Thought leadership

List of Proposed Interventions for the Systematic Replication RFA

Office of the Director
April 15, 2019
By: Mark Schneider

IES is working on next year's RFAs, which we hope to release later this spring. As you may know, we are initiating a research competition focused on the systematic replication of interventions that IES believes have strong evidence of impact. The purpose and general outline of that competition can be found here.

I want to share with you a list of the NCER- and NCSER-funded studies that we are interested in having systematically replicated. These interventions meet the following criteria:

  • They are in one of the two areas on which we are focused this year – Reading and Math. We recognize the importance of interventions in science, social/behavioral outcomes, college and career readiness, etc. We will consider interventions in other areas in subsequent years.
  • A causal impact study funded by IES has been completed and a paper describing the results of that study has been published.
  • The causal impact study described in the paper has been reviewed by the WWC and meets WWC design standards with or without reservations (using version 2.0 or later of the standards).
    • Note: Some of the reviews of NCSER-funded studies were conducted for internal purposes and are not published on the WWC website.
  • IES believes that there were beneficial and meaningful impacts on student outcomes primarily targeted by the intervention.
  • The intervention is ready to be implemented (for example, it is available publicly or by request).
  • There have been no recent studies supported by IES or other funding sources to test the effectiveness of the intervention at scale.
  • There have not already been multiple replications of the intervention supported by IES.

Since this is a more targeted strategy for supporting replication than IES has used in the past, it is important to give the research community more time to think about how such systematic replication of these interventions could be implemented. There may be face-to-face interventions on this list that could be replicated via other technologies and we welcome such replications, as appropriate.

If we overlooked an intervention that meets these criteria or misidentified an intervention as meeting these criteria, please let me know—and, as always, we are interested in your feedback and thoughts about this effort.

Mark Schneider
Director of IES
Mark.Schneider@ed.gov

(Updated 06/19/2019)

NCER
Intervention NameIES-Funded Causal Impact PaperWWC ReviewOutcomes Positively ImpactedAvailability
Reading
Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI)Vernon-Feagans, L., Bratsch-Hines, M., Varghese, C., Cutrer, E. A., & Garwood, J. D. (2018). Improving struggling readers' early literacy skills through a Tier 2 professional development program for rural classroom teachers: The targeted reading intervention. The Elementary School Journal, 118(4), 525–548.WWC single study reviewAlphabetics; comprehensionDirectly from researcher, Lynne Vernon-Feagans
Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS)Stein, M. L., Berends, M., Fuchs, D., McMaster, K., Sáenz, L., Yen, L., ... & Compton, D. L. (2008). Scaling up an Early Reading Program: Relationships Among Teacher Support, Fidelity of Implementation, and Student Performance Across Different Sites and Years. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(4), 368–388.WWC review for an intervention reportAlphabeticsPALS website
Read Well KindergartenGunn, B., Smolkowski, K., and Vadasy, P. (2010). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Read Well Kindergarten. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4(1), 53–86.WWC review for a practice guideLetter names and sounds; word readingVoyager Sopris Learning
Intelligent Tutoring for Structure Strategy (ITSS)Wijekumar, K. K., Meyer, B. J., & Lei, P. (2012). Large-Scale Randomized Controlled Trial With 4th Graders Using Intelligent Tutoring of the Structure Strategy to Improve Nonfiction Reading Comprehension. Educational Technology Research and Development, 60(6), 987–1013.WWC single study reviewComprehensionDirectly from researcher, Kay Wijekumar
Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI)Kim, J.S., Hemphill, L., Troyer, M., Thomson, J.M., Jones, S.M., LaRusso, M.D., and Donovan, S. (2017). Engaging Struggling Adolescent Readers to Improve Reading Skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 52(3), 357–382.WWC review for a grant competitionAlphabeticsSTARI website
Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text (PACT)Vaughn, S., Swanson, E.A., Roberts, G., Wanzek, J., Stillman-Spisak, S.J., Solis, M., and Simmons, D. (2013). Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge in Middle School. Reading Research Quarterly, 48(1), 77–93.WWC single study reviewComprehension; social studies achievementPACT website

 

NCSER
Intervention NameIES-Funded Causal Impact PaperWWC ReviewOutcomes Positively ImpactedAvailability
Reading
Early Reading InterventionSimmons, D.C., Coyne, M.D., Hagan-Burke, S., Kwok, O., Simmons, L., Johnson, C., Zou, Y., Taylor, A.B., McAlenney, A.L., Ruby, M., and Crevecoeur, Y.C. (2011). Effects of Supplemental Reading Interventions in Authentic Contexts: A Comparison of Kindergarteners' Response. Exceptional Children, 77(2), 207–228.WWC review for a practice guidePhonologyDirectly from researcher, Deborah Simmons
SRA Early Interventions in ReadingAllor, J.H., Mathes, P.G., Roberts, J.K., Cheatham, J.P., and Champlin, T.M. (2010). Comprehensive Reading Instruction for Students With Intellectual Disabilities: Findings From The First Three Years of a Longitudinal Study. Psychology in the Schools, 47(5), 445–466.WWC review for an IES performance measure (not published on the website)Phonological awareness; phonemic decodingMcGraw-Hill
Enhanced Core Reading Instruction (ECRI)Smith, J.L.M., Nelson, N.J., Smolkowski, K., Baker, S.K., Fien, H. and Kosty, D. (2016). Examining the efficacy of a multitiered intervention for at-risk readers in grade 1. Elementary School Journal, 116(4), 549–573. WWC review for an IES performance measure (not published on the website)AlphabeticsECRI website
Math
Moving Up! Mathematics (originally called ROOTS)Clarke, B., Doabler, C., Smolkowski, K., Kurtz Nelson, E., Fien, H., Baker, S.K., and Kosty, D. (2016). Testing the Immediate and Long-Term Efficacy of a Tier 2 Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 9(4), 607–634.WWC review for an IES performance measure (not published on the website)Math achievementMoving Up! Mathematics website
Enhanced Anchored InstructionBottge, B.A., Ma, X., Gassaway, L., Toland, M.D., Butler, M., and Cho, S.J. (2014). Effects of Blended Instructional Models on Math Performance. Exceptional Children, 80(4), 423–437.WWC review for an IES performance measure (not published on the website)Math problem solvingDirectly from researcher, Brian Bottge
Fraction interventionFuchs, L.S., Schumacher, R.F., Long, J., Namkung, J., Hamlett, C.L., Cirino, P.T., ... and Changas, P. (2013). Improving At-Risk Learners' Understanding of Fractions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(3), 683.WWC single study reviewMath achievementDirectly from researcher, Lynn Fuchs
Pre-K Mathematics Tutorial (PKMT)Barnes, M.A., Klein, A., Swank, P., Starkey, P., McCandliss, B., Flynn, K., Zucker, T., Huang, C., Fall, A., and Roberts, G. (2016). Effects of Tutorial Interventions in Mathematics and Attention for Low-Performing Preschool Children. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 9(4), 577–606.WWC review for an IES performance measureMath achievement; social-emotional developmentDirectly from researcher, Marcia Barnes