Investigators are designing a state-wide, empirically based indicator system that aligns with Tennessee's (TN) vision of instructional improvement and is built from data gathered through in-depth study of teaching and learning in a sample of 4th through 8th grade mathematics classrooms. Investigators begin with a set of constructs and measures that are known to predict student learning on high-level mathematics assessments (high-cognitive-demand instruction) and that are associated with teachers' capacity to enact ambitious instruction (teacher social capital). The objective is to distill the measurement of these constructs to a core set of survey indicators that are predictive of student outcomes, can be administered efficiently at scale, and are consequential for state policy makers' decision making. Using a 3-tiered approach - in-depth data collection from an intensive sample of teachers (n=50), less comprehensive data from an intermediate sample (n=100), and survey-based data from a scale sample, a group that will increase in number each year, ending in year 3 with 1000 teachers or approximately 10% of TN's grades 4-8 mathematics teachers - the analyses leverage in-depth qualitative examination of mathematics instruction and teacher social capital in dialogue with survey-based approaches to construct a validity argument (Kane, 2006) that 1) teachers vary on proxy measures of central constructs, 2) measures of these proxies are correlated with other theoretically relevant measures, and 3) these proxies are predictive of student learning and high-quality teaching, respectively, in the scale sample. Previous research on cognitive demand has provided both theoretical and empirical warrants for the connection between teaching and student learning. This project extends that work by establishing proxies for high-cognitive-demand instruction and observing their relationship to student learning across hundreds of classrooms. Previous work on teacher social capital has consisted primarily of theory-building, qualitative studies that have shown relationships between specific features of teacher social capital and level of instruction. This study tests that relationship in larger numbers of classroom and extends it to student learning. Additionally, investigators build a practical theory of how states can support large-scale instructional improvement. While most theorizing and research in this regard has focused on the challenges that states confront in providing professional development for large numbers of teachers, less attention has been paid to the challenge of monitoring the effectiveness and impact of those efforts. This project is based on the idea that just doing more - without systematically learning from what one is doing - is a failing proposition. In the era of current reforms, increasing numbers of states will be devoting substantial resources to improving instruction across their states. By conceptualizing an entire state as a learning environment, this work calls attention to systematic and organized ways to learn from that activity, thereby getting smarter about efficient ways to support large-scale improvement in mathematics. The development of indicators that can be deployed across an entire state is, in and of itself, a sign of broad impact. In addition, the indicator system is portable and, because it is aligned with college and career ready standards adopted by the majority of states, could be taken up by other states, especially those who have committed to common assessments. Furthermore, if leaders in TN and other states use the indicator system to identify where instruction is flagging and where teacher supports are needed, they will be positioned to make better decisions regarding where and how to assist educators across their states. This, in turn, will support the achievement of the societal goal of improved STEM education that will produce more globally competitive high school graduates. Finally, if this study is successful we will have established a longer chain of evidence than heretofore has been assembled. We will show linkages among (a) teachers' access to social resources; (b) teachers' instructional practice; and (c) student performance.
