From 2003 - 2008, McREL was involved in an evaluation of Learning Bridges, a standards-based, online teacher professional development program. Researchers reported on student performance outcomes as the evaluation centered on program implementation and changes in teacher knowledge and skills. In the initial study student data was not available at the classroom or individual student level. Therefore, they compared scores district-wide to scores from comparison districts to measure potential changes in student learning. Although the analysis indicated that the Roseville school district experienced gains in standardized test scores that exceeded expectations, the gains could not be directly attributed to teacher participation in the Learning Bridges program.

The current data analysis builds on the finding of the previous evaluation by using student-level data to identify the impact of teacher participation in Learning Bridges coursework on student learning. This work reflects the addition of a data set that allowed McREL to link student data to teacher data, and teachers to specific Learning Bridges courses. This report provides details on analyses to explore the relationship between presence, amount, and type of Learning Bridges coursework and student achievement.

The evaluation questions were:

• Has student achievement increased more for those students whose teachers participated in Learning Bridges as compared to those students whose teachers did not participate in Learning Bridges?
• Are different amounts of teacher participation in Learning Bridges associated with different levels of student achievement?
• Is participation in different Learning Bridges courses associated with different levels of student achievement?
• Given teacher participation in Learning Bridges, are different student-level characteristics associated with different levels of student achievement?

Results revealed a trend in the data whereby students with teachers who participated in Learning Bridges coursework tended to score higher on the MCA-II and MTELL standardized assessments than students with teachers who did not participate in Learning Bridges coursework. In addition to identifying significant relationships, researchers calculated effect sizes to measure the strength of the relationship between Learning Bridges coursework and student achievement. Effect sizes for significant relationships ranged from ES = .31 to ES = .56 and can be interpreted as medium to large according to Cohen's guidelines.

When controlled for covariates, the positive relationship between Learning Bridges and student achievement persisted. Using cohort analysis of students with three consecutive years of standardized test data, and examining the performance of students in this group over time with (1) teachers with three consecutive years of Learning Bridges courses work and (2) teachers with no Learning Bridges course work, results indicate that students with teachers who participate in Learning Bridges courses have an average gain of .12 standard deviation units over those who do not. All but one group of diverse learners (Special Education) outscored their peers with Learning Bridges teachers. Females outscored their peers by .27; students of color outscored their peers by .22; students living in poverty outscored their peers by .14, and English language learners outscored their peers by .41 standard deviation units.

The sample sizes, however, are small because of changes in tests by the state and the inability to connect student scores to content area teachers in middle and high school, meant an exclusion of more than 12% of the records analyzed. All teachers had access to the Learning Bridges System tools and participated in Professional Learning Communities on instruction, whether they participated in coursework or not.

This analysis complements the McREL evaluation of the Learning Bridges program in the Roseville School District, further informing the relationship between participation in Learning Bridges coursework and student achievement. For this report, McREL had access to Roseville, Minnesota School District standardized test score data, and Learning Bridges information on teacher participation in online courses.

McREL identified significant, positive relationships between Learning Bridges coursework and student achievement in both reading and mathematics.