A 2004 report on the evaluation of the National Demonstration Project which concludes: "The Institute approach significantly strengthens teachers in all five of the major dimensions of teacher quality." Successful Teachers Institutes have demanding requirements. "But the National Demonstration Project has shown clearly that they can be met, and that everywhere they are met, the quality of teaching in America's schools can be significantly improved."

The Pittsburgh Teachers Institute engaged Cornerstone Evaluation Associates LLC, a client-centered research firm specializing in educational research and program evaluation, to collaborate with all partners--PTI, PPS, Chatham and Carnegie Mellon--to undertake evaluation activities deemed critical to understanding the Institute model and informing future replication. The research and evaluation activities were designed to provide information to serve three purposes--to inform the continuation and expansion of the Yale-New Haven model, to provide information for improving the PTI program, and to offer evidence of program effectiveness in support of fundraising efforts.

The report describes the establishment of four new Teachers Institutes serving urban school systems that enroll students who are mainly from low-income and minority communities. It sets forth the basic principles that had been developed by the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute that became the guiding principle for each of the new Teachers Institutes.

The report describes the establishment and purposes of a National Demonstration Project including the site visits that resulted in a proposal for a 4-year project that would constitute a major step toward the nationwide establishment of Teachers Institutes following the approach developed originally in New Haven.