Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

In some states, rural students continue to lag significantly behind their non-rural peers in mathematics achievement. A strong correlate of the mathematics achievement gap between rural and non-rural students is the availability for opportunities to learn. Providing supplemental learning activities can help improve the mathematics achievement of rural students by providing students with additional opportunities to learn the content. This study will evaluate the efficacy of a supplemental mat...

The purpose of this study is to develop, revise, and field test an innovative professional development program for implementing formative assessments in middle school mathematics. This three-year development project will use the Assessment Work Sample Method (AWSM) to provide teachers with authentic samples of mathematics formative assessment work and an interactive, hands-on experience to increase their understanding of formative assessment and improve their practice of formative assessmen...

The purpose of this project is to iteratively develop and evaluate a summer science curriculum - Cosmic Chemistry. Partnering with Union Public Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this three-year Goal 2 project work with disadvantaged students who are at risk of low achievement in science and who wish to take chemistry in high school. The program will use the real-world context of space science to set high expectations, build background knowledge, and motivate students, with the ultimate goal of inc...

Poverty increases risk for impoverished vocabulary and poor achievement. Economically advantaged preschoolers in the U.S. typically are exposed to a broader range of vocabulary than are economically disadvantaged preschoolers. A smaller vocabulary limits a child's ability to recognize single words during reading instruction. Moreover, young children who struggle with reading do not increase their vocabularies during independent reading. The purpose of this project is to provide unbiased est...

Most children who are blind or visually impaired receive an education in the mainstream classroom. In science classrooms, students with significant visual impairments often have difficulty accessing the science curriculum. Most teachers have limited experience in incorporating instructional strategies that enable students with visual impairments to “observe” scientific information as presented in textual form or during a hands-on experiment. The researchers propose a professional develop...

Research suggests that building strong school leadership may help turn the tables on declining student achievement and educator turnover. In this project, the researchers will examine the impact of a widely used leadership professional learning (PL) program-Balanced Leadership for Student Learning (BLfSL)TM-on important student and educator outcomes. The program, which builds education leaders' knowledge, skills, and strategies and provides resources and tools for engaging in highly effectiv...