Differential effects of English language learner training and materials—On Our Way to English (OWE) and Responsive Instruction for Success (RISE)
Study design
The impact of the RISE and OWE interventions is being evaluated through a randomized control trial, with schools randomly assigned to a treatment or control condition. Random assignment at the school level was considered appropriate for this study for three reasons:
- All teachers in a school participate in the RISE professional development program.
- The study spans two years, and assignment at the teacher level could have resulted in students being assigned to teachers who were not part of the study in year 2 and were therefore neither trained nor using the materials.
- Teacher assignment within a school posed a potential threat of contamination, since it was possible for treatment and control teachers to work together.
A total of 53 elementary schools were recruited and randomly assigned to the study treatment and control conditions at a ratio of 2:1. The schools, distributed across 13 districts in three states, represent a diverse sample of rural, suburban, and urban schools—and small and large schools. Teachers and their ELL students in grades 1–5 from each of the schools are the study participants. The sample of 53 schools is projected to provide sufficient statistical power (›.80) to detect an impact of approximately .35 standard deviation on student achievement and .50 standard deviation on teacher outcomes.
Each school has a site coordinator, responsible for on-site monitoring of data collection activities and coordinating site observation logistics. In treatment schools this person becomes a "trained trainer," who receives RISE professional development training from Harcourt Achieve and delivers the training to colleagues. Site coordinators and teachers in treatment schools are expected to complete the RISE training during the first school year. In addition, treatment school teachers are trained in the OWE program during year 1 of the study. During the half-day OWE training teachers receive all necessary OWE materials, which they are expected to use in their classrooms for at least 30 minutes a day. Because the study spans two years, REL Central asks treatment group teachers to become accustomed to using the materials in their classrooms in the first year and to fully implement them in the second year. Teachers in the control group participate in regular professional development activities and teach their students in the same manner as in previous years. Control school teachers will receive the RISE professional development and OWE materials and training at the end of the study.