archived information
Ask A REL
Ask A REL is a collaborative reference desk service provided by the ten Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) and functions much in the same way as a technical reference library. It provides references, referrals, and brief responses in the form of citations on research based education questions.
We provide the following types of referrals as part of the Ask A REL service:
- Referrals to research projects sponsored by IES
- References for or electronic copies of IES publications or reports
- References or bibliographies of existing education research
- Referrals to websites or federally funded education organizations
- Regionally specific educational information
Archived Ask A REL Responses Sorted by Topic
American Indian
Beating the Odds
- How does parental involvement influence elementary student achievement? (Apr 2017)
- What are effective, research-based family engagement strategies? (Nov 2018)
- What are best practices for reducing out of school suspension? (Jun 2019)
- What impact does suspension have on student outcomes? (Sep 2019)
- What is the impact of a four-day school week on student achievement? (Sep 2019)
- How does social-emotional learning impact academic achievement? (Mar 2020)
- How does having a school library staffed by a certified librarian impact student achievement? (Mar 2020)
- What are effective methods to help students who are struggling with learning loss to assist them in catching up to grade level content? (Jan 2021)
- What are effective methods for supporting English learners, students who are economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, and/or students of color with learning loss? (Jan 2021)
- What is the effectiveness of summer school or an extended school year in improving math, reading, or social and emotional knowledge or skills? (Mar 2021)
- What educational activities or practices have been found to be effective in increasing students’ math, reading, or social and emotional knowledge or skills during summer school or extended school years? (Mar 2021)
College and Career Readiness
- What is the effect of teaching a growth mindset on K–12 students? (Mar 2017)
- What does research say about inquiry learning in a K–12 educational setting? (Jun 2017)
- What does the research say about improving self-regulation skills in K–12 students? (Aug 2017)
- What does the research say about competency-based learning? (Sep 2017)
- What does the research say about personalized learning? (Sep 2017)
- What does the research say about project-based learning? (Sep 2017)
- What practices support increasing college or vocational school enrollment and graduation? (Jan 2021)
- What nonacademic or social-emotional learning indicators have been linked to workplace success? (Feb 2021)
Data Use
- What does the research say about data-driven instruction? (Jan 2016)
- How effective is data-based instruction for students with disabilities? What factors contribute to it being effective? (Dec 2019)
- What characteristics of cross-sector STEM partnerships (such, as STEM ecosystems, collaborative networks, or research practitioner partnerships) are associated with increased STEM learning? (Jun 2021)
Discipline
Early Childhood
- What is the impact of home visitation in the early grades? (Mar 2019)
- What research is there on early identification and interventions for students with disabilities? (Nov 2019)
- What are the indicators for academic risk and/or school failure for children younger than 5 years old? (Dec 2019)
- How do ratings on the CLASS and teacher certifications relate to the quality of early childhood programs? (Jul 2020)
- What essential foundational literacy skills have been shown to support successful reading in third grade? (Feb 2021)
Early Warning Systems
Educator Effectiveness
English Learners
Literacy
- What is the effect of classroom seating arrangement on K–12 student motivation and engagement? (Feb 2016)
- What is the impact of classroom physical activity breaks on K–12 academic achievement? (Jan 2017)
- Do read alouds improve K–12 student reading skills and reading engagement? (Apr 2017)
- What is the current research on sustained silent reading? (Jun 2017)
- What does the research say about K–12 student choice of literature? (Jul 2017)
- How does student engagement relate to student learning? (Jun 2018)
- What is the impact of homework on student achievement? (Aug 2018)
- What research is there on early identification and interventions for students with disabilities? (Nov 2019)
- How does social-emotional learning impact academic achievement? (Mar 2020)
- What is the relationship between decoding/reading fluency and reading comprehension, particularly in the early grades? (Jul 2020)
- What influences the development of English proficiency and academic achievement in English learning (EL) students in elementary schools? (Jul 2020)
- To what extent are comprehensive grammar, usage, and mechanics necessary components of a developmentally appropriate progression of reading skills? (Dec 2020)
- What essential foundational literacy skills have been shown to support successful reading in third grade? (Feb 2021)
Math
- What is the impact of classroom physical activity breaks on K–12 academic achievement? (Jan 2017)
- What is the impact of homework on student achievement? (Aug 2018)
- What research is there on early identification and interventions for students with disabilities? (Nov 2019)
- How does social-emotional learning impact academic achievement? (Mar 2020)
- What is the relationship between high school math course sequencing and future academic success? (Dec 2020)
- What are the benefits of mathematical instruction that teaches students to approach and solve problems using multiple methods? How does this educational approach benefit student learning as opposed to exclusively teaching the standard algorithm? (Dec 2020)
Research Tools
Rural
- What research is available to inform teacher preparation programs in preparing teachers for rural settings? (Apr 2019)
- What factors influence teacher recruitment and retention in rural school districts? How do rural–urban differences impact teachers who leave rural schools for larger school districts? (Dec 2020)
Teacher Preparation
- What competencies and strategies have a positive impact on culturally responsive pedagogy? (Dec 2018)
- What teacher candidate professional dispositions positively correlate with effective teaching? (Jun 2019)
- How does receiving a master’s degree in the content elementary and secondary teachers are teaching impact student achievement? (Aug 2019)
- What are effective field experiences for teacher candidates? (Aug 2019)
- What makes a teacher preparation program effective? (Aug 2019)
Teacher Workforce
- What impact do working conditions have on teacher health and well-being? (Aug 2018)
- What is the impact of new teacher mentor programs? (Sep 2019)
- What are recent trends in educator mobility? (Mar 2020)
- How are observations in teacher evaluation systems associated with improved teaching practices? (Apr 2020)