Two students in a team based model

Results

Early research on Next Education Workforce models shows promising results. Learn how team-based strategic school staffing models are improving outcomes and experiences for both students and educators.

Teachers again are excited and that is boiling over to our students being excited.

Vice principal

The teachers are awesome. I feel like I can get all my work done with more teachers to help me.

9th grade student

Outcomes for educators

Teams support higher job satisfaction, lower turnover rates and greater educator effectiveness

In Next Education Workforce models, educators have opportunities to acquire expert depth, explore functional breadth and advance in ways that don’t necessarily require leaving the classroom. While teams look different in each context, this approach to team-based staffing models emphasizes educators’ distributed expertise. Educators can showcase their skills in a supportive environment, leading to higher job satisfaction, better student outcomes and a high degree of collaboration, which is difficult to attain in the traditional one-teacher, one-classroom model.

Educators in Next Education Workforce models have …

  • Lower turnover rates: On average, team-based educators have lower turnover rates compared to traditionally-staffed educators. Lead teachers and novices are retained at even higher rates.  
  • Greater satisfaction: Team-based educators report greater satisfaction than educators in traditional classroom models and are also more likely to recommend the profession to a friend. 
  • Educator effectiveness: Team-based educators are more likely to be rated highly effective in evaluations, even when controlling for years of experience and previous evaluation ratings.
  • More collaboration and support: Teachers express a sense of relief due to being part of a team. Team-based educators at one Arizona school emphasized the importance of a collaborative environment, which allowed them to share experiences and enhance their teaching practices.

Learn more

Lennon Audrain teaching students

Outcomes for students

Teams support the development of broader student outcomes

Students served by Next Education Workforce teams experience more …

  • Academic growth: Students served by Next Education Workforce educator teams made 1.4 more months of reading growth than students in traditional models.
  • Engagement and connection: At one Arizona high school, site leaders reported greater engagement levels and feelings of connection to the school among students supported by educator teams. Students highlighted relationships with teachers and inquiry-based learning as reasons they felt more involved and connected.
  • Self-efficacy: Site leaders also reported an increase in students’ confidence in their school-related abilities and belief they could succeed academically among students served by educator teams.
  • Collaboration: Students report more opportunities to collaborate with both their teachers and peers.

Learn more

From the blog

Explore recent articles and blog posts for more insights about the Next Education Workforce and team-based school staffing models.

Card image cap

Team teaching model is associated with higher job satisfaction for educators

Compared to other teachers in the same district, teachers that participate in Next Education Workforce™ team-based staffing models are more likely to say they would recommend teaching as a profession and plan to still be teaching in five years. These teachers on teams also received higher teacher evaluation ratings than non-teamed teachers.

Card image cap

Crossing the chasm: How one district is moving its innovative staffing model from pilot to mainstream

To transition pilot programs into core school system operation, leaders need the support of staff members who may not jump at the chance to innovate.

Theory of action

How do Next Education Workforce models improve outcomes?

Next Education Workforce school staffing models aim to improve educator, student and system outcomes by creating teams of educators with distributed expertise. We theorize that changing the roles and responsibilities of educators and creating student-centered learning environments allow for these changes.

Learn more

Next Education Workforce Theory of Action

Research agenda

What are we currently researching and planning on studying next?

The current literature supports our theory that improving teacher working conditions and supporting teacher collaboration and diversity will lead to improved student outcomes. We are conducting research to interrogate our model and plan to employ quasi-experimental difference-in-difference methods to study the causal impact of teams on both educator and student outcomes. As our work expands, we also plan to study and track how systems-level outcomes improve in places where our work is deepening, to ensure we are meeting our broader vision for the future of the education system.

Implementation and Scaling

  • The model: How are Next Education Workforce models implemented? How does implementation vary across contexts?
  • Transformation: How do schools and systems move from more traditional models to sustainable Next Education Workforce models?
  • Conditions: What are the required resources and enabling conditions that allow for scale-up of Next Education Workforce models beyond initial adopters? What policies support or inhibit implementation?

Impact

  • Educators: Do Next Education Workforce models improve educator outcomes? Key outcomes include satisfaction, retention, effectiveness, diversity
  • Students: Do Next Education Workforce models improve student outcomes? Key outcomes include academic growth, attendance, sense of belonging, whole child outcomes, network of support
  • Schools and Systems: Do Next Education Workforce models improve systems-level outcomes? Key outcomes include enrollment, educator recruitment and retention, family satisfaction

Mechanisms

  • Essential elements: What are the essential elements of Next Education Workforce models that lead to improved outcomes? Are particular elements more important at key transformational stages?
  • Variation: How do impacts vary across students, educators, schools and systems? Under what conditions are these models most successful?

Publications and presentations

Venue Date Presented Location Presenter(s)
Venue: National Charter Schools Conference Date presented: July 2024 Location: Boston, MA Presenter(s): Audrain, R. L., Laski, M., McGrath, A.
Venue: Schusterman Family Philanthropies Spring Professional Learning Community Date presented: May 2024 Location: Washington, D.C. Presenter(s): Fu, C., Maddin, B., Rosenberg, D.
Venue: NewSchools Summit Date presented: May 2024 Location: San Francisco, CA Presenter(s): Wyatt, L., Audrain, L., Mendez, L., Maday, S., Brooks, A.
Venue: Emerson/XQ Date presented: April 2024 Location: Palo Alto, CA Presenter(s): Audrain, R. L.
Venue: Future of Learning Community (FOLC) Fest Date presented: March 2024 Location: Tempe, AZ Presenter(s): Conn, L., Adams, K.
Venue: Elevating the teaching profession: A national conversation on the future of teaching Date presented: March 2024 Location: Washington, D.C. Presenter(s): Hess, D., Gist, C., Maddin, B., Hise, R.
Venue: Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Conference Date presented: March 2024 Location: San Antonio, TX Presenter(s): Thompson, B., Hoffman, K.
Venue: Association for Education Finance & Policy Annual Conference Date presented: March 2024 Location: Baltimore, MD Presenter(s): Bjorklund-Young, A., Watson, A, Passarella, A
Venue: Carnegie Foundation Summit on Improvement in Education Date presented: March 2024 Location: San Diego, CA Presenter(s): Honigsberg, L., Ochi, C.
Venue: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Date presented: February 2024 Location: Presenter(s): Lennon Audrain, Natalie Nailor
Venue: School Administrators of Montana Institute Date presented: February 2024 Location: Helena, MT Presenter(s): Vesely, J.
Venue: Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association (ASPAA) Fall Conference Date presented: November 2023 Location: Prescott, AZ Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Justin Wing
Venue: American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) State Leaders Institute Date presented: November 2023 Location: Virtual Presenter(s): White-Smith, K., King, J., Gangone, L., Maddin, B.
Venue: AACE National Conference 2022 Date presented: October 2023 Location: Presenter(s): S. Baptiste, E. Mote, Brent Maddin
Venue: Aurora Institute Symposium Date presented: October 2023 Location: Palm Springs, CA Presenter(s): Hernandez-Lavezzo, J., Livesey, G., Busseault, B., Wyatt, L.
Venue: American Enterprise Institute Fall Working Group Meeting Date presented: October 2023 Location: Washington, D.C. Presenter(s): Maddin, B.
Venue: National Charter Schools National Conference Date presented: June 2023 Location: Austin, TX Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Lisa Cannon, Betsy Fowler
Venue: West Ed Rural Communities of Practice Date presented: March 2023 Location: Presenter(s): Kaycee Salmacia, Kevin Corner
Venue: SXSW EDU Date presented: March 2023 Location: Austin, TX Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, R. Lennon Audrain, Patricia Christie
Venue: AASPA’s National Educator Shortage Summit Date presented: January 2023 Location: New Orleans, LA Presenter(s): Brent Maddin
Venue: AASPA Human Capital Leadership Summit 2022 Date presented: December 2022 Location: Presenter(s): Justin Wing, Brent Maddin
Venue: ASPAA 2022 Fall Conference Date presented: November 2022 Location: Presenter(s): Justin Wing, Brent Maddin
Venue: American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) Conference Date presented: October 2022 Location: Baltimore, MD Presenter(s): Sabrina Baptiste, Brent Maddin
Venue: 75th Education Writers Association National Seminar Date presented: July 2022 Location: Orlando, FL Presenter(s): Neal Morton (Moderator), Vatricia Harris, Julia Kaufman, Brent Maddin
Venue: Council of State Governments West (CSG West) Annual Meeting Date presented: July 2022 Location: Boise, ID Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Katie Rhodenbaugh
Venue: NewSchools Venture Fund Summit 2022 Date presented: May 2022 Location: Virtual Presenter(s): Brent Maddin (Moderator), AJ Gutierrez, Mallory Dwinal-Palisch, Kareem Farah
Venue: ASU + GSV 13 Date presented: April 2022 Location: San Diego, CA Presenter(s): Aylon Samoa (Moderator), Morcease Beasely, Brent Madidn, Ty’Relle Stevens, Natasha Trivers
Venue: SXSW EDU Date presented: March 2022 Location: Austin, TX Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Greg Mendez, Kimberly Wright
Venue: National Charter Schools National Conference Date presented: June 2021 Location: Virtual Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Claudia Mendoza, Natalie Nailor
Venue: Digital Learning Collaborative Date presented: June 2021 Location: Presenter(s):
Venue: American Educational Research Association Date presented: April 2021 Location: Presenter(s):
Venue: Excel in ED: EdPalooza Date presented: December 2020 Location: Virtual Presenter(s): Brent Maddin
Venue: ExcelinEd EdPalooza Date presented: December 2020 Location: Virtual Presenter(s):
Venue: University Council on Educational Administration Date presented: November 2020 Location: Presenter(s):
Venue: MADAC Education Forum Date presented: October 2020 Location: Virtual / Saudi Arabia Presenter(s): Jennifer Stein, Ruhi Khan, Brent Maddin
Venue: MADAC School Date presented: September 2020 Location: Virtual, Saudi Arabia Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Ruhi Kahn, Jennifer Stein
Venue: Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Webinar: Strengthening Teacher’s Ability to Use and Adapt Curriculum in Teacher Preparation Date presented: June 2020 Location: Virtual Presenter(s): D. Burson, Tenette Smith, K. Wells-Wynn, Brent Maddin
Venue: AACTE National Conference Date presented: February 2020 Location: Altanta, GA Presenter(s): Lisa Wyatt, Mary Brown, Jeanne Powers
Venue: Schusterman Learning to Teach Date presented: December 2019 Location: Denver, CO Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Stephanie Dean
Venue: Arizona Educators Rising Fall Leadership Conference Date presented: October 2019 Location: Tempe, AZ Presenter(s): Ashley Katikos, William Butler, Kelly Owen, Brent Maddin
Venue: VIPKid Regional Convening Date presented: September 2019 Location: Las Vegas, NV Presenter(s): Brent Maddin
Venue: VIP Kid Journey Date presented: September 2019 Location: Las Vegas, NV Presenter(s): Brent Maddin
Venue: Learning To Teach 2019 Date presented: June 2019 Location: Denver, CO Presenter(s): Stephanie Dean, Brent Maddin
Venue: OLC Innovate Date presented: April 2019 Location: Denver, CO Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Michael Stewart
Venue: New Mexico’s Future Educator Preparation Summit Date presented: November 2018 Location: Albuquerque, NM Presenter(s): Brent Maddin
Venue: LEAP innovatED Summit Date presented: August 2018 Location: Chicago, IL Presenter(s): Albert Bertani (Modertator), Brent Maddin, Robert Muller, Aneesh Sohoni
Venue: AASA Learning 2025 National Convening Date presented: Location: Washington, D.C. Presenter(s): Justin Wing, Brent Maddin
Venue: Sustainable + Affordable Residency Webinar Series sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Date presented: Location: Virtual Presenter(s): Brent Maddin, Nicole Thompson, Robert Morse, Justin Wing
Venue: New Mexico Teacher Summit Date presented: Location: Albuquerque, NM Presenter(s): Brent Maddin

Title Publication Type Date published Author(s)
Title: Envisioning Educator Roles for Transformation Publication: KnowledgeWorks Type: Resource Date published: August 2024 Author(s): Contributed: Lennon Audrain, Ashley Katikos, Lindsay DiMartino and Tanya Pinkerton
Title: Early evidence of improved educator outcomes in Next Education Workforce models Publication: Center on Reinventing Public Education Type: Report Date published: May 2024 Author(s): Mary Laski
Title: Sustaining Teachers Through Collaboration and Autonomy: Outcomes of a Professional Development Experience Publication: The New Educator Type: Journal article Date published: April 2023 Author(s): Audrain, R.L., Ruiz, E.A., Wyatt, L. G., Nailor, N., Weinberg, A.E.
Title: ASU’s Networked Cohorts: Forging Enduring Virtual Communities Among Teachers Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic Publication: Department of Education's Best Practices Clearinghouse Type: Resource Date published: March 2023 Author(s): Lisa Wyatt, Natalie Nailor, Brent Maddin, Lennon Audrain, Andrea Weinberg
Title: Teacher academies that make a difference NOW Publication: Kappan Type: Journal article Date published: February 2023 Author(s): R. Lennon Audrain, Gregory Mendez
Title: The Next Education Workforce Publication: School Administrator Type: Journal article Date published: March 2022 Author(s): Basile, C., Maddin, B.
Title: Professional Pathways: Redefining School and University Partnerships Publication: Rethinking School-University Partnerships: A New Way Forward Type: Book chapter Date published: August 2021 Author(s): Kathleen Puckett, Jessica DeBiase, William Butler, Brent Maddin
Title: Educational Change by Design: Creating a School of the Future Publication: Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership Type: Journal article Date published: December 2020 Author(s): Lisa G. Wyatt, Benjamin S. Scragg, Jennifer Y. G. Stein, Punya Mishra
Title: SPARK-ing innovation: a model for elementary classrooms as COVID-19 unfolds Publication: Journal of Professional Capital and Community Type: Journal article Date published: August 2020 Author(s): Jeanne M. Powers, Mary Brown, Lisa G. Wyatt