Measuring Innovative Teaching in your School

As part of our focus on 21st century skills, where better to start than a measurement tool to measure your teachers and students 21st century skils practices.

People all over the world are talking about the need to transform education to align with the realities of life and work in the 21stCentury. This is not just about the effective use of technology. It’s about developing kids who are deeply engaged in the learning process and taking the initiative to learn. But how do you make this transformation happen in your school and classrooms? How do you measure your success?

Partners in Learning School Research helps schools understand what education transformation means in practice for them. It can help you establish a common vision for innovative teaching and learning within your school. It can also provide you and your school community with measures of that innovation.

If you would like to better understand existing teaching and learning practices in your school, or recognize the need to measure new and existing teaching and learning practices in your school, learn more about

Research clearly demonstrates that student performance changes in response to what educators ask them to do. To develop a student's 21st Century skills, educators must develop learning activities that require the use of those skills. Utilizing innovative teaching methods is the first step towards improving students' learning experiences and helping them build the skills they will need.

Why do this survey?

What can you hope to gain from this research?

• Educators and education leaders around the world are looking for ways to improve learning and transform education to better prepare youth for the challenges of life and work in the 21st century. However, most schools and educators do not yet have common definitions of the new skills students need. More importantly, a clear understanding or examples of how to develop these skills in their students are currently lacking.
• Partners in Learning School Research is a set of research tools that schools can use to get a data-driven, action-oriented report with concrete examples of how your school can develop its innovative teaching and learning practices to develop students’ 21st Century skills.
• See a sample report

More specifically, what is in it for school leaders?

• Understand measures of innovative teaching and learning practices specific to your school.
• Get a comparison of school leaders’ and educators’ perspectives on these practices.
• Opportunities to examine your school’s scores relative other schools in your region or country.
• Insights into how to make technology investments more effective for student learning.
• Data to guide educator professional development and school investment decisions.
• Examples of innovative teaching practices.
• Basis for a common dialogue among educators, parents, students and other community stakeholders about transforming teaching and learning practices.

More specifically, what is in it for educators?

• Clear definitions and examples of what teaching 21st Century skills means in practice.
• A common language for discussing innovative teaching practices and for collaborating with other educators and school leaders.
• Ideas and examples to inform professional development decisions and actions.
• Opportunities to use the surveys and data for your own research on teaching.

Why is Microsoft’s Partners in Learning sponsoring this?

• As a global technology company, Microsoft has a clear interest in helping education systems around the world understand how to use technology effectively to improve student learning.
• Microsoft’s Partners in Learning is the organization that sponsors ITL Research and Partners in Learning School Research. The goal is to develop evidence and tools to support this kind of effective educational change.