Education leaders are always on the lookout for professional learning that delivers real results. With limited budgets and precious little time, they need initiatives that make a measurable difference for teachers and student outcomes. A program called Teacher as Researcher has been doing just that since 2022, quietly transforming classrooms in more than 59 schools. The results include statistically significant increases in teacher efficacy and capacity to use data and evidence-based instructional strategies (Scott et al., 2024).
The Teacher as Researcher program equips educators with practical research skills they can use daily in their classrooms. Participants choose evidence-based strategies, learn to design effective assessments to collect and analyze student data on the strategies, and reflect on their practice. Unlike traditional top-down research approaches, it equips teachers to investigate the effectiveness of their own teaching methods with their unique class of students. They form hypotheses, gather evidence, and adjust their instruction based on what they learn. This cycle of inquiry and improvement happens in real time, allowing teachers to make responsive, informed decisions that directly impact student learning.
Education leaders and teachers alike have been sharing their experiences with the program. Fausto Guerra and Julia Brochey-Taylor both recently spoke with Marzano Research about their Teacher as Researcher journeys.
Agency and efficacy
Originally developed in Nebraska, piloted in Alaska, and then implemented broadly in South Carolina, Teacher as Researcher is already spreading across the country—and the globe. Guerra is a school leader in Ecuador, and one of the most striking takeaways from his experience was how Teacher as Researcher elevated his teachers’ sense of agency and leadership. He explained:
“It is a great opportunity for the teachers to increase their own concept of professionalism. One thing is to teach a lesson in a traditional way, or even with more modern ways of teaching. But another thing is to see yourself as a researcher. It makes you feel that you are not only a teacher, but also an expert.”
This shift in perspective is powerful. When teachers view themselves as teacher researchers, they become active participants in their own professional growth.
U.S. music teacher Brochey-Taylor agreed, noting that the program enhanced her leadership skills and ability to support other teachers:
“I think that ultimately this has helped me to be able to work with them and their growth and their ability to implement some of these practices within their classrooms. So, in that way, I think it’s prepared me better and enhanced my leadership.”
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This sentiment is paralleled by results from the latest evaluation of the program’s effectiveness, conducted with statewide data from South Carolina. Participants’ self-efficacy scores jumped from 6.9 to 7.8 on a 10-point scale, surpassing typical scores of 6.7–7.5 (Scott et al., 2024). This boost in teacher confidence has direct implications for classroom performance and student achievement.
Increased capacity to use data and evidence-based strategies
Teacher as Researcher participants also showed marked growth in their use of data and implementation of evidence-based strategies, with scores rising from 4.3 to 4.6 on a 5-point scale—a statistically significant increase (Scott et al., 2024).
Both Guerra and Brochey-Taylor’s experience aligned with these findings. Brochey-Taylor observed:
“It helped me to be more specific and intentional in how I was implementing assessments and when I would implement them.”
Guerra added another layer to this, explaining how the program challenged his teachers to verify the effectiveness of even widely accepted practices:
“It was a very interesting approach in which they began questioning not only their teaching, but also the strategies that they were using, supposing that they are proven strategies that nobody would doubt about.”
Additional qualitative data found nearly nine out of 10 South Carolina participants from 2022–24 praised the workshops and reported deeper strategy understanding and improved application (Scott et al., 2024).
Collaboration and reflection
Another key theme that emerged from our conversation was the value of collaboration and reflection. Guerra described how teachers in his school would come together to review and refine their strategies:
“Each one of them created their own pre-test, but they later got to the meeting and they presented to the group—’This is my pre-test, this is my post-test. Give me your feedback.’ And it was this nice discussion, understanding that the teacher was vulnerable enough to say, ‘Well, this is what I want to try with my kids. What do you think about it? Give me the feedback and help me improve what I have worked on.'”
A modern initiative for the modern classroom
In classrooms from South Carolina to Ecuador, the impact of Teacher as Researcher resonates. Why? It works.
The program shifts traditional boundaries, shortening the once-lengthy journey from empirical studies to educator implementation, and making it possible to evaluate how well evidence-based strategies work in individual teachers’ unique contexts.
Leaders can use it to align staff on school- or district-wide teaching initiatives and goals. Participants expand their data-driven decision-making abilities, emerging as leaders who question, verify, collaborate, and grow. They confirm or discard teaching strategies they have been using that may lack substantial research backing, opting for the most effective approaches. Teachers who now see themselves as agents of change are equipped to meet the complex challenges of 21st-century education head-on. Student achievement increases. This is professional learning reimagined: a movement where every classroom becomes an incubator of research-backed innovation and part of a collaborative effort toward districtwide continuous improvement.
Source
Scott, C., Tedeschi, S., & Wolfe, C. (2024). BRIEF: Empowering Teachers as Researchers in South Carolina. Marzano Research. https://marzanoresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SC_Empowering-Teachers-as-Researchers_BRIEF-for-Stakeholders.508.pdf
