archived information
Ask A REL Reference Desk
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.
Latest Responses to Questions from the Region
- Educator Burnout and Retention Rates (October 2021)
- Parent-Teacher Conferences (October 2021)
- Attendance and Academic Outcomes (July 2021)
- Attendance Interventions (July 2021)
Responses Sorted by Topic
COVID-19
- Learning Loss in Higher Education (December 2020)
- Employment Disruptions (July 2020)
- Support Strategies for Educators' Well-Being (September 2020)
- Large-Scale Trauma (August 2020)
- Synchronous Learning (July 2020)
- Professional Learning Communities During COVID-19 (June 2020)
- Early Learners Learning Loss (June 2020)
- Infectious Disease (April 2020)
- Learning Loss (April 2020)
- School Employee Health (April 2020)
College and Career Readiness
Curriculum and Instruction
- Technology Curriculum (May 2021)
- Star Assessments (February 2021)
- Universal Design for Learning (December 2020)
- High-Quality Instructional Materials (October 2020)
- Assessment Data (September 2020)
- Synchronous Learning (June 2020)
- Environmental Literacy (November 2019)
- After-school Programs (April 2019)
- Teacher Feedback (March 2019)
- Character Education (April 2019)
- Physical Activity Breaks (May 2019)
- Homework and Student Outcomes (November 2018)
- Grouping for Reading Instruction (December 2018)
- Physical Activity in Elementary Classrooms (September 2017)
Discipline
Early Childhood
- Early Childhood Special Education Programs (March 2021)
- Access to Early Childhood Special Education (March 2021)
- Full-Day Versus Half-Day Preschool (February 2021)
- Early Learners Learning Loss (June 2020)
- Group Size in Early Childhood Classrooms (June 2020)
- Head Start Collaboration (November 2019)
- State-funded Preschool/Prekindergarten (May 2019)
- Executive Functioning Skills (July 2018)
- Play in Kindergarten Classrooms (July 2018)
Educator Effectiveness
- Educator Burnout and Retention Rates (October 2021)
- Paraeducator Training (February 2021)
- Equitable Access to (or Distribution of) Teachers (February 2021)
- Paraeducator Supports (February 2021)
- Feedback Strategies (September 2020)
- Teacher Stress (September 2020)
- Professional Learning Communities During COVID-19 (June 2020)
- Teacher's Educational Level (October 2019)
- Effective Teacher to Student Feedback (October 2019)
- Characteristics of Effective Superintendents (October 2018)
English Learners
Literacy
- Virtual Reading Strategies (April 2021)
- P-5 Writing Instruction (June 2021)
- Literacy Instruction for Alaska Native Students (June 2021)
- Literacy Assessments (December 2020)
- Academic Vocabulary (October 2019)
- Third Grade Retention (October 2019)
- Reading Comprehension (September 2019)
- Grouping for Reading Instruction (December 2018)
- Reducing Summer Reading Loss in Literacy (March 2017)
Math
Online Courses
Rural
School Climate/Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
- Bullying (December 2020)
- Social and Emotional Learning Screening Assessments (December 2020)
- Metal Detectors (January 2021)
- Student Sense of Belonging (July 2020)
- Trauma-informed Practices (September 2020)
- Large-Scale Trauma (August 2020)
- Culturally Responsive Social and Emotional Learning (May 2020)
- Strategies for Building Adult SEL (April 2019)
- Systems Conditions for SEL Implementation (April 2019)
Teacher Workforce
Other
- Parent-Teacher Conferences (October 2021)
- Attendance and Academic Outcomes (July 2021)
- Attendance Interventions (July 2021)
- Recruiting and Retaining BIPOC Superintendents (June 2021)
- Native American STEM Mentors (May 2021)
- American Indian Boarding Schools (April 2021)
- Gun Violence Prevention (May 2021)
- Implementation of Early Warning Systems (June 2021)
- Sharing Evidence of Student Learning (September 2020)
- Student-directed Learning (September 2020)
- Offline Correspondence Schools (July 2020)
- Outdoor Education (May 2020)
- High-Achieving Middle Schools (November 2019)
- Transitions to High School (November 2019)
- Effect of Accountability Policies (November 2019)
- Strength-based Family Engagement (November 2019)
- Tobacco Use Prevention (October 2019)