Have We Identified Effective Teachers? Validating Measures of Effective Teaching Using Random Assignment

From 2007 to 2014, Cambridge Education implemented Tripod surveys through its partnership with Dr. Ronald F. Ferguson of Harvard University. Dr. Ferguson and Rob Ramsdell were the professional leads for the survey portion of the MET project and Cambridge Education managed all data collection related to the Tripod survey.

An offshoot of Ed Trust’s Echoes From the Gap series, drawing stories of students from behind the statistics, this blog series shares shorter narratives — brief glimpses into classrooms and hallways — that give readers an opportunity to examine educator practices and policies through the intimate lens of student experience.

The connection between teachers and students is at the heart of learning. Our work focuses on ensuring that all teachers have the goals, skills and tools to form and strengthen that powerful bond with their students. The first step in doing that is asking teachers what works and what they need to strengthen the teacher-student bond—and then trusting and listening to what they tell us.