Who we are

The Institute at Indian Hill is an organizational research unit of Claremont Graduate University's School of Educational Studies. The Institute is committed to integrating responsible scholarship and best practices in serving the continuous improvement of schools and districts through research, coaching, and evaluation.

Since its inception in 1997, the Institute has amassed a wealth of experience in supporting school improvement through coaching and evaluation that encompass all areas of school practice. Coaching practices include the training of Lighthouse Teachers in effecting Bell-to-Bell and Wall-to-Wall improvements in classroom practice. Coaches work one-on-one with selected teachers throughout the year to build capacity and impact practices and outcomes. Evaluations of school programs have included reform efforts such as Smaller Learning Communities (SLC), Comprehensive School Reform Program (CSR), Immediate Intervention Underperforming Schools Program (IIUSP), LEARN, The Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project (LAAMP), and various charter school programs.

In its evaluation practices, the Institute employs an inclusive, collaborative, and formative approach to determine current practice, highlight improvements, and identify next steps for growth. Institute directors communicate closely with clients throughout the evaluation process to ensure that the evaluation design meets clients' needs. Research teams collaborate with school personnel, representing all school community members, to gather accurate, valid, and comprehensive data regarding school practices. Data collection protocols and tools are developed at the Institute in accordance with the specific questions that drive the evaluation. Findings are communicated to the school community to impact the continuous learning and improvement of all members.

Researchers at the Institute at Indian Hill are trained and experienced in a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis and have classroom teaching and/or administrative experience. Institute coaches are all current or former school practitioners covering all levels of the education community: school administrators, district administrators, site-based teacher leaders, district-level teacher specialists. The staff of the Institute at Indian Hill offers both depth and breadth of expertise in school practices, such as school management, professional learning communities, shared leadership, assessments for learning, data use, professional development, instructional strategies (Marzano, etc.), English language development strategies, classroom management, etc. Staff expertise ranges elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels.