Education Development Center, Inc.

The goal of this study is to examine the impact of a multi-sensory reading program, Structured Methods in Language Education (SMiLE), on students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD) who are not yet readers or are beginning readers. SMiLE is designed to provide students with SCD who struggle when beginning to read with the skills they need to access text and become more independent readers. District 75 within the New York City Department of Education is responsible for educating stu...

Teachers often are not adequately prepared to implement standards-based mathematics instruction with the heterogeneous groups of students that are being served in general education classrooms, including students with disabilities and students with different capabilities and needs. A small number of professional development (PD) interventions integrate instruction about how to differentiate instruction with learning about mathematics content; however, rigorous evaluation on larger scale impl...

Teaching children how to think scientifically in the preschool years has the potential to address an existing achievement gap in early science and provide all children with the skills necessary to continue learning and thinking critically throughout the school years. Unfortunately, early childhood teachers typically lack content and pedagogical knowledge in science, and are not prepared to provide developmentally appropriate experiences that support children's early science learning and read...

Many teachers require additional professional development and support to provide high quality instruction in algebra. To meet this need, researchers will develop a comprehensive and integrated program of coaching, professional development, and assessment intended to help teachers build the mathematical understanding and practices needed to model and scaffold mathematical thinking. A set of materials intended to support mathematics coaches will also be developed. This program is called Learni...

Many English learners in middle and high schools are taught mathematics by teachers who are not prepared and often reluctant to integrate language supports into teaching and learning mathematics. This project will develop and study the utility of integrating mathematics coaching and professional development for middle-grade teachers whose classrooms include English language learners (ELLs). Researchers will base their development of coaching and professional development (PD) materials on em...

The ability to write effectively is critical for success in school, college and the workplace. Yet, results of the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress to assess writing (NAEP 2007) indicate that only about one-quarter of 4th and 12th grade students are proficient writers. More research is needed to determine the type of instruction that is needed to support strong writing skills. This efficacy project will address the gap in our understanding of effective writing instr...