Impact Evaluation of Training in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for Reading in Early Elementary School
Contract Information
Current Status:
Study refinement is underway.
Duration:
September 2018 – November 2027
Cost:
$36,087,814
Contract Number:
91990018C0046
Contractor(s):
American Institutes for Research
Instructional Research Group
School Readiness Consulting
Contact:
With a third of US students failing to develop foundational reading skills by 4th grade, a renewed focus on this critical learning is needed. Many elementary schools are seeking to move beyond basic good practice and adopt a more strategic approach to improve the quality of reading instruction and how struggling students are identified and provided with extra help. These efforts, often under the umbrella term multi-tiered systems of support for reading (MTSS-R), rely on outside training and technical assistance to strengthen core reading instruction for all students (Tier I) and the systematic and targeted use of supplemental supports for those who need it (Tier II). To expand the rigorous evidence about MTSS-R, this study evaluates the effectiveness of two promising strategies. The strategies differ in the way they help teachers with instruction of the core curriculum and in how closely that curriculum is linked to the supplemental support. They also differ on whether the supplemental support simply pre-teaches the core curriculum or uses an alternative curriculum with lessons tailored to student needs.
- Does the training and technical assistance (TA) affect students' reading skills and achievement, both initially and over time? Does it help students identified as struggling in reading make more significant gains? Do the effects differ across the two strategies?
- Are the effects on reading related to schools' experiences implementing the MTSS-R strategies, including the extent to which they carry out the strategies as intended and their use of key instructional practices?
- In what ways do these strategies affect the identification of special education students? What are their outcomes?
Approximately 150 schools will be randomly assigned to one of the training and TA strategies or to continue with their usual reading instruction and supports. The study's training and TA will be provided for teachers in grades 1 and 2 across three school years, 2021–2022 through 2023–2024. Data collection includes: (1) study-administered assessments of students in grades 1 and 2 to identify struggling students and to estimate effects on their foundational reading skills; (2) student records to estimate longer-term effects on these students' reading achievement, (3) staff surveys and observations of Tier I and II practice to provide information about instructional practice and the extent of staff training and TA; and (4) documentation of program implementation.
The first product for the study, a practitioner-oriented brief to provide implementation lessons learned, is expected in 2023 and will be announced on http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/.
Key findings will be available after the study report is published.