join the partnership, schools are randomly assigned to the treatment group or the control group.
The ETL team will support and measure the impacts of the professional learning program on teachers, students, and school districts.
Questions?
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