By Cora Goldston
March 25, 2020
One of our New Year’s resolutions is to make education research, training, and evidence-based resources even more accessible to our partners across the region. With this goal in mind, the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest has updated our website navigation so you can easily find our videos, infographics, Ask A REL responses, and training/coaching resources.
If you are reading this article on our website, just look up at the top of the screen to see our navigation menu (highlighted in red in the image). Alternatively, from our website’s home page, click on any link to see the navigation menu.
Under “Resources” in the navigation menu, you’ll find videos, infographics, and Ask A REL responses. Soon, we’ll also have available materials developed through our training, coaching, and technical support activities. Below are some examples of the resources featured:
Videos
- Healthy students = strong learners: Our documentary showcases efforts to improve the well-being and academic achievement of Ohio students through school-based health care.
- Supporting students with disabilities to become college- and career-ready: Lessons learned: REL Midwest and the Minnesota Department of Education hosted an event on strategies to prepare students with special needs for education or employment after high school. This video summarizes key takeaways for special education directors and other stakeholders.
- Understanding the ESSA tiers of evidence: This video explains the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) evidence definitions and how school and district leaders can use them to choose school improvement interventions.
Infographics
- Lessons learned from an Illinois kindergarten entry assessment: This infographic highlights REL Midwest’s study of the first statewide implementation of a new kindergarten entry assessment and recommendations from teachers and principals for improving administration.
- Unpacking teacher demand and supply in Michigan: This infographic showcases key findings from a REL Midwest study on observed past and projected trends in teacher supply and demand.
- Creating a more evidence-based education system using collaborative research partnerships: This infographic provides an overview of collaborative research partnerships, including how they can be used to address education challenges and how the REL program uses them.
Ask A REL reference desk responses
The REL Midwest Ask A REL reference desk team compiles research on a variety of topics in response to questions submitted from the field, including the following.
- What research is available on the effects of dual enrollment programs on student outcomes?
- What does the research say about the relationship between instructional time and academic outcomes for mathematics and literacy in grades 4–8?
- What research is available on state funding models for e-schools?
Coming soon! Training and coaching resources
Check back in spring 2020 to browse our available training and coaching tools. Here are some highlights.
- Networked improvement community training modules [5.27 MB
]: These modules stem from REL Midwest’s in-depth coaching and consultation to help Iowa stakeholders identify programs and practices that support the use of technology in classroom instruction. - Handout on clinically oriented teacher preparation programs for Michigan [265 KB
]: This handout describes characteristics of successful clinically oriented teacher preparation programs and profiles 10 of these programs throughout the United States, including two in Michigan.
- School board administrator equity training archive: This training raised awareness about opportunity and achievement gaps experienced by Wisconsin’s Black students. The training also identified resources and strategies that school board members and district superintendents can use to improve educational opportunities.
We hope our improved website navigation will make it even easier for state, district, and school leaders to put education research into practice in 2020 and beyond.
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