Developed with funding by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Science

The development and research of IRIS Connect began in 2003 with funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Education. This research empirically demonstrated that the technology was feasible in authentic education settings and also provided empirical evidence of potential efficacy. A mathematics professional development consultant located in Denver, Colorado used IRIS Connect to remotely observe and provide feedback to 5th and 6th grade teachers at Pioneer, Elementary in Ogden, Utah. This quasi-experimental study provided evidence of potential efficacy resulting in (a) greater teacher enactment of the relevant instructional practices (relative to a control group), and (b) greater student achievement (Edmondson, 2006):

Teachers became more proficient (in terms of enactment) with recommended methods taught via remote observation / coaching than teachers who received the same instruction delivered via the traditional workshop model. For instance, 60% of teachers in the experimental group exceeded a "routine" level of enactment; none of teachers in the comparison group exceeded "routine" enactment.

• The students of teachers receiving mathematical methods instruction via remote observation / coaching scored significantly higher on a mathematics content test than students of teachers who received the same instruction via the traditional workshop model. The difference between the students' scores was statistically significant and dramatic: t=13.56, p < .0001, d = 1.72. Only 5% of students in the traditional workshop group passed the content test. 72% of the students in the remote observation / coaching group passed the content test.

This research was conducted by thereNow's CEO, R. Shawn Edmondson.

• Click here to download Dr. Edmondson's complete doctoral dissertation (149 pages)
• Click here to download an IRIS Connect research article by Dr. Edmondson from ISPR (12 pages)

Based on these promising results, Spectrum Consulting, LLC, and thereNow, Inc, have now fully developed IRIS Connect with funding from the U.S. Department of Education's 2007 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. After a year and a half of development, IRIS Connect has now been tested for usability and feasibility in a variety of authentic educational settings, for example:

• A professional development provider used IRIS Connect to follow up a workshop on specific instructional practices with coaching (observation and feedback). The coach served teachers at Bridger Elementary, Cedar Ridge Middle School, and Edith Bowen Elementary School in Logan, Utah. The coach was able to see and hear the classroom to an extent enabling her to provide meaningful coaching. Based on interviews, both the coach and the teachers expressed satisfaction with the IRIS Connect coaching experience (Edmondson, 2007a; Edmondson, 2007b; Edmondson, 2008a; Edmondson, 2008b; Edmondson, 2008c).
• Education professionals have reviewed IRIS Connect and judged it to be useful and feasible in a school setting. Demonstrations to researchers and practitioners have resulted in sales of IRIS Connect systems that will be deployed in the U.S. and the U.K.