The Neuroeducation Confidence Diagnostic (NECD) measures each teacher’s knowledge of the science of teaching and learning’s major principles. It is not a measure of how good a teacher is—but increasing your knowledge of how the brain learns best can make every teacher better. As of September 2024, more than 12,000 educators have taken the NECD.
So, what do the teachers in my school or district know about the science of teaching and learning?
Every teacher who takes the NECD receives a free summary report in an hour, and designated leaders can contact the CTTL to get a free overview of all their teachers.
In addition, the free NECD Check-in Survey can give teachers and leaders snapshots of the progress being made as they work on their research-informed professional development journey. This can be taken multiple times, as we know from research that the most impactful professional development happens over an extended period.
What have NECD results shown so far?
The NECD consistently yields similar preliminary results for all schools, irrespective of type, age, and geographic location. This is because few teachers have an accurate foundational understanding of how the brain learns best—they have never learned the research and strategies that have the highest impact. It is not a prerequisite for being a teacher or school leader. It is rarely taught in schools of education. It is not a common part of how teachers and schools approach professional growth.
What are NECD scores like after teachers have worked with the CTTL?
Each NECD survey a teacher, school, or district takes serves as a formative assessment—the results help tailor the professional development that needs to be done to meet the areas of challenge and opportunity suggested by the results.
Results so far show that this targeted research-informed professional development increases NECD scores and collective teacher efficacy and leads teachers to use high-quality teaching strategies. In addition, teachers report a positive impact on students’ mindset, behaviors, and the work they produce.
NECD scores before working with the CTTL…
…and after working with the CTTL
How did the NECD come into being?
The NECD tool was informed by the CTTL’s work with individual faculty from the Johns Hopkins Science of Learning Institute and is based on questions from other validated survey tools on teacher efficacy and neuromyths. It was first tested at the CTTL’s Science of Teaching and School Leadership Academy.
Why is the NECD so short?
The initial NECD survey takes 8-10 minutes to complete on a digital device of one’s choosing. It is short on purpose so that schools can fit it into their busy professional development schedules. The more in-depth NECD Check-in Survey takes 20-30 minutes.
Any hints for how to take the NECD survey?
Better collective results emerge when a school’s teachers and administrators complete the survey in person. Individuals receive a customized report of their current results within an hour of finishing. Once a school or district has communicated to the CTTL team that it has completed its data collection, an aggregated report is provided to it.
For additional questions about the NECD, email the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning or go to http://thecttl.org/necd