Teaching improvement through data and evaluation (TIDE)

This project aims to improve outcomes for pupils in England by improving teaching preparation and development.

The National Institute of Teaching (NIoT), a school-led organisation, will lead a partnership with academics from UCL’s Institute of Education, Faculty AI, the Bennett Institute at the University of Oxford, and Evidence Based Education. The project will be guided by an Expert Working Group of teacher educators to ensure its relevance and impact.   

Why this project is important

Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers agree that teachers are the most important in-school factor for determining the educational outcomes of pupils.

There is also broad agreement that training and professional development, when it is done well, can increase the positive impact of teachers. However, it is difficult to know which development routes and practices to prioritise because researchers have not been able to link professional development for teachers with attainment outcomes for pupils.

TIDE will draw together rich anonymised data from the NIoT’s founding trusts to explore how different approaches to teacher training, classroom practice, and professional development impact pupil attainment.

How the research will be carried out

This research will be conducted in three stages: 

1. Develop a valid measure of teachers’ impact on the attainment of their pupils. The measure will be based on the difference in average attainment of anonymised teachers’ classes compared to expectations, accounting for prior attainment, individual pupil demographics, pupil attendance, and class composition effects.  

2. Explore the statistical factors that contribute to teacher impact. This includes training pathways, teacher-class assignment practices, and in-school teacher development strategies. AI-based tools will be used to code observed teaching practices.  

3. Co-create interventions using the evidence generated during the previous two stages of research that aim to improve teacher development strategies, such as how to support mentoring or peer-observation practices. Pilot evaluations and randomised controlled trials will be designed to assess the impacts.  

How this research will make a difference

This project will strengthen the sector’s understanding of how teacher development influences pupil attainment and how to improve it.  

The research aims to generate practical evidence-informed insights that support teacher development both within the NIoT and across the wider education sector. Findings will feed directly into NIoT’s teacher training and continuous professional development programmes.

The research team will work closely with teachers, teacher educators, school leaders, education technology firms and members of the Strategic Advisory Board to ensure that findings are turned into practical and useful insights for the education sector.