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This analysis uses the case of the Better Math Teaching Network (BMTN) to explore whether individuals participating in a networked improvement community (NIC) experienced common developmental trajectories on known dimensions of engagement. The analysis included quantitative data from annual network member surveys and qualitative data from annual member interviews. Evidence suggests potential developmental trajectories on three key dimensions of network participation: (1) learning how to engage in a network; (2) learning to use the tools of improvement science; and (3) learning to take up the theory of improvement. Additional findings show preliminary variations based on participant characteristics such as teaching tenure, whether they participated in the network with a colleague they knew prior to joining the network or with a school-based colleague, the context of their school, and how student centered they were at the outset of their participation.

From 2016 to 2021, the Better Math Teaching Network (BMTN) aimed to transform high school mathematics teaching in New England. Researchers and teachers worked together to make high school Algebra I classes more student centered. The BMTN was piloted with a group of nine teachers during the 2015-2016 school year and added teachers the following three years. In all, a total of 63 teachers engaged in the BMTN. Selected from a pool of volunteers that applied to join the network, participating teachers worked in urban, suburban, and rural contexts and taught at least one Algebra I course to 9th grade students. They engaged collaboratively to continuously improve their teaching, enhancing learning for thousands of high school math students throughout New England. Each year, BMTN teachers tested self-identified strategies for making their classrooms more student centered. Their testing was guided by the network's definition of Deep Engagement in Algebra (DEA): connect, justify, and solve. Using learning gleaned from the network, the BMTN hub launched a professional learning community (PLC) in another school district. Involvement in the BMTN has changed teacher practice for all 63 teachers directly involved in the network. Beyond the network participants, many of the routines, tools, and practices will be used in their local contexts in a variety of ways. The BMTN hub's formalized effort to support BMTN teachers in spreading the learning of the network into local contexts (through PLCs) yielded effects on the instructional practices of local teachers in schools, districts, and states throughout New England as well as insight into how networked improvement communities (NICs) might organize for scale.

From the fall of 2017 to the winter of 2020, the Student-Centered Assessment Network (SCAN) aimed to transform high school teaching in Rhode Island. Researchers and teachers worked together to make high school classes more student centered by increasing teachers' use of student-centered formative assessment. Network leaders (the hub) organized SCAN as an improvement network to address a shared problem of practice using improvement science. By joining the network, SCAN teachers committed to working collaboratively to make their formative assessment practice more student centered, using iterative testing cycles--Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles--to hone their instructional practices. SCAN was launched with a group of 23 high school teachers during the 2017-2018 school year. New teachers joined in the fall of 2018 and in the fall of 2019. The network was made up of educators from three public high schools that served a wide range of student demographics. In all, a total of 59 teachers representing seven content areas participated in SCAN. They engaged collaboratively to continuously improve their teaching, enhancing learning for thousands of Rhode Island high school students. This developmental evaluation of SCAN aims to: (1) infuse an evidence-based critical friend/thought partner perspective into the network development process; (2) track growth and the development of the Networked Improvement Community (NIC) as a learning organization; (3) produce useable knowledge for the education field and specifically for other educators, policymakers, funders, and researchers interested in the NIC model as a way to organize for improvement and address high-leverage practical problems; and (4) advance the evaluation field by testing and refining models for evaluating improvement processes and NICs in education contexts.

As the Better Math Teaching Network (BMTN) matured, different strategies for sharing network learning emerged. These strategies became more formalized and intentional as BMTN members developed tools and routines to spread the learning. Our multi-year evaluation sought to understand the affordances and constraints of each strategy. In the sections below, we present the five strategies that reflect this developmental trajectory. We begin by providing examples of each strategy. We then identify the resources necessary for implementation and reflect on the affordances and constraints of the strategy. To understand the possibilities for scaling the learning of the BMTN--and other improvement networks--we analyze each strategy using Coburn's four dimensions of scale: widespread use, depth of implementation, shift in reform ownership, and sustainability.

From 2016 to 2021, the Better Math Teaching Network (BMTN) aimed to transform high school mathematics teaching in New England. Researchers and teachers worked together to make high school Algebra I classes more student centered. Network leaders organized the BMTN as a networked improvement community (NIC) to address a common problem of practice using improvement science. The BMTN was piloted with a group of nine teachers during the 2015-2016 school year and added teachers the following three years. In all, a total of 63 teachers engaged in the BMTN. Selected from a pool of volunteers that applied to join the network, participating teachers worked in urban, suburban, and rural contexts and taught at least one Algebra I course to 9th grade students. They engaged collaboratively to continuously improve their teaching, enhancing learning for thousands of high school math students throughout New England. This report is a developmental evaluation that studied and supported the networked improvement community's (NIC) initiation, development, outcomes, and dissemination of lessons learned. The developmental evaluation of BMTN aimed to: (1) infuse an evidence-based critical friend/thought partner perspective into the network development process; (2) track growth and the development of the NIC as a learning organization; (3) produce useable knowledge for the education field and specifically for other educators, policymakers, funders, and researchers interested in the NIC model as a way to organize for improvement and address high-leverage practical problems; and (4) advance the evaluation field by testing and refining models for evaluating improvement processes and NICs in education contexts.