REL Governing Board Quarterly eLetter

Hello REL Governing Board Members!

I hope that you are enjoying the waning days of summer. With the start of the next school year fast approaching (already upon us for some), I wanted to share a few resources that might be useful as you welcome students, educators, and families back to the classroom. Feel free to reach out if you have questions!

(Also, as a reminder: you may receive an invitation to participate in user experience testing for IES' redesigned website. If you do, please consider taking time to respond to the invitation and sharing your wisdom.)

Warmest regards,

Matt Soldner
Commissioner, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
Institute of Education Sciences
U.S. Department of Education

Back to School Resources for School and District Leaders

Considering the potential power of family engagement through home visiting.
In the prior REL cycle, REL Mid-Atlantic partnered with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to build evidence about the importance of family engagement and the role of the District's home visiting program in improving the behavioral and academic outcomes of students. The study found that home visiting reduced rates of discipline referrals and had small but positive impacts on absenteeism and the math achievement of 4th and 5th graders. Learn more about the REL Mid-Atlantic study.

Exploring strategies for combatting chronic absenteeism.
Even before the pandemic, many experts argued that rates of chronic absenteeism (missing 10 percent or more of school days) were alarmingly high, limiting students' access to resources and experiences that can promote learning and development. RELs have worked with partners to improve attendance outcomes for more than a decade, including work in New Jersey focusing on the state's youngest learners, work with rural communities in California's Central Valley, and a new collaboration with the Washoe County (NV) School District to strengthen their use of multi-tiered systems of support.

• Considering the use of parent text messages to reduce chronic absenteeism? An IES study has shown it can reduce chronic absenteeism by up to seven (7) percentage points. See how it was done here.

Involving caregivers in supporting the development of foundational skills.
The Practice Guides from IES's What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) offer actionable recommendations to classroom educators about how to implement evidence-based practice. One of the most downloaded guides from the WWC focuses on Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade.

• Additionally, in partnership with educators in Georgia, REL Southeast has developed four grade-specific teacher's guides to Supporting Family Involvement in Foundational Reading Skills. Check out REL guides for Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, and Third Grade teachers.

Using proven approaches to accelerating learning for students struggling with academics.
Perhaps more than any other single intervention, tutoring--when well-designed and well-implemented--has been shown to improve the math and literacy outcomes of students. Most research has suggested schools: (1) use trained educators as tutors; (2) maintain a low tutor-to-student ratio; (3) tutor during the school day, on topics aligned to classroom instruction; and (4) tutor for at least 30 minutes a day at least three times a week.

• In partnership with local and national stakeholders, REL West presented a three-part webinar series on using high-quality tutoring to accelerate learning, including Webinar 1: High Quality Tutoring: Research Evidence and Best Practices, Webinar 2: High Quality Tutoring: Implementing and Improving Your Program, and Webinar 3: A Deeper Dive Into Literacy and Mathematics.

Recruiting and retaining effective educators.
Every district and building leader hopes to find, and then keep, the best possible educators for their students. RELs across the program have worked with state and district partners to support their efforts to recruit and retain effective teachers. Check out these resources:

• If you're interested in bolstering the teacher pipeline through Grow Your Own programs, consider this webinar series from REL Southwest, highlighting work in both Texas and Tennessee.
• As part of their work in Palau, REL Pacific created a handy infographic summarizing Effective Approaches and Strategies for Educator Retention.
• Finally, a brief documentary from REL Midwest highlights how districts and schools can create supportive working environments for teachers by improving teacher working conditions.  

IES in the News

IES Director Mark Schneider on AI Technologies and Global Trends
In an interview with Higher Education Digest, IES Director Mark Schneider discusses global education trends such as AI and remote online instruction. He also speaks about the shift away from diplomas and formal education towards a focus on skills. Read the interview: From Education Data to AI: Exploring Innovations in Education Research.

NCER Commissioner Liz Albro on Supporting English Learners
NCER Commissioner Liz Albro spoke with K-12 Dive News about new efforts to support the success of middle and high school English learners in critical core content classes like math and language arts. Read the article: How can middle and high schools improve support for English learners?

REL Spotlight

In the first of a four-part blog series, REL Program Branch Chief Chris Boccanfuso writes about how RELs have leveraged their distinct capacity for innovation, rigorous research, and authentic partnership to deliver locally focused and evidence-based support to the regions, states, and communities they serve. The blog highlights the work of the following RELs:

• REL Appalachia, engaging families for math success in Kentucky and West Virginia.

• REL Midwest, inspiring Milwaukee students to be lifelong STEM learners.

• REL Southeast, improving literacy in Mississippi.

• REL Southwest, improving literacy instruction for English learner students in New Mexico.

Let's Connect!

Well, that's a wrap on this installment of the REL newsletter! I hope you find these resources useful ahead of the new school year.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, I can be reached at matthew.soldner@ed.gov. For even more IES content, sign up for our NewsFlash to get periodic updates about the RELs and other IES programs.