WWC Quick Review of the Article "The Impact of Two Professional Development Interventions on Early Reading Instruction and Achievement"1
What Professional Development Interventions Were Contrasted?
In two of the research groups, teachers received eight days of reading instruction training based on selected modules from the LETRS curriculum, modified for purposes of the study.
Training was offered in the summer and continued through the school year.
One of the two groups that received the training also received weekly one-on-one support from a specially trained instructional coach.
In the third research group, teachers received the district’s standard professional development program.
What is this study about? This study examined the effect of a professional development program based on Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) on the knowledge and practice of second-grade teachers and the reading achievement of their students.
The authors examined data on 270 teachers and more than 5,000 second graders from 90 elementary schools in four states during the 2005–06 school year.
Study schools were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one in which second-grade teachers received training based on the LETRS curriculum, another where they received the training as well as ongoing instructional coaching, and a third where the teachers received the standard professional development available in their district. Thirty schools were assigned to each research group.
The study measured effects by comparing the outcomes of teachers and students from each of the three groups of schools.
WWC Rating
The research described in this report is consistent with WWC evidence standards
Strengths: The study is a well-implemented randomized controlled trial.
What did the study authors report?
Providing second-grade teachers training based on the LETRS curriculum (with or without the instructional coaches) increased their knowledge of reading instruction techniques and their use of explicit instruction. However, it did not increase the reading test scores of their students.
The authors estimated effect sizes on reading scores that ranged from 0.03 to 0.08. These estimates were not statistically significant.
1Garet, M. S., Cronen, S., Eaton, M., Kurki, A., Ludwig, M., Jones, W., Uekawa, K., Falk, A., Bloom, H., Doolittle, F., Zhu, P., & Sztenjnberg, L. (2008).
The impact of two professional development interventions on early reading instruction and achievement (NCEE 2008-4030). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
WWC quick reviews are based on the evidence published in the report cited and rely on effect sizes and significance levels as reported by study authors. WWC does not confirm study authors’ findings or contact authors for additional information about the study. The WWC rating refers only to the results summarized above and not necessarily to all results presented in the study.
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