REL Midwest will provide coaching to staff in the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) at the Illinois State Board of Education through structured opportunities for thought partnership. REL Midwest will provide subject-area expertise related to departmental needs and support ORE in developing quality assurance practices.

REL Midwest will develop the Teaching Fractions Toolkit to support teachers to enact evidence-based practices summarized in the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide, Developing Effective Fractions Instruction for Kindergarten Through 8th Grade. Drawing on the recommendations and implementation steps outlined in the practice guide, the toolkit will address both teacher understanding of fraction computation, rates, and ratios as well as implications for classroom practice related to fractions content for grade 6 teachers. The Teaching Fractions Toolkit will include teacher supports for grade 6 teachers—six professional development modules as well as tools to monitor instruction—and supports to develop the knowledge of leaders who support these teachers, including informational videos, infographics, and checklists for monitoring conditions for successful use of the toolkit.

REL Midwest will conduct an efficacy evaluation to rigorously test the efficacy of the Teaching Fractions Toolkit in improving teacher self-efficacy and practices for fraction computation and rate and ratio instruction as well as student learning outcomes in grade 6 mathematics. The evaluation will use a blocked randomized controlled trial (RCT) design in which schools within each district or within each block of similar schools will be randomly assigned to receive the toolkit. The evaluation will be conducted in 40 Illinois schools during the 2024/25 school year.