-
About the RELs
+
-
For more than 50 years, the RELs have collaborated with school districts, state departments of education, and other education stakeholders to help them generate and use evidence and improve student outcomes. Read more
-
- Regions +
- Products
-
Topics
+
- Achievement Gap Career Readiness Charter Schools College Readiness COVID-19 Data Use Discipline Dropout Prevention
- Early Childhood Education English Language Learners Equity Literacy Mathematics Online Courses Postsecondary Education Principals
- Research Tools Rural Schools Social Emotional Learning Special Education Student Characteristics Teacher Effectiveness Teacher Persistence Teacher Recruitment
- Events
- Blog
- Connect with Us +
Home REL Midwest About REL Midwest ENgagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking
ENgagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking
Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest is partnering with school districts in Wisconsin to increase grade 6 students’ confidence, engagement, and achievement in math, especially among groups that are traditionally underserved in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career fields. To achieve this goal, the ENgagement and Achievement Through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership will develop, test, and refine an intervention to support Wisconsin grade 6 teachers in integrating computational thinking and student-focused practices into their district’s grade 6 mathematics curriculum.
Partner organization: Milwaukee Public SchoolsCurrent Projects
REL Midwest will provide grade 6 mathematics teachers with support and coaching to integrate computational thinking and student-focused practices into their mathematics teaching. Teachers will participate in a 2-day summer institute followed by a series of seven coaching sessions throughout the school year. Resources provided to teachers will include 20 videos modeling integration of computational thinking and student-focused practices into mathematics lessons, viewing guides to support teachers in interpreting the videos, lesson planning templates, and observational rubrics for reflection and to guide instructional practice.
REL Midwest is developing a measure of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for computational thinking in middle school mathematics. During an initial pilot, partnering districts administered the measure to a small sample of teachers during the 2023/2024 school year. REL Midwest will conduct additional validation analyses to determine the measure’s reliability and validity with a larger sample of teachers in the fall of 2024.
REL Midwest is testing the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of the ENACT professional development, which is designed to support teachers with integrating computational thinking and student-focused practices into grade 6 mathematics instruction. The team is analyzing data from teacher surveys and interviews to identify opportunities to refine the ENACT intervention to ensure it can be implemented with fidelity. REL Midwest is also conducting quasi-experimental analyses with administrative data to examine the impact of the ENACT intervention on student mathematics grades and test scores.
REL Midwest is conducting an efficacy study of ENACT’s training and instructional coaching. This teacher-level randomized controlled trial study will provide rigorous evidence of ENACT’s impact on teachers’ knowledge of how to integrate computational thinking practices in their math classrooms as well as on students’ math achievement and students’ self-efficacy and engagement in math. In addition, this study will investigate the factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation of ENACT.
No past projects at this time.
Event Type: Training Material | Event Date:
November 15, 2024
Time: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Central Time
Location: Marquette University
Description: REL Midwest will lead a training on applying computational thinking and student-focused practices in 6th grade mathematics instruction for Milwaukee Public School's 6th...
Product Type: Video | Publication Date:
October 2024
REL Midwest’s ENgagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership supports sixth-grade math teachers with coaching and strategies to integrate computational thinking and student-focused practices into their teaching. In this...
Product Type: Blog | Publication Date:
October 17, 2024
Hear from REL Midwest partners at Milwaukee Public Schools about how the ENgagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership is helping to drive success for students and teachers.
Event Type: In-person Event | Event Date:
September 26, 2024
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. CT
Location: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting & Exposition 2024, Chicago, IL
Description: The Engagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership is supporting...
Event Type: Training Material | Event Date:
August 22, 2024
Time: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. CT
Location: Marquette University
Description: REL Midwest led this training on applying computational thinking and student-focused practices in 6th grade mathematics instruction for Milwaukee Public School's 6th grade math educators...
Product Type: Resource | Publication Date:
May 2024
The Engagement and Achievement Through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership is working with teachers and schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to increase grade 6 students’ confidence, engagement, and achievement in mathematics, especially...
Event Type: In-person Event | Event Date:
December 07, 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Location: National Academy of Sciences, PreK-12 STEM Education Innovations, Committee Meeting 2, Washington, DC
Description: REL Midwest will present on its STEM-focused partnerships in Illinois and Wisconsin to the National Academies...
Product Type: Blog | Publication Date:
September 22, 2023
At a recent REL Midwest ENACT Summer Institute, a group of sixth-grade math teachers from Milwaukee Public Schools shared the advice they would give their middle school teachers. The exercise was part of a training focused on using computational thinking...
Event Type: Training Material | Event Date:
July 26, 2023 - July 28, 2023
Time: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. CT
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Description: During the first day of the ENact Summer Institute, teachers received training to increase their knowledge of computational thinking (CT) and student-focused practices and how these practices...
Product Type: Video | Publication Date:
July 2023
Middle school is a critical time to capture students’ interest in math. This video from the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest’s ENgagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership details evidence-based computational...
Product Type: Blog | Publication Date:
March 28, 2023
Computational thinking skills and student-focused instructional practices are two powerful strategies for supporting middle school students’ engagement and confidence in math. This blog post and a related infographic describe how REL Midwest’s ENgagement...
Product Type: Blog | Publication Date:
February 08, 2023
With the start of 2023, we begin the second year of REL Midwest’s current five-year cycle of work.
Product Type: Infographic | Publication Date:
February 2023
Middle school is a critical time to capture students’ interest in math. This infographic from the ENgagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership details how middle school math teachers can boost students’ engagement and...
Product Type: Resource | Publication Date:
January 2023
The Engagement and Achievement Through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership is working with school districts in Wisconsin to increase grade 6 students’ confidence, engagement, and achievement in mathematics, especially among groups traditionally...
Product Type: Blog | Publication Date:
September 06, 2022
In late July, a small group of grade 6 math teachers and math coaches from Milwaukee Public Schools came together with REL Midwest to implement the first phase of activities under the ENgagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership...
Product Type: Resource | Publication Date:
June 2022
REL Midwest works with educators in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to support the use of evidence and data to improve student outcomes. In particular, REL Midwest seeks to address priorities related to the needs and...
Product Type: Blog | Publication Date:
May 05, 2022
In Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), which educates the largest number of Black students in Wisconsin, district leaders are working to build teachers’ capacity...
REL Midwest Logic Model (283 KB)
