to measure and develop 21st Century teaching and learning in your school
What does the research involve?

Microsoft’s Partners in Learning School Research is a self-assessment survey research system that helps educators and school leaders understand and measure innovative teaching practices that develop the skills students need for life and work in the 21st Century.

  1. A school leader signs up on this website.
  2. A research leader from the school sends out the survey to all educators and school leaders in the school.
  3. Each educator and school leader takes a 15 to 20 minute online survey about innovative teaching practices.
  4. Once the surveys have been completed, a research report based on the responses is sent to the research leader within 24 hours, who can then share it.
  5. The report shows measures of innovative teaching practices in the school and examples of innovative teaching practices.
  6. The surveys can be repeated each year to track and measure progress.

What is ICT?
Information and communication technologies (ICT) refers to a broad set of technology tools and resources such as computers (including laptops), mobile phones, graphing calculators, digital cameras, electronic whiteboards, other computer hardware, computer software (such as presentation software, word processors, and spreadsheets) and the Internet. The words computers, technology, and ICT are used interchangeably.
Partners in Learning School Research is based on surveys developed for Innovative Teaching and Learning Research.
About the Research
Why do it?
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.
What are innovative teaching practices?

Microsoft‘s Partners in Learning School Research incorporates methods from a rigorous international research project, Innovative Teaching and Learning Research (ITL Research), to provide individual schools a system that defines innovative teaching and measures it. In addition, the School Research helps schools monitor how innovative teaching practices within their school are emerging over time.

In the ITL Research model, the three core elements of innovative teaching practices are:

Each of the three elements of innovative teaching practices are explored and measured separately in the Partners In Learning School Research Surveys. Details and definitions of these concepts are available at www.itlresearch.com.

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.
“Measuring key pedagogical elements of 21st Century learning in school assessments is very useful.”
- Bo Kristoffersson, School Leader,
Viktor Rydberg School, Sweden
“The biggest value of the research for us is that it gives teachers a very clear idea of which teaching and learning practices are useful, if our aim is 21st century teachers developing our pupils' 21c skills.”
- Minna Haanpää, Educator,
Kello School, Finland