Combined Years 2 (2012-13) and 3 (2013-14) secondary VISTA student level impact analysis: Secondary science SOL achievements with earlier science SOL covariates - Students nested within teachers [8th Grade].
Konold, T., Maeng, J.L., & Bell, R.L. (2015). Fairfax, VA: VISTA. Retrieved from website: http://vista.gmu.edu/.
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examining2,554Students, grade8
Department-funded evaluation
Review Details
Reviewed: January 2017
- Department-funded evaluation (findings for Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement (VISTA))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with high attrition, but the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Science scaled test |
Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement (VISTA) vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
N/A |
N/A |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Science scaled test |
Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement (VISTA) vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Cohorts 2 and 3;
|
N/A |
N/A |
No |
-- | ||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Virginia
Study Details
Setting
The intervention occurred in Virginia. In the 8th grade sample, 31 teachers were assigned to the intervention and 11 were assigned to the comparison group.
Study sample
The authors did not describe the sample characteristics.
Intervention Group
This study evaluated the effects of the Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement (VISTA) program on 8th and 9th grade students. The authors provided little information on the program in the summary. According to the program's website (vista.gmu.edu), VISTA uses "proven methods to harness the potential of every student through hands-on, problem-based learning (PBL)". Students engage in self-directed learning, work on creative problems through hands-on material, and are prompted to reflect on "the effectiveness of their solutions". In order to accomplish these tasks, teachers assigned to the intervention condition received professional development during the summer. According to the program's website, professional development typically lasts 4 weeks and teachers are taught how to implement problem-based learning techniques.
Comparison Group
The comparison condition was business as usual in non-VISTA schools.
Support for implementation
The VISTA professional development program has several supports for implementation of problem-based learning, explicit science instruction, and inquiry instruction: 1) intense 4-week summer institute with 14 hours of follow-up sessions and attendance at statewide science conference; 2) coaches work with teachers during the summer institute and for 22.5 hours during the academic year; 3) researchers also provide content support and instruction; and 4) the school team structure provides support for implementation of strategies in their classrooms.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).