Led by the Niswonger Foundation, the Northeast Tennessee College and Career Ready Consortium has used i3 grant funds from the U.S. Department of Education to expand its high school students' access to academically rigorous coursework and high-quality instruction.

Among other strategies, the Consortium provided teachers with professional learning opportunities including workshops in specific content areas, Advanced Placement training, training to teach online courses, attendance at professional conferences, and an online community of practice. In math and science, teachers got feedback on their teaching and new curricular resources and equipment. A group of matched comparison schools received none of that support, but both groups benefited from statewide initiatives such as Race to the Top.

Did the Consortium's efforts make a difference?

To find out, CNA's evaluation team partnered with Briarwood Associates to use its Leadership by Design observation instrument, which measures the quality of a classroom's instruction and captures information about the classroom setting. Classrooms in Consortium and comparison schools were observed near the beginning of the grant, in 2011, and again near the end of the grant, in 2014. Observers rated each classroom on a 5-point scale, and added written comments.

The ratings provide evidence that Consortium schools made improvements in instructional quality over the grant period. The written comments indicated that highly rated Consortium math and science classrooms displayed high levels of student engagement; instructional practices that encouraged students to use higher-order thinking skills; and a diversity of instructional approaches that effectively responded to the different learning needs of different students.

So did the Consortium's efforts make a difference? As shown in the graphic, the answer seems to be yes.