This practice guide provides four evidence-based recommendations that teachers can use to deliver reading interventions to meet the needs of their students.

This practice guide provides school educators and administrators with four evidence-based recommendations for reducing dropout rates in middle and high schools and improving high school graduation rates. Each recommendation provides specific, actionable strategies; examples of how to implement the recommended practices in schools; advice on how to overcome potential obstacles; and a description of the supporting evidence.

This practice guide presents three evidence-based recommendations for helping students in grades 6–12 develop effective writing skills. Each recommendation includes specific, actionable guidance for educators on implementing practices in their classrooms. The guide also summarizes and rates the evidence supporting each recommendation, describes examples to use in class, and offers the panel’s advice on how to overcome potential implementation obstacles. This guide is geared towards administrators and teachers in all disciplines who want to help improve their students’ writing.

This practice guide provides four recommendations that address what works for English learners during reading and content area instruction. Each recommendation includes extensive examples of activities that can be used to support students as they build the language and literacy skills needed to be successful in school. The recommendations also summarize and rate supporting evidence. This guide is geared toward teachers, administrators, and other educators who want to improve instruction in academic content and literacy for English learners in elementary and middle school.

This practice guide provides five recommendations for improving students’ mathematical problem solving in grades 4 through 8. This guide is geared toward teachers, math coaches, other educators, and curriculum developers who want to improve the mathematical problem solving of students.

This practice guide provides three recommendations for teaching algebra to students in middle school and high school. Each recommendation includes implementation steps and solutions for common roadblocks. The recommendations also summarize and rate supporting evidence. This guide is geared toward teachers, administrators, and other educators who want to improve their students’ algebra knowledge.

This practice guide presents five recommendations intended to help educators improve students’ understanding of fractions. Recommendations include strategies to develop young children’s understanding of early fraction concepts and ideas for helping older children understand the meaning of fractions and the computations involved. The guide also highlights ways to build on students’ existing strategies to solve problems involving ratios, rates, and proportions.

Access to higher education remains a challenge for many students who face academic and informational barriers to college entry.

Out-of-school time programs can enhance academic achievement by helping students learn outside the classroom.

Taking early action may be key to helping students struggling with mathematics.

This guide presents strategies that classroom teachers and specialists can use to increase the reading ability of adolescent students.

Geared toward educators, administrators, and policymakers, this guide provides recommendations that focus on reducing high school dropout rates.

The objective of this guide is to provide teachers with specific recommendations that can be carried out in the classroom without requiring systemic change.

This guide includes a set of concrete actions relating to the use of instructional and study time that are applicable to subjects that demand a great deal of content learning, including social studies, science, and mathematics.

This guide identifies practices that can improve the performance of chronically low-performing schools—a process commonly referred to as creating "turnaround schools."

Good Behavior Game is a classroom management strategy that aims to improve social skills, minimize disruptive behaviors, and create a positive learning environment. Teachers place students into teams and reward them for demonstrating appropriate behaviors and following classroom rules.

Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a classroom management strategy designed to help teachers create a positive learning environment by decreasing disruptive behavior and improving social skills and prosocial behaviors among students.

The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) is a nationwide network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory schools in under-resourced communities throughout the United States. KIPP schools are usually established under state charter school laws and KIPP is America’s largest network of charter schools. KIPP Aims to prepare poor and minority students to succeed in a college preparatory curriculum. It provides training for principals and offers them greater autonomy over budget and hiring decisions. KIPP schools provide about 60% more instructional time than traditional public schools—through a longer school day and additional instructional days on Saturdays and in the summer.

READ 180® is a reading program designed for struggling readers who are reading 2 or more years below grade level. It combines online and direct instruction, student assessment, and teacher professional development. READ 180® is delivered in 90-minute sessions that include whole-group instruction, three small-group rotations, and whole-class wrap-up. Small-group rotations include individualized instruction using an adaptive computer application, small-group instruction, and independent reading. READ 180® is designed for students in elementary through high school.

Teach For America (TFA) is a highly selective route to teacher certification that aims to place non-traditionally trained teachers in high-need public schools. Many TFA teachers hold bachelors’ degrees from selective colleges and universities, in fields outside of education. TFA teachers commit to teach for at least 2 years. TFA teachers receive 5–7 weeks of in-person training over the summer before they begin teaching, then continue to receive professional development and one-on-one coaching from TFA while teaching, in addition to support provided by their schools and districts. As full-time employees of the public schools where they work, TFA teachers receive the same salary and benefits as other first- or second-year teachers in their school or district.

Cognitive Tutor^®, published by Carnegie Learning, is a math curricula that combines textbooks and interactive software.

Reading Apprenticeship® is a professional development program that aims to help teachers improve their students’ literacy skills. The program also aims to improve student social-emotional learning outcomes such as belonging, social awareness, growth mindset, and self-efficacy. Reading Apprenticeship® trains teachers to model reading comprehension strategies and help students practice these strategies in their classrooms.

Dual language programs are long-term instructional programs that provide content and literacy instruction to all students through two languages—English and a partner language—with the goals of promoting academic achievement, bilingualism and biliteracy, and sociocultural competence. Dual language programs can be implemented with students from one language group (in one-way programs) or with students from two language groups (in two-way programs).

The Pathway to Academic Success Project trains teachers to improve the reading and writing abilities of English learners who have an intermediate level of English proficiency by incorporating cognitive strategies into reading and writing instruction. The cognitive strategies include goal setting, tapping prior knowledge, asking questions, making predictions, articulating and revising understanding of text, and evaluating writing.

The eMINTS Comprehensive Program aims to help teachers improve their practice and the outcomes of their students by offering structured professional development, coaching, and support for integrating technology into the classroom. The program’s goals include supporting teachers in using classroom technology to implement high-quality, inquiry-based learning, in which students develop understanding and knowledge of content matter by engaging in meaningful investigations that require reasoning, judgement, and decision making. The intervention can provide support to teachers in any subject area, including math, literacy, and science.

Achieve3000® is a supplemental online literacy program that provides nonfiction reading content to students in grades preK–12 and focuses on building phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills. Achieve3000® is designed to help students advance their nonfiction reading skills by providing differentiated online instruction. Teachers use the program with an entire class but the assignments are tailored to each student’s reading ability level. For example, teachers assign an article and related activities to an entire class; the program then tailors the version of the article to each student by automatically increasing the difficulty of text when a student is ready for more challenging text. Achieve3000® provides lessons that follow a five-step routine: (1) respond to a Before Reading Poll, (2) read an article, (3) answer activity questions, (4) respond to an After Reading Poll, and (5) answer a Thought Question. Progress reports and student usage data, provided by the online tool, enable teachers to track both whole-class and individual student progress. The program is designed for diverse student groups, including general education students, struggling readers in need of intensive tutoring, and English learners.

Odyssey® Math is a web-based program developed by Compass Learning® for mathematics instruction in grades K–8. The online program includes a mathematics curriculum and formative assessments designed to support differentiated and data-driven instruction. Based on assessment results, the program generates an individualized sequence of mathematics topics and skills—a “learning path.” Odyssey® Math is often used as a prescriptive tool, where students can start by taking a diagnostic assessment aligned with local or state standards. Teachers can modify learning paths to match their lesson plans or to align them with district scopes and sequences.

Balanced Leadership® is a professional development program for school principals and other current and aspiring school leaders in schools serving kindergarten through grade 12. School leaders participate in professional development sessions with trained facilitators over one or two years, practice what they learn between sessions, and can receive additional coaching and online support. McREL International, the company that developed the Balanced Leadership® program, based the framework and content of the professional development on research identifying key actions and behaviors of school leaders that are associated with improved student outcomes.

Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is an intervention designed to improve students’ academic skills through a six-step process that teaches students specific academic strategies and self-regulation skills. The practice is especially appropriate for students with learning disabilities. The intervention begins with teacher direction and ends with students independently applying the strategy, such as planning and organizing ideas before writing an essay. More specifically, the six steps involve the teacher providing background knowledge, discussing the strategy with the student, modeling the strategy, helping the student memorize the strategy, supporting the strategy, and then watching as the student independently performs the strategy. A key part of the process is teaching self-regulation skills, such as goal-setting and self-monitoring, which aim to help students apply the strategy without guidance. The steps can be combined, changed, reordered, or repeated, depending on the needs of the student. The SRSD model can be used with students in grades 2 through 12 in individual, small group, or whole classroom settings.

I CAN Learn® is a computer-based math curriculum for students in middle school, high school, and college. It provides math instruction through a series of interactive lessons that students work on individually at their own computers. Students move at their own pace and must demonstrate mastery of each concept before progressing to the next one. Classroom teachers may provide individual, small-group, or whole-class instruction based on students’ performance on the software program.

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is an individualized problem-solving process for addressing student problem behavior. An assessment is conducted to identify the purpose or function of a student's problem behavior. This assessment process involves collecting information about the environmental conditions that precede the problem behavior and the subsequent rewards that reinforce the behavior. The information that is gathered is then used to identify and implement individualized interventions aimed at reducing problem behaviors and increasing positive behaviors. Accordingly, the studies evaluating FBA examine different FBA-based interventions identified for each student. FBA-based interventions can be used to address diverse problem behaviors, such as disruptive and off-task behaviors, noncompliance, and inappropriate social interactions.

UCSMP is a core mathematics curriculum that emphasizes problem solving, real-world applications, and the use of technology. The curriculum is based on a student-centered approach with a focus on active learning that incorporates reading and uses a flexible lesson organization.

University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Algebra, designed to increase students’ skills in algebra, is appropriate for students in grades 7–10, depending on the students’ incoming knowledge. This 1-year course highlights applications, uses statistics and geometry to develop the algebra of linear equations and inequalities, and includes probability concepts in conjunction with algebraic fractions. The curriculum emphasizes graphing, delaying manipulation with rational algebraic expressions until later courses. This curriculum uses the UCSMP textbook.

MyTeachingPartner–Secondary (MTP-S) is a professional development program that aims to increase student learning and development through improved teacher–student interactions. Through the program, middle and high school teachers access a video library featuring examples of high-quality interactions and receive individualized, web-based coaching approximately twice per month during the school year. MTP-S uses the secondary school version of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System®–Secondary (CLASS-S) to define and observe effective teaching practices.

Reading Plus® is a web-based reading intervention that uses technology to provide individualized scaffolded silent reading practice for students in grades 3 and higher. Reading Plus® aims to develop and improve students’ silent reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Reading Plus® is designed to adjust the difficulty of the content and duration of reading activities so that students proceed at a pace that corresponds to their reading skill level. The intervention includes differentiated reading activities, computer-based reading assessments, tools to monitor student progress, ongoing implementation support, and supplemental offline activities.

Fast ForWord® is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. The program, which is designed to be used 30 to 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for 4 to 16 weeks, includes two components.

Accelerated Reader™ is a computerized supplementary reading program that provides guided reading instruction to students in grades K–12. It aims to improve students’ reading skills through reading practice and by providing frequent feedback on students’ progress to teachers. The Accelerated Reader™ program requires students to select and read a book based on their area of interest and reading level. Upon completion of a book, students take a computerized quiz based on the book’s content and vocabulary. Quiz performance allows teachers to monitor student progress and to identify students who may need additional reading assistance.

Reading Apprenticeship® is a professional development program that aims to help teachers improve their students’ literacy skills. The program also aims to improve student social-emotional learning outcomes such as belonging, social awareness, growth mindset, and self-efficacy. Reading Apprenticeship® trains teachers to model reading comprehension strategies and help students practice these strategies in their classrooms.

READ 180® is a reading program designed for struggling readers who are reading 2 or more years below grade level. It combines online and direct instruction, student assessment, and teacher professional development. READ 180® is delivered in 90-minute sessions that include whole-group instruction, three small-group rotations, and whole-class wrap-up. Small-group rotations include individualized instruction using an adaptive computer application, small-group instruction, and independent reading. READ 180® is designed for students in elementary through high school.

Odyssey® Math is a web-based program developed by Compass Learning® for mathematics instruction in grades K–8. The online program includes a mathematics curriculum and formative assessments designed to support differentiated and data-driven instruction. Based on assessment results, the program generates an individualized sequence of mathematics topics and skills—a “learning path.” Odyssey® Math is often used as a prescriptive tool, where students can start by taking a diagnostic assessment aligned with local or state standards. Teachers can modify learning paths to match their lesson plans or to align them with district scopes and sequences.

The I CAN Learn® Pre-Algebra and Algebra computerized curricula are designed to cover mathematics and problem-solving skills for ethnically diverse, inner-city students in grades 6–12. The curricula are designed to equip students with the skills they need to meet district, state, and national math objectives through an interactive software program that teaches pre‑algebra and algebra. The I CAN Learn® Pre-Algebra software program consists of 131 lessons, and the Algebra program consists of 181 lessons.

Accelerated middle schools are self-contained academic programs designed to help middle school students who are behind grade level catch up with their peers. The program aims to ensure students stay in school and graduate by encouraging them to begin high school with other students their age. The programs serve students who are one to two years behind grade level, giving students the opportunity to cover an additional year of curriculum over 1–2 years in the program. Accelerated middle schools can be structured as separate schools or as schools within a traditional middle school.

Twelve Together is a 1-year peer support and mentoring program for middle and early high school students that offers weekly after-school discussion groups led by trained volunteer adult facilitators. Each peer discussion group consists of about 12 participants who are a mix of students at high- and low-risk of academic failure. Group discussions are based on topics of student interest, usually focusing on personal, family, and social issues. The program also offers homework assistance, trips to college campuses, and an annual weekend retreat.

The Expert Mathematician is designed to help middle school students develop the thinking processes for mathematical applications and communication. A 3-year program of instruction, The Expert Mathematician uses a software and print materials package with 196 lessons that teach the Logo programming language. Each lesson ranges from 40–120 minutes. A test of unit concepts is administered at the end of each instructional unit. The curriculum covers general mathematics, pre-algebra, and algebra I.

ALAS (Spanish for “wings”) is an intervention for middle and high school students that is designed to address student, school, family, and community factors that affect dropping out. Each student is assigned a counselor/mentor who monitors attendance, behavior, and academic achievement. The counselor/mentor provides feedback and coordinates interventions and resources to students, families, and teachers. Counselors/mentors also serve as advocates for students and intervene when problems are identified. Students are trained in problem-solving, self-control, and assertiveness skills. Parents are trained in parent-child problem solving, how to participate in school activities, and how to contact teachers and school administrators to address issues.

Facing History and Ourselves aims to promote core character education values and to help middle and high school students develop moral reasoning skills. Students examine historical events; in particular, the events that led to World War II and the Holocaust. Teachers participate in professional development seminars and apply the content and approaches to their own teaching or school program. Facing History and Ourselves also includes optional schoolwide components (such as guest speakers and videos).

Fast ForWord® is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. The program, which is designed to be used 30 to 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for 4 to 16 weeks, includes two components.

Connect with Kids aims to promote prosocial attitudes and positive behavior of elementary (grades 3–5) and secondary (grades 6–12) school students by teaching core character values. Lesson plans include videos, story summaries, discussion questions, student games, and activities for both core and supplemental character traits. The classroom curriculum is reinforced by a website component and schoolwide and community outreach components. The program can be incorporated into an existing curriculum or used as a standalone program. The school or teacher decides on the number of character traits covered in each session, so the program duration may vary from one semester to an entire academic year.

The Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) program is intended to build capacity for implementing inquiry-based science curricula in schools and districts. When participating in LASER, school or district teams attend leadership development institutes to plan the implementation of inquiry-based science curricula. These school or district teams receive support for key aspects of implementation such as professional development for teachers, access to instructional materials, and support for selecting appropriate assessments. LASER also helps schools and districts partner with scientists, science educators, and local business and community leaders who can promote and further support the implementation of inquiry-based science instruction.

University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) is a core mathematics curriculum that includes materials and a routinized instructional approach with an option for teacher training. The curriculum uses an inquiry-based approach with a focus on active learning where students frequently engage in hands-on activities and small-group activities. Pre-Transition Mathematics teaches arithmetic, algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics. Transition Mathematics teaches more advanced arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, and connects these areas to measurement, probability, and statistics.

Literacy Design Collaborative provides professional development, coaching, and resources to support teachers to work collaboratively in their schools to design and use high-quality, standards-aligned literacy instruction materials aimed at building students’ reading, research, and writing skills. Literacy Design Collaborative guides teachers to implement literacy modules they can use to teach students the content and literacy skills needed to complete a culminating writing task. Teachers implement existing modules and design new ones. Teachers across content areas—including English language arts, social studies, and science—can use the Literacy Design Collaborative program.

Passport Reading Journeys is a supplemental literacy curriculum designed to help improve reading comprehension, vocabulary, word study, and writing skills of struggling readers in grades 6–12. Lessons incorporate both teacher-led instruction and technology, including whole-class and small-group instruction, independent reading, video segments, and independent computer-based practice. The curriculum includes a series of two-week, ten-lesson instructional sequences on topics in science, math, fine art, literature, and social studies. Each sequence is themed as an expedition or journey for students.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) establishes standards for accomplished teachers and awards professional certification to teachers who can demonstrate that their teaching practices meet those standards. Educators and experts in child development and related fields established the organization, and these experts work to develop and refine the standards for accomplished teaching based on the knowledge and skills that effective teachers demonstrate. The standards reflect five core propositions: (1) effective teachers are committed to students and their learning, (2) effective teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students, (3) effective teachers manage and monitor student learning, (4) effective teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience, and (5) effective teachers are members of learning communities. Those seeking certification from the NBPTS must complete a computer-based assessment and three portfolio entries. The certification process can take 1 to 5 years.

Achieve3000® is a supplemental online literacy program that provides nonfiction reading content to students in grades preK–12 and focuses on building phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills. Achieve3000® is designed to help students advance their nonfiction reading skills by providing differentiated online instruction. Teachers use the program with an entire class but the assignments are tailored to each student’s reading ability level. For example, teachers assign an article and related activities to an entire class; the program then tailors the version of the article to each student by automatically increasing the difficulty of text when a student is ready for more challenging text. Achieve3000® provides lessons that follow a five-step routine: (1) respond to a Before Reading Poll, (2) read an article, (3) answer activity questions, (4) respond to an After Reading Poll, and (5) answer a Thought Question. Progress reports and student usage data, provided by the online tool, enable teachers to track both whole-class and individual student progress. The program is designed for diverse student groups, including general education students, struggling readers in need of intensive tutoring, and English learners.

Accelerated Math®, published by Renaissance Learning, is a software tool that provides practice problems for students in grades K–12 and provides teachers with reports to monitor student progress. Accelerated Math® creates individualized student assignments, scores the assignments, and generates reports on student progress. The software is typically used with the math curriculum being used in the classroom to add practice for students and help teachers differentiate instruction through the program’s progress-monitoring data.

Accelerated Math®, published by Renaissance Learning, is a software tool that provides practice problems for students in grades K–12 and provides teachers with reports to monitor student progress. Accelerated Math® creates individualized student assignments, scores the assignments, and generates reports on student progress. The software is typically used with the math curriculum being used in the classroom to add practice for students and help teachers differentiate instruction through the program’s progress-monitoring data.

Prentice Hall/Pearson Literature© (2007–15) is an English language arts curriculum designed for students in grades 6–12 that focuses on building reading, vocabulary, literary analysis, and writing skills. It uses passages from fiction and nonfiction texts, poetry, and contemporary digital media. The curriculum is based on a textbook. The publisher also provides online components and other materials that enable teachers to provide personalized assignments, monitor students’ progress, and score writing assignments, enrich instruction, or provide additional practice to supplement the textbook.

I CAN Learn® is a computer-based math curriculum for students in middle school, high school, and college. It provides math instruction through a series of interactive lessons that students work on individually at their own computers. Students move at their own pace and must demonstrate mastery of each concept before progressing to the next one. Classroom teachers may provide individual, small-group, or whole-class instruction based on students’ performance on the software program.

TNTP Teaching Fellows is a highly selective route to teacher certification that aims to prepare people to teach in high-need public schools. The program recruits professionals seeking to change careers and recent college graduates who are not certified teachers. TNTP Teaching Fellows expects its participants to teach for many years, but does not require them to make a minimum time commitment to teaching. Program participants complete online coursework and receive 5–7 weeks of in-person training focused on foundational teaching skills during the summer before they begin teaching. They must demonstrate mastery of these core skills to be eligible to teach. They receive continued professional development and coaching from TNTP Teaching Fellows during their first year of teaching, and additional support provided by their schools and districts. As full-time employees of the public schools in which they work, new TNTP Teaching Fellows teachers receive the same salary and benefits as other beginning teachers in their school district.

Saxon Math is a curriculum for students in grades K–12. The amount of new math content students receive each day is limited and students practice concepts every day. New concepts are developed, reviewed, and practiced cumulatively rather than in discrete chapters or units.

Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) is a math curriculum for students in grades 6–8. It uses interactive problems and everyday situations to explore mathematical ideas, with a goal of fostering a problem-centered, inquiry-based learning environment. At each grade level, the curriculum covers numbers, algebra, geometry/measurement, probability, and statistics.

Accelerated Reader™ is a computerized supplementary reading program that provides guided reading instruction to students in grades K–12. It aims to improve students’ reading skills through reading practice and by providing frequent feedback on students’ progress to teachers. The Accelerated Reader™ program requires students to select and read a book based on their area of interest and reading level. Upon completion of a book, students take a computerized quiz based on the book’s content and vocabulary. Quiz performance allows teachers to monitor student progress and to identify students who may need additional reading assistance.

Saxon Math is a textbook series covering grades K–12 based on incremental development and continual review of mathematical concepts to give students time to learn and practice concepts throughout the year. The program is built on the premise that students learn best when instruction is incremental and explicit, previously learned concepts are continually reviewed, and assessment is frequent and cumulative. At each grade level, math concepts are introduced, reviewed, and practiced over time in order to move students from understanding to fluency.

TAP™ (formerly known as the Teacher Advancement Program) is a comprehensive educator effectiveness program that aims to improve student achievement through supports and incentives that attract, retain, develop, and motivate effective teachers. The program provides teachers with leadership opportunities and associated salary increases; ongoing, school-based professional development; rigorous evaluations; and annual performance bonuses based on a combination of teacher value added to student achievement and observations of their classroom teaching.

Reciprocal teaching is an interactive instructional practice that aims to improve students’ reading comprehension by teaching strategies to obtain meaning from a text. The teacher and students take turns leading a dialogue regarding segments of the text. Students discuss with their teacher how to apply four comprehension strategies—generating questions, summarizing, clarifying, and predicting—to passages of text. During the early stages of reciprocal teaching, the teacher assumes primary responsibility for modeling how to use these strategies. As students become more familiar with the strategies, there is a gradual shift toward student responsibility for talking through the application of the strategies to the text.

Saxon Math is a curriculum for students in grades K–12. The amount of new math content students receive each day is limited and students practice concepts every day. New concepts are developed, reviewed, and practiced cumulatively rather than in discrete chapters or units.

Fast ForWord® is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. The program, which is designed to be used 30 to 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for 4 to 16 weeks, includes two components.

Talent Development Middle Grades Program (TDMG) is a whole school reform approach for large middle schools that face serious problems with student attendance, discipline, and academic achievement. The program includes both structural and curriculum reforms. It calls for schools to reorganize into small ”learning communities” of 200–300 students who attend classes in distinct areas of the school and stay together throughout their time in middle school. In addition to structural changes, schools adopting the program purchase one or more curricula that are intended to be developmentally appropriate and to engage students with culturally relevant content. For students who are behind in reading and math, the program provides additional periods devoted to these subjects that include group activities and computer-based lessons. To improve implementation, each school is assigned a team of “curriculum coaches” trained by the developer to work with school staff on a weekly basis to implement the program. In addition, teachers are offered professional development training, including monthly sessions designed to familiarize them with the program and demonstrate effective instructional approaches.

Chemistry That Applies is an instructional unit designed to help students in grades 8–10 understand the law of conservation of matter. It consists of 24 lessons organized in four clusters. Working in groups, students explore four chemical reactions: burning, rusting, the decomposition of water, and the reaction of baking soda and vinegar. As part of the unit, students conduct experiments in which they cause these reactions to happen, obtain and record data in individual notebooks, analyze the data, and use evidence-based arguments to explain the data. The instructional unit engages the students in a structured sequence of hands-on laboratory investigations interwoven with other forms of instruction.

I CAN Learn® is a computer-based math curriculum for students in middle school, high school, and college. It provides math instruction through a series of interactive lessons that students work on individually at their own computers. Students move at their own pace and must demonstrate mastery of each concept before progressing to the next one. Classroom teachers may provide individual, small-group, or whole-class instruction based on students’ performance on the software program.

Student team reading and writing refers to two cooperative learning programs for secondary students: (1) Student Team Reading and Writing and (2) Student Team Reading. The Student Team Reading and Writing program is an integrated approach to reading and language arts for early adolescents. Student Team Reading comprises the reading part of Student Team Reading and Writing and consists of two principal elements: (1) literature-related activities (including partner reading, treasure hunts, word mastery, story retelling, story-related writing, and quizzes) and (2) direct instruction in reading comprehension strategies (such as identifying main ideas and themes, drawing conclusions, making predictions, and understanding figurative language).

Accelerated Math®, published by Renaissance Learning, is a software tool that provides practice problems for students in grades K–12 and provides teachers with reports to monitor student progress. Accelerated Math® creates individualized student assignments, scores the assignments, and generates reports on student progress. The software is typically used with the math curriculum being used in the classroom to add practice for students and help teachers differentiate instruction through the program’s progress-monitoring data.

Accelerated Math®, published by Renaissance Learning, is a software tool that provides practice problems for students in grades K–12 and provides teachers with reports to monitor student progress. Accelerated Math® creates individualized student assignments, scores the assignments, and generates reports on student progress. The software is typically used with the math curriculum being used in the classroom to add practice for students and help teachers differentiate instruction through the program’s progress-monitoring data.

Reciprocal teaching is an interactive instructional practice that aims to improve students’ reading comprehension by teaching strategies to obtain meaning from a text. The teacher and students take turns leading a dialogue regarding segments of the text. Students discuss with their teacher how to apply four comprehension strategies—generating questions, summarizing, clarifying, and predicting—to passages of text. During the early stages of reciprocal teaching, the teacher assumes primary responsibility for modeling how to use these strategies. As students become more familiar with the strategies, there is a gradual shift toward student responsibility for talking through the application of the strategies to the text.

READ 180® is a reading program designed for struggling readers who are reading 2 or more years below grade level. It combines online and direct instruction, student assessment, and teacher professional development. READ 180® is delivered in 90-minute sessions that include whole-group instruction, three small-group rotations, and whole-class wrap-up. Small-group rotations include individualized instruction using an adaptive computer application, small-group instruction, and independent reading. READ 180® is designed for students in elementary through high school.

Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) is a math curriculum for students in grades 6–8. It uses interactive problems and everyday situations to explore mathematical ideas, with a goal of fostering a problem-centered, inquiry-based learning environment. At each grade level, the curriculum covers numbers, algebra, geometry/measurement, probability, and statistics.

Accelerated Reader™ is a computerized supplementary reading program that provides guided reading instruction to students in grades K–12. It aims to improve students’ reading skills through reading practice and by providing frequent feedback on students’ progress to teachers. The Accelerated Reader™ program requires students to select and read a book based on their area of interest and reading level. Upon completion of a book, students take a computerized quiz based on the book’s content and vocabulary. Quiz performance allows teachers to monitor student progress and to identify students who may need additional reading assistance.

Odyssey® Math is a web-based program developed by Compass Learning® for mathematics instruction in grades K–8. The online program includes a mathematics curriculum and formative assessments designed to support differentiated and data-driven instruction. Based on assessment results, the program generates an individualized sequence of mathematics topics and skills—a “learning path.” Odyssey® Math is often used as a prescriptive tool, where students can start by taking a diagnostic assessment aligned with local or state standards. Teachers can modify learning paths to match their lesson plans or to align them with district scopes and sequences.

Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) is a summer employment, academic remediation, and life skills program intended to reduce school dropout rates by addressing summer learning loss and preventing teen parenthood. The program serves low-income 14- and 15-year-olds who have tested below grade level in either reading or math. The program is integrated into the federal summer jobs program and is offered as sessions of 6–8 weeks in two consecutive summers. It includes part-time summer work at minimum wage, a daily reading and math curriculum, and “life skills and opportunities” classes that focus on topics such as sexual behavior, drug use, careers, and community involvement.

Talent Development Middle Grades Program (TDMG) is a whole school reform approach for large middle schools that face serious problems with student attendance, discipline, and academic achievement. The program includes both structural and curriculum reforms. It calls for schools to reorganize into small ”learning communities” of 200–300 students who attend classes in distinct areas of the school and stay together throughout their time in middle school. In addition to structural changes, schools adopting the program purchase one or more curricula that are intended to be developmentally appropriate and to engage students with culturally relevant content. For students who are behind in reading and math, the program provides additional periods devoted to these subjects that include group activities and computer-based lessons. To improve implementation, each school is assigned a team of “curriculum coaches” trained by the developer to work with school staff on a weekly basis to implement the program. In addition, teachers are offered professional development training, including monthly sessions designed to familiarize them with the program and demonstrate effective instructional approaches.

Accelerated Math®, published by Renaissance Learning, is a software tool that provides practice problems for students in grades K–12 and provides teachers with reports to monitor student progress. Accelerated Math® creates individualized student assignments, scores the assignments, and generates reports on student progress. The software is typically used with the math curriculum being used in the classroom to add practice for students and help teachers differentiate instruction through the program’s progress-monitoring data.

Transition Mathematics aims to increase applied arithmetic, pre-algebra, and pre-geometry skills in students in grades 7–12 . This 1-year curriculum also addresses general application to different wordings of problems, types of numbers, and contexts for problems and aims to promote mathematical reading skills. The curriculum uses the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) textbook. The sequence of the topics intends to assist the transition from arithmetic to algebra and geometry.

Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence is a schoolwide program for middle school students (grades 6–8). The program is designed to promote good citizenship skills, core character values, social-emotional skills, and discourage the use of drugs, alcohol, and violence. The program includes a classroom curriculum, schoolwide practices to create a positive school climate, parent and family involvement, and community involvement. The curriculum may vary in scope and intensity, lasting from 9 weeks to 3 years. The lessons use cooperative group learning exercises and classroom management techniques to improve classroom climate.

Mission HydroSci (MHS) is a 3D game-based learning environment and curriculum that supports middle school student learning of water systems science and scientific argumentation. MHS is a rigorous, coherent and engaging 6 to 8-day curriculum with all learning activities and social interactions taking place in the virtual world and with teachers observing and supporting students through an online support system enhanced by analytics. MHS was evaluated in comparison to a high- quality alternative intervention developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) using a stratified randomized block experimental design where 'classroom' was the unit of random assignment, stratified by teacher. The comparison curriculum is called Earth's Water Systems (EWS) and is provided online using the Canvas learning management platform. Three measurable outcomes: (1) content knowledge, (2) competency in scientific argumentation, and (3) affect for science and technology were used in the pre- post-comparison of MHS with EWS. The findings of this randomized experiment showed that MHS achieved roughly equivalent water systems learning outcomes and significantly higher development of argumentation competencies when compared to the EWS curriculum. The impacts of both MHS and the EWS curriculum on affect for science and technology were equivalent and slightly negative. A secondary exploratory quasi-experimental design (QED) analysis was conducted that found significant positive effects for MHS in comparison to EWS on water systems understandings and stronger detected effects for students' argumentation.

The recent wave of test-based accountability reforms has negatively impacted the provision of K-12 arts educational experiences. Advocates contend that, in addition to providing intrinsic benefits, the arts can positively influence academic and social development. However, the empirical evidence to support such claims is limited. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 10,548 3rd-8th grade students who were enrolled in 42 schools that were assigned by lottery to receive substantial influxes of arts education experiences provided through school-community partnerships with local arts organizations, cultural institutions, and teaching-artists. We find that these increases in arts educational experiences significantly reduce the proportion of students receiving disciplinary infractions by 3.6 percentage points, improve STAAR writing achievement by 0.13 of a standard deviation, and increase students' compassion for others by 0.08 of a standard deviation. For students in elementary schools, which comprise 86 percent of the sample, we find that these arts educational experiences also significantly improve school engagement, college aspirations, and arts-facilitated empathy. These findings provide strong evidence that arts educational experiences can produce significant positive impacts on student academic and social development. Policymakers should consider these multifaceted educational benefits when assessing the role and value of the arts in K-12 schools.

This study examined the efficacy of a supplemental, multicomponent adolescent reading intervention for middle school students who scored below proficient on a state literacy assessment. Using a within-school experimental design, the authors randomly assigned 483 students in grades 6-8 to a business-as-usual control condition or to the Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI), a supplemental reading program involving instruction to support word-reading skills, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, and peer talk to promote reading engagement and comprehension. The authors assessed behavioral engagement by measuring how much of the STARI curricular activities students completed during an academic school year, and collected intervention teachers' ratings of their students' reading engagement. STARI students outperformed control students on measures of word recognition (Cohen's d = 0.20), efficiency of basic reading comprehension (Cohen's d = 0.21), and morphological awareness (Cohen's d = 0.18). Reading engagement in its behavioral form, as measured by students' participation and involvement in the STARI curriculum, mediated the treatment effects on each of these three posttest outcomes. Intervention teachers' ratings of their students' emotional and cognitive engagement explained unique variance on reading posttests. Findings from this study support the hypothesis that (a) behavioral engagement fosters struggling adolescents' reading growth, and (b) teachers' perceptions of their students' emotional and cognitive engagement further contribute to reading competence.

This report presents the findings from an efficacy trial and process evaluation of the Parent Engagement Programme (PEP). The PEP was a school-level intervention designed to improve pupil outcomes by engaging parents in their children's learning. The programme was developed collaboratively by research teams from the University of Bristol and Harvard University and was delivered between September 2014 and July 2015. The study was conducted by the Centre for Effective Education, Queen's University Belfast between February 2014 and February 2016. The trial involved 15,697 students in Years 7, 9, and 11 from 36 English secondary schools, with schools sending an average of 30 texts to each parent over the period of the trial. The developers of the intervention managed its delivery to ensure optimal implementation. It was a cluster randomised controlled trial with randomisation at the Key Stage level, designed to determine the impact of the intervention on the academic outcomes of students in English, maths, and science, and the impact on absenteeism. A process evaluation used focus groups, telephone surveys, interviews, and an online survey to provide data on implementation and to capture the perceptions and experiences of participating parents, pupils, and teachers. Key conclusions include: (1) Children who had the intervention experienced about one month of additional progress in maths compared to other children. This positive result is unlikely to have occurred by chance; (2) Children who had the intervention had reduced absenteeism compared to other children. This positive result is unlikely to have occurred by chance; (3) Children who had the intervention appeared to experience about one month of additional progress in English compared to other children. However, analysis suggests that this finding might have been affected by bias introduced by missing data, so evaluators cannot reliably draw this conclusion. There is no evidence to suggest that the intervention had an impact on science attainment; (4) Schools embraced the programme and liked its immediacy and low cost. Many respondents felt that the presence of a dedicated coordinator would be valuable to monitor the accuracy and frequency of texts. Schools should consider whether they would be able to provide this additional resource; and (5) The vast majority of parents were accepting of the programme, including the content, frequency, and timing of texts. [Note: The post-reporting appendix was added in June 2017.]

Using data from seven cohorts of language immersion lottery applicants in a large, urban school district, we estimate the causal effects of immersion programs on students' test scores in reading, mathematics, and science, and on English learners' (EL) reclassification. We estimate positive intent-to-treat (ITT) effects on reading performance in fifth and eighth grades, ranging from 13 to 22 percent of a standard deviation, reflecting 7 to 9 months of learning. We find little benefit in terms of mathematics and science performance, but also no detriment. By sixth and seventh grade, lottery winners' probabilities of remaining classified as EL are three to four percentage points lower than those of their counterparts. This effect is stronger for ELs whose native language matches the partner language. [This article was published in: "American Educational Research Journal" v54 n1 suppl p282S-306S Apr 2017 (EJ1155308).]

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of public charter schools whose stated mission is to help underserved students enroll in and graduate from college. Prior studies (see Tuttle et al. 2013) have consistently found that attending a KIPP middle school positively affects student achievement, but few have addressed longer-term outcomes and no rigorous research exists on impacts of KIPP schools at levels other than middle school. In this first high-quality study to rigorously examine the impacts of the network of KIPP public charter schools at all elementary and secondary grade levels, Mathematica found that KIPP schools have positive impacts on student achievement, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels. In addition, the study found positive impacts on student achievement for new entrants to the KIPP network in high school. For students continuing from a KIPP middle school, KIPP high schools' impacts on student achievement are not statistically significant, on average (in comparison to students who did not have the option to attend a KIPP high school and instead attended a mix of other non-KIPP charter, private, and traditional public high schools). Among these continuing students, KIPP high schools have positive impacts on several aspects of college preparation, including more discussions about college, increased likelihood of applying to college, and more advanced coursetaking. This report provides detailed findings and also includes the following appendices: (1) List of KIPP Schools In Network; (2) Detail on Survey Outcomes; (3) Cumulative Middle and High School Results; (4) Detailed Analytic Methods: Elementary School (Lottery-Based Analyses); (5) Detailed Analytic Methods: Middle School (Lottery-Based Analyses); (6) Understanding the Effects of KIPP As It Scales Mathematica Policy Research; (7) Detailed Analytic Methods: Middle School (Matched-Student Analyses); (8) Detailed Analytic Methods: High School (Matched-Student Analyses); (9) Detailed Analytic Methods: High School (Matched-School Analyses); and (10) Detailed Tables For What Works Clearinghouse Review. [For the executive summary, see ED560080; for the focus brief, see ED560043.]

Teach For America (TFA) and the Teaching Fellows programs are an important and growing source of teachers of hard-to-staff subjects in high-poverty schools, but comprehensive evidence of their effectiveness has been limited. This report presents findings from the first large-scale random assignment study of secondary math teachers from these programs. The study separately examined the effectiveness of TFA and Teaching Fellows teachers, comparing secondary math teachers from each program with other secondary math teachers teaching the same math courses in the same schools. The study focused on secondary math because this is a subject in which schools face particular staffing difficulties.The study had two main findings, one for each program studied: (1) TFA teachers were more effective than the teachers with whom they were compared. On average, students assigned to TFA teachers scored 0.07 standard deviations higher on end-of-year math assessments than students assigned to comparison teachers, a statistically significant difference. This impact is equivalent to an additional 2.6 months of school for the average student nationwide; and (2) Teaching Fellows were neither more nor less effective than the teachers with whom they were compared. On average, students of Teaching Fellows and students of comparison teachers had similar scores on end-of-year math assessments. By providing rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of secondary math teachers from TFA and the Teaching Fellows programs, the study can shed light on potential approaches for improving teacher effectiveness in hard-to-staff schools and subjects. The study findings can provide guidance to school principals faced with the choice of hiring teachers who have entered the profession via different routes to certification. The findings can also aid policymakers and funders of teacher preparation programs by providing information on the effectiveness of teachers from various routes to certification that use different methods to identify, attract, train, and support their teachers. Seven appendixes present: (1) Supplementary Technical Information on Study Design and Data Collection; (2) Supplementary Information on Analytic Methods; (3) Supplementary Information on Teach For America and Teaching Fellows Programs; (4) Teach For America and Teaching Fellows Teachers Compared with Comparison Teachers by Entry Route (Alternative or Traditional); (5) Supplementary Information on Teach For America and Teaching Fellows Teachers Compared with Comparison Teachers; (6) Supplementary Analyses of the Impacts of Teach For America and Teaching Fellows Teachers; and (7) Supplementary Findings on Factors Associated with Teacher Effectiveness. (Contains 96 tables, 21 figures, and 30 footnotes.)

One crucial decision that middle schoolers (and their families) make is where they will attend high school. Many districts employ school choice systems designed to allow students to pick a high school that will meet their needs and interests. Yet most students prefer high schools that are close to home, and for youth in low-income neighborhoods, this often means attending a more disadvantaged, lower performing school (Nathanson et al. 2013). Youth who defy these odds and choose a competitive high school instead have much to gain. Cullen et al. (2005), for instance, found that Chicago public middle school students who chose to attend a higher-achieving high school were substantially more likely to graduate. However, even as eighth graders, these students already differed in many ways from their peers who chose a neighborhood school--they had better self-reported grades and higher expectations for the future, felt more prepared for high school, and were more likely to have spoken with their parents about what school to attend. These findings raise the question of how we can prepare more disadvantaged students to take the many steps necessary-throughout the middle school years-to successfully transition to a competitive, high-quality high school that can ultimately launch them toward college and careers. The Washington, DC-based Higher Achievement program is taking on this challenge. Higher Achievement targets rising fifth and sixth graders from "at-risk communities" and serves them throughout the middle school years. Its goal is to strengthen participants' academic skills, attitudes and behaviors, reinforce high aspirations and help students and their families navigate the process of applying to and selecting a high-quality high school. In 2006, the authors began a comprehensive multi-year evaluation of Higher Achievement to test its impact on participants' academic performance, attitudes and behaviors and on their high school enrollment. The evaluation used random assignment-the most rigorous design available to researchers-to assess program impacts. This brief summarizes the study's findings. Findings suggest that the program does appear to expand the options available to its students by making them more likely to apply to and attend private schools and less likely to apply to and attend weaker public magnet and charter schools. This, in turn, may position youth for better outcomes in high school and beyond. [This research was made possible by grants from The Atlantic Philanthropies, Bank of America, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, The Wallace Foundation and the William T. Grant Foundation.]

One way to improve struggling schools' access to effective teachers is to use selective transfer incentives. Such incentives offer bonuses for the highest-performing teachers to move into schools serving the most disadvantaged students. In this report, we provide evidence from a randomized experiment that tested whether such a policy intervention can improve student test scores and other outcomes in low-achieving schools. The intervention, known to participants as the Talent Transfer Initiative (TTI), was implemented in 10 school districts in seven states. The highest-performing teachers in each district--those who ranked in roughly the top 20 percent within their subject and grade span in terms of raising student achievement year after year (an approach known as value added)--were identified. These teachers were offered $20,000, paid in installments over a two-year period, if they transferred into and remained in designated schools that had low average test scores. The main findings from the study include: (1) The transfer incentive successfully attracted high value-added teachers to fill targeted vacancies; (2) The transfer incentive had a positive impact on test scores (math and reading) in targeted elementary classrooms; and (3) The transfer incentive had a positive impact on teacher-retention rates during the payout period; retention of the high-performing teachers who transferred was similar to their counterparts in the fall immediately after the last payout. Seven appendixes are included: (1) Supplemental Materials for Chapters I and II; (2) Value-Added Analysis to Identify Highest-Performing Teachers; (3) Supplemental Materials for Chapter III; (4) Identification of Focal Teachers; (5) Supplemental Materials for Chapter IV; (6) Supplemental Materials for Chapter V; and (7) Supplemental Materials for Chapter VI. (Contains 114 footnotes, 61 figures, and 92 tables.) [For the executive summary, see ED544268.]

This report presents the results of an experiment conducted in Alabama beginning in the 2006/07 school year, to determine the effectiveness of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI), which aims to improve mathematics and science achievement in the state's K-12 schools. This study is the first randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of AMSTI in improving mathematics problem solving and science achievement in upper-elementary and middle schools. AMSTI is an initiative specific to Alabama and was developed and supported through state resources. An important finding is the positive and statistically significant effect of AMSTI on mathematics achievement as measured by the SAT 10 mathematics problem solving assessment administered by the state to students in grades 4-8. After one year in the program, student mathematics scores were higher than those of a control group that did not receive AMSTI by 0.05 standard deviation, equivalent to 2 percentile points. Nine of the 10 sensitivity analyses yielded effect estimates that were statistically significant at the 0.025 level, consistent with the main finding. The estimated effect of AMSTI on science achievement measured after one year was not statistically significant. Based on the SAT 10 science test administered by the state to students in grades 5 and 7, no difference between AMSTI and control schools could be discerned after one year. Changes in classroom instructional strategies, especially an emphasis on more active-learning strategies, are important to the AMSTI theory of action. Therefore, a secondary investigation of classroom practices was conducted, based on data from survey responses from teachers. For both mathematics and science, statistically significant differences were found between AMSTI and control teachers in the average reported time spent using the strategies. The effect of AMSTI on these instructional strategies was 0.47 standard deviation in mathematics and 0.32 standard deviation in science. Two years of AMSTI appeared to have a positive and statistically significant effect on achievement in mathematics problem solving, compared to no AMSTI. Two years of AMSTI appeared to have a positive and statistically significant effect on achievement in science. AMSTI appeared to have a positive and statistically significant effect on reading achievement as measured by the SAT 10 test of reading administered by the state to students in grades 4-8. AMSTI did not appear to have a statistically significant effect on teacher-reported content knowledge in mathematics or science after one year. AMSTI did not appear to have statistically significant differential effects on student achievement in mathematics problem solving or science based on racial/ethnic minority status, enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program, gender, or pretest level. Appended are: (1) Explanation of primary and secondary confirmatory outcome measures; (2) Explanation of exploratory research questions; (3) Selection and random assignment of schools; (4) Statistical power analysis; (5) Data collection procedures and timeline; (6) Description of program implementation data collected but not used in report; (7) Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) teacher survey #3; (8) Data cleaning and data file construction; (9) Attrition through study stages for samples used in the confirmatory analysis; (10) Description of degree rank; (11) Equivalence of Year 1 baseline and analyzed samples for confirmatory student-level and classroom practice outcomes; (12) Internal consistency and validity of active learning measures; (13) Number of students and teachers in schools in analytic samples used to analyze Year 1 confirmatory questions; (14) Attrition through study stages for samples used in Year 1 exploratory analysis; (15) Tests of equivalence for baseline and analytic samples for Year 1 exploratory outcomes; (16) Statistical power analyses for moderator analyses; (17) Derivation and motivation of the Bell-Bradley estimator when measuring estimated two-year effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI); (18) Attrition through study stages for samples contributing to estimation of two-year effects; (19) Examination of equivalence in baseline and analytic samples used in the estimation of two-year effects; (20) Estimation model for two-year effects of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI); (21) Topics and instructional methods used at the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) summer institute; (22) Parameter estimates on probability scale for odds-ratio tests of differences between Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) and control conditions in Year 1 (associated with summer professional development and in-school support outcomes); (23) Descriptive statistics for variables that change to a binary scale used in the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) and control conditions in Year 1; (24) Comparison of assumed parameter values and observed sample statistics for statistical power analysis after one year; (25) Parameter estimates for Stanford Achievement Test Tenth Edition (SAT 10) mathematics problem solving after one year; (26) Parameter estimates for Stanford Achievement Test Tenth Edition (SAT 10) science after one year; (27) Parameter estimates for active learning in mathematics after one year; (28) Parameter estimates for active learning in science after one year; (29) Sensitivity analyses of effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on Stanford Achievement Test Tenth Edition (SAT 10) mathematics problem solving achievement after one year; (30) Sensitivity analyses of effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on Stanford Achievement Test Tenth Edition (SAT 10) science achievement after one year; (31) Sensitivity analyses of effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on active learning instructional strategies in mathematics classrooms after one year; (32) Sensitivity analyses of effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on active learning instructional strategies in science classrooms after one year; (33) Tests for violations of factors associated with assumption of equal first year effects on students in Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) and control schools; (34) Post hoc adjustment to standard error for estimate of two-year effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on mathematics achievement after two years; (35) Parameter estimates for effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) after two years; (36) Parameter estimates for effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on student reading achievement after one year; (37) Parameter estimates for teacher content and student engagement after one year; (38) Estimates of effects for terms involving the indicator of treatment status in the analysis of the moderating effect of the three-level pretest variable; (39) Parameter estimates for the analysis of the moderating effect of racial/ethnic minority status on the impact of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on reading after one year; (40) Parameter estimates for analysis of average effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on reading by racial/ethnic minority students after one year; and (41) Parameter estimates for effect of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) on reading for White students after one year. (Contains 26 figures, 136 tables, 1 box and 130 footnotes.)

This study estimates the effect of one year of Fusion Reading implementation, a multistrategy intervention, builds on the work of the Strategic Instruction Model's Learning Strategies Curriculum and Xtreme Reading by integrating some of the same strategies (e.g., paraphrasing, visual imagery, and self-questioning for information acquisition; mnemonics for information study; and writing and error monitoring for information expression), focusing on reading, and extending the time frame from 1 to 2 years in duration. Specifically, the study addressed the following: (1) What are the intent-to-treat impacts of the Fusion Reading intervention on the reading outcomes and motivation to read of struggling readers after receipt of 1 year of the intervention?; (2) For which students are the interventions most and least effective?; and (3) In what ways are implementation factors associated with impacts (or lack of impacts) on reading and motivation outcomes? The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial to estimate the effect of Fusion Reading on struggling readers in grades 6 through 10. Students in the intervention condition received the Fusion Reading intervention as a supplemental reading intervention in the 2010-11 school year, whereas students in the control condition engaged in nonliteracy, "business-as-usual" activities. After one year of implementation of a two year intervention, the authors learned that when vocabulary, paraphrasing and word study strategies are explicitly taught by following a specific instructional routine supported by motivation strategies (e.g., setting goals and reading text relevant for the age group), word reading outcomes will significantly improve compared to control middle and high school students. Future research is needed to fully understand whether the intended two year intervention will improve struggling adolescent's reading comprehension outcomes. Appended are: (1) References; and (2) Tables and Figures. (Contains 2 figures and 5 tables.)

American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted an evaluation of the effect on struggling readers of implementing the READ 180 reading intervention in five participating schools in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) under a Striving Readers grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The evaluation used an experimental design in order to produce a rigorous estimate of the impact of the READ 180 intervention on measures of reading achievement for struggling students. The evaluation also explored implementation fidelity and the contexts and conditions of implementation that may extend or limit the intervention's effects. To measure program impact on students' academic performance in reading, AIR analyzed student achievement data collected from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) benchmark assessment. AIR also administered a student survey to assess the impact on student engagement and self-efficacy for reading. This report asked the following research questions: (1) Does the READ 180 reading intervention improve students' academic performance in reading?; (2) With what fidelity did the program implement the professional development model and what factors mediated the level of implementation?; and (3) With what fidelity did classroom intervention teachers implement READ 180 and what factors mediated the level of implementation?

Domestic attempts to use financial incentives for teachers to increase student achievement have been ineffective. In this paper, we demonstrate that exploiting the power of loss aversion--teachers are paid in advance and asked to give back the money if their students do not improve sufficiently--increases math test scores between 0.201 (0.076) and 0.398 (0.129) standard deviations. This is equivalent to increasing teacher quality by more than one standard deviation. A second treatment arm, identical to the loss aversion treatment but implemented in the standard fashion, yields smaller and statistically insignificant results. This suggests it is loss aversion, rather than other features of the design or population sampled, that leads to the stark differences between our findings and past research.

This study reports Year 1 findings from a multisite cluster randomized controlled trial of a cognitive strategies approach to teaching text-based analytical writing for mainstreamed Latino English language learners (ELLs) in 9 middle schools and 6 high schools. There were 103 English teachers stratified by school and grade and then randomly assigned to the Pathway Project professional development intervention or control group. The Pathway Project trains teachers to use a pretest on-demand writing assessment to improve text-based analytical writing instruction for mainstreamed Latino ELLs who are able to participate in regular English classes. The intervention draws on well-documented instructional frameworks for teaching mainstreamed ELLs. Such frameworks emphasize the merits of a cognitive strategies approach that supports these learners' English language development. Pathway teachers participated in 46 hrs of training and learned how to apply cognitive strategies by using an on-demand writing assessment to help students understand, interpret, and write analytical essays about literature. Multilevel models revealed significant effects on an on-demand writing assessment (d = 0.35) and the California Standards Test in English language arts (d = 0.07). (Contains 1 figure, 7 tables and 4 footnotes.)

This report presents findings from a randomized control trial designed to inform the decisions of policymakers who are considering using online courses to provide access to Algebra I in grade 8. It focuses on students judged by their schools to be ready to take Algebra I in grade 8 but who attend schools that do not offer the course. The study tested the impact of offering an online Algebra I course on students' algebra achievement at the end of grade 8 and their subsequent likelihood of participating in an advanced mathematics course sequence in high school. The study was designed to respond to both broad public interest in the deployment of online courses for K-12 students and to calls from policymakers to provide students with adequate pathways to advanced coursetaking sequences in mathematics (National Mathematics Advisory Panel 2008). This study is the first of its kind to rigorously evaluate the impact of offering an online version of Algebra I in schools that otherwise do not typically offer the course, even though they have students who are ready to take it. For educators and students facing similar challenges, the results of this study may be particularly informative and promising. Results showed that offering an online course to AR students is an effective way to broaden access to Algebra I in grade 8 and later, to more challenging mathematics course opportunities. The study demonstrates that an online course as implemented is more effective in promoting students' success in mathematics than existing practices in these schools. Appended are: (1) Study Design, Study Samples, and Statistical Precision; (2) Measures; (3) Intervention Features; (4) Estimation Methods and Hypothesis Testing; (5) Sensitivity Analyses; and (6) Missing Data and Multiple Imputation. (Contains 77 tables, 12 figures and 61 footnotes.)

This study examined the effect of linguistic modification on middle school students' ability to show what they know and can do on math assessments. REL West's study on middle school math assessment accommodations found that simplifying the language--or linguistic modification--on standardized math test items made it easier for English Language learners to focus on and grasp math concepts, and thus was a more accurate assessment of their math skills. The results contribute to the body of knowledge informing assessment practices and accommodations appropriate for English language learner students. The study examined students' performance on two sets of math items--both the originally worded items and those that had been modified. Researchers analyzed results from three subgroups of students--English learners (EL), non-English language arts proficient (NEP), and English language arts proficient (EP) students. Key results include: (1) Linguistically modifying the language of mathematics test items did not change the math knowledge being assessed; (2) The effect of linguistic modification on students' math performance varied between the three student subgroups. The results also varied depending on how scores were calculated for each student; and (3) For each of the four scoring approaches analyzed, the effect of linguistic modification was greatest for EL students, followed by NEP and EP students. The report is structured as follows. Following an Executive Summary and a Study Overview, Chapter 2 describes the study design, sample selection and recruitment, item set development processes, and standardized administration procedures. Chapter 3 describes the implementation of the accommodation (linguistic modification), including discussion of considerations and methods for data analysis. Chapter 4 presents findings from data analyses. Chapter 5 summarizes and interprets key findings, describes study challenges, comments on implications of the findings, and offers recommendations for future research. Appendices include: (1) Power analysis for primary research questions; (2) Operational test administration manual; (3) Student Language Background Survey; (4) Guide for developing a linguistically modified assessment; (5) Workgroup training materials; (6) Overview and protocol for cognitive interviews; (7) Item parameter estimates for IRT models; (8) Descriptive statistics from four scoring approaches; (9) ANOVA findings across four scoring approaches; (10) Cross-approach comparisons; (11) Results of the classical item-level analyses; (12) Summary of differential item functioning findings; (13) Exploratory factor analysis results; (14) Operational item set--original; and (15) Operational item set--linguistically modified. (Contains 31 tables, 10 figures, and 45 footnotes.)

The authors present three studies (two randomized controlled experiments and one embedded quasi-experiment) designed to evaluate the impact of replacement units targeting student learning of advanced middle school mathematics. The studies evaluated the SimCalc approach, which integrates an interactive representational technology, paper curriculum, and teacher professional development. Each study addressed both replicability of findings and robustness across Texas settings, with varied teacher characteristics (backgrounds, knowledge, attitudes) and student characteristics (demographics, levels of prior mathematics knowledge). Analyses revealed statistically significant main effects, with student-level effect sizes of 0.63, 0.50, and 0.56. These consistent gains support the conclusion that SimCalc is effective in enabling a wide variety of teachers in a diversity of settings to extend student learning to more advanced mathematics. (Contains 4 tables, 5 figures, and 1 note.)

Connecticut's interdistrict magnet schools offer a model of choice-based desegregation that appears to satisfy current legal constraints. This study presents evidence that interdistrict magnet schools have provided students from Connecticut's central cities access to less racially and economically isolated educational environments and estimates the impact of attending a magnet school on student achievement. To address potential selection biases, the analyses exploit the random assignment that results from lottery-based admissions for a small set of schools, as well as value-added and fixed-effect estimators that rely on pre-magnet school measures of student achievement to obtain effect estimates for a broader set of interdistrict magnet schools. Results indicate that attendance at an interdistrict magnet high school has positive effects on the math and reading achievement of central city students and that interdistrict magnet middle schools have positive effects on reading achievement. (Contains 20 notes, 8 tables, and 1 figure.)

This report summarizes the findings from a national evaluation of mentoring programs funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. The impact evaluation used an experimental design in which students were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Thirty-two purposively selected School Mentoring Programs and 2,573 students took part in the evaluation, which estimated the impact of the programs over one school year on a range of student outcomes. The evaluation also describes the characteristics of the program and the mentors, and provides information about program delivery. The Student Mentoring Program is designed to fund grantees to enable them to provide mentoring to at-risk students in grades 4-8. The ultimate goal of the program is to improve student academic and behavioral outcomes through the guidance and encouragement of a volunteer mentor. Seventeen total impacts in the domains of academic achievement/engagement, interpersonal relationships/personal responsibility, and high-risk/delinquent behavior were measured. The main finding of the Impact Study was that there were no statistically significant impacts of the Student Mentoring Program for the sample as a whole on this array of student outcomes. However, there was some scattered evidence that impacts were heterogeneous across types of students. In particular, impacts on girls were statistically significantly different from impacts on boys for two self-reported scales: Scholastic Efficacy and School Bonding, and Pro-social Behaviors. For boys, the impact on Prosocial Behaviors was negative and statistically significant. For girls, the impact on Scholastic Efficacy and School Bonding was positive and statistically significant. The impact on truancy was negative and statistically significant for students below age 12. There were negative associations between program supervision of mentors and site-level impacts on three of the seventeen individual outcome measures: Pro-social Behaviors, grades in math and social studies, and a positive relationship with the outcome of school-reported delinquency. The report also presented results demonstrating that the Student Mentoring Program represented a fairly low level of intensity in terms of service: although grantees, on average, adhered to the general intents of the legislation and program guidance, they were simultaneously constrained by the limits of the school calendar and the population from which to draw mentors. Thirty-five percent of the control group students reported receiving mentoring either from the program or elsewhere in the community; this finding, coupled with the fact that not all treatment group students met with a mentor, reduced the treatment contrast and may have led to some dilution of the impacts on students compared to expectations. Seven appendices are included; (1) Sampling Design and Methodology; (2) Survey Instruments; (3) Construction of Student Outcome Measures; (4) Impact Analysis Results on Original Student Survey Scales and Measures; (5) Sensitivity Tests; (6) Standard Errors and Confidence Intervals of Main Effects; and (7) Site-Level Predictors and Impacts. (Contains 109 footnotes and 122 exhibits.) ["Impact Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. Final Report" was written with the assistance of Christine Dyous, Michelle Klausner, Nancy McGarry, Rachel Luck and William Rhodes.]

This project entailed a three-year efficacy evaluation of the Computer and Team Assisted Mathematical Acceleration (CATAMA) Lab developed by the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University. The CATAMA Lab was proposed as an immediate and practical approach to addressing the different types of math deficits held by students at urban high-poverty schools. The Lab required only 1 teacher per school reducing staff and professional development requirements. It used multiple instructional techniques (including individualized computer instruction, direct instruction, pair and team learning, and individual instruction) to teach math concepts and skills. By taking the place of an elective it allowed students to continue with their on-grade math class. For a more detailed description of the Lab see Appendix 2. The original goal of the project was to establish the Lab at three urban schools serving high-poverty high-minority middle grade students (grades 5-8). Students underperforming in mathematics (as established by district standardized tests) were to take a trimester course of study in the Lab to increase their knowledge of math concepts and skills taught by a regular math teacher receiving extensive ongoing professional development. Students were to take the Lab as an elective course while continuing with their regular math class. From each school's pool of students eligible to participate, students were to be randomly assigned to take the Lab. An implementation analysis was to measure the teaching of the concepts and skills to be taught in the Lab. To evaluate the impact of the intervention, students' math achievement, as measured by standardized math tests, was to be compared to eligible students not assigned to the Lab. This report discusses the project in three sections: (1) A comparison of the actual project with the planned project; (2) The descriptive results from the project; (a) Description of the sample; (b) Description of implementation of the CATAMA Lab; and (3) The evaluative results from the project.

"G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" is an Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant funded by the Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. "G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" targets high-need middle school students, particularly females and minorities, that tend to be underrepresented in STEM careers. "G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" focuses on providing students with engaging, hands-on, project-based, extended-learning experiences to inspire interest in STEM and improve achievement. The impact evaluation used a quasi-experimental design (QED) to examine the effect of "G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" on academic achievement in science and math. "G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" student enrollment began during the 2016-17 school year and students were followed for three years, through the 2018-19 school year. Academic achievement outcomes for "G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" students were compared to a matched sample of students within the same grade in the same schools who participated in business-as-usual, traditional academic instruction with no extended learning experiences. Academic achievement for comparison students was also tracked over a three-year period. Results showed statistically significant differences between treatment and comparison groups in achievement test scores across both math and science. Overall, treatment students gained seven NCE score points more than the comparison group students did after up to three years in the "G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" program. This is roughly equivalent to one-third of a standard deviation. Significant differences were also noted for student subgroups with non-minority students realizing slightly higher gains in NCE scores than minority students by the end of the program (over all analyses a difference of 2.25 NCE points).

In 2013, the NYC Leadership Academy (NYCLA) developed a leadership intervention--the Targeted Intensive School Support (TISS) program--in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) to support schools that were facing particular challenges. NYCLA asked the RAND Corporation to provide an independent evaluation of the program's implementation and effects, and those findings are detailed in this report. The TISS program consisted of five key components: (1) teaming and collaborative training in aligned preservice preparation programs for a principal and assistant principal (AP); (2) coplacement of a principal and AP into an NYC DOE school; (3) team-based coaching to support the principal and AP; (4) 328 hours of extended coaching over the first three years after placement; and (5) use of a diagnostic process to guide goal setting and coaching according to school needs. Implementation findings suggest that only two of the five key components were implemented with fidelity. A propensity weighting approach was used to compare schools with TISS principals to other schools with new principals trained through residency-based preservice programs who did not participate in TISS. Findings suggest no statistically significant differences between TISS schools and comparison schools on measures of student achievement, school culture, and principal retention. TISS schools underperformed relative to comparison schools on the measure of chronic student absenteeism. [Sponsored by NYC Leadership Academy through a subgrant from the U.S. Department of Education.]

With the launch of the New York City Community Schools Initiative (NYC-CS) in 2014, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) has increased its focus on the implementation of a holistic strategy of education reform to address the social consequences of poverty as a means to improving student outcomes. NYC-CS is a strategy to organize resources in schools and share leadership among stakeholders so that academics, health and wellness, youth development, and family engagement are integrated into the fabric of each school. New York City is implementing this strategy at a scale unmatched nationally. In this study, the authors assessed the impact of the NYC-CS through the 2017-2018 school year. The authors assessed the effects along seven outcome domains and explored the extent to which there is heterogeneity in programmatic impact based on student- and school-level characteristics. The authors leveraged innovative quasi-experimental methodology to determine whether students in the community schools are performing better than they would be had their schools not been designated as Community Schools. The findings of this report will contribute to the emerging evidence base on the efficacy of the community school strategy and will be useful for other school district- and state-level policymakers interested in developing or refining similar interventions that support students' and communities' academic, social, and emotional well-being. [The research described in this report was prepared for the New York City Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity).]

Seventh- and 8th-grade students in a within-teacher randomized control study read from visual-syntactic formatted text for 44 min per week over the course of 1 year. On the annual state assessment, we found small statistically significant improvements on the overall English Language Arts scaled score (ES = 0.05, p < .05) and the writing assessment (ES = 0.07, p < .01) for the treatment group compared to the control group. We found no interactions between gifted, special education, or English learner classification and treatment status on the effect on overall English Language Arts score, but our categorical and subgroup analyses showed that the use of visual-syntactic text formatting provided a modest benefit to middle school students who were near or at grade level in the prior school year.

A growing body of research points to the ways in which principals influence teachers, classrooms, and, ultimately, student achievement. New Leaders aims to prepare transformational school leaders by partnering with districts and charter schools to offer rigorous, research-based training for aspiring principals. The Aspiring Principals program is New Leaders' signature program and has three core features: selective recruitment and admission, training and endorsement, and support for principals early in their tenure. This report is a follow-up to the 2014 evaluation of New Leaders' Aspiring Principals program. Focusing on the revised program, which was first implemented in 2012, the authors present evidence of the effectiveness of the revised Aspiring Principals program and share lessons that can inform principal-preparation policy and practice. To assess the effect of New Leaders' Aspiring Principals program, researchers analyzed whether schools and students led by graduates of the program outperformed comparison schools and students in the same district, focusing on student achievement and principal retention. They also examined program graduate placement and satisfaction with the Aspiring Principals program. [For the appendixes, see ED605724.]

The three-tiered Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework promotes the development of systems and data analysis to guide the selection and implementation of evidence-based practices across multiple tiers. The current study examined the effects of universal (tier 1) or school-wide PBIS (SW-PBIS) in one state's scale-up of this tier of the framework. Annual propensity score weights were generated to examine the longitudinal effects of SW-PBIS from 2006-07 through 2011-12. School-level archival and administrative data outcomes were examined using panel models with an autoregressive structure. The sample included 1,316 elementary, middle, and high schools. Elementary schools trained in SW-PBIS demonstrated statistically significantly lower suspensions during the fourth and fifth study years (i.e., small effect size) and higher reading and math proficiency rates during the first two study years as well as in one and two later years (i.e., small to large effect sizes), respectively. Secondary schools implementing SW-PBIS had statistically significantly lower suspensions and truancy rates during the second study year and higher reading and math proficiency rates during the second and third study years. These findings demonstrate medium effect sizes for all outcomes except suspensions. Given the widespread use of SW-PBIS across nearly 26,000 schools in the U.S., this study has important implications for educational practices and policies. [This paper was published in the "Journal of School Psychology" v73 p41-55 Apr 2019 (ISSN 0022-4405).]

Across the country, school districts, their stakeholders, and policymakers have become increasingly concerned about suspensions, particularly about suspending students from elementary school and disproportionately suspending ethnic/racial minority students. Suspended students are less likely to graduate, possibly because they miss the instructional time they need to advance academically. Restorative practices have gained buy-in in the education community as a strategy to reduce suspension rates. Proactively improving relationships among students and staff and building a sense of community in classrooms and schools may make students less inclined to misbehave. And addressing severe misbehavior through a restorative approach may help students realize the impacts of their actions and make them less likely to offend again. This study of the implementation of restorative practices in the Pittsburgh Public Schools district (PPS) in school years 2015-16 and 2016-17 represents one of the first randomized controlled trials of the effects of restorative practices on classroom and school climates and suspension rates. The authors examined a specific restorative practices program -- the International Institute for Restorative Practices' SaferSanerSchools™ Whole-School Change program -- implemented in a selected group of PPS schools under a program called Pursuing Equitable and Restorative Communities, or PERC. The researchers found that PERC achieved several positive effects, including an improvement in overall school climates (as rated by teachers), a reduction in overall suspension rates, and a reduction in the disparities in suspension rates between African American and white students and between low- and higher-income students. Key Findings: Effects of the Pursuing Equitable and Restorative Communities (PERC) program in Pittsburgh Public Schools: (1) Implementation of restorative practices through PERC improved overall school climates, as rated by teachers; (2) Implementation of restorative practices reduced the average suspension rate: During the study period, average suspension rates decreased in both PERC and non-PERC schools, but rates decreased more in PERC schools; (3) Suspension rates of African American students and of those from low-income families also went down in PERC schools, shrinking the disparities in suspension rates between African American and white students and between low- and higher-income students; (4) Academic outcomes did not improve in PERC schools, and actually worsened for grades 6-8; and (5) Arrest rates among PERC schools did not decrease. Recommendations: (1) Given the constraints on teachers' time, emphasize restorative practices that can be woven into the school day; (2) Ensure that school leaders understand and can model restorative practices, including by providing mandatory professional development, books and other materials, and coaching on restorative practices; (3) Establish a mechanism for school staff to meet at least once per month as a professional learning community on restorative practices; (4) Ensure that leaders at the district level can coordinate this work; (5) Set, and update, clear expectations regarding the use of restorative practices; and (6) Implement data collection systems to collect accurate information on all types of behavioral incidents and remedies.

Although several studies have documented the effects of statewide private school choice programs on student test scores, this report is the first to examine the effects of one of these programs on college enrollment and graduation. Using data from the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship program, we find that low-income Florida students who attended private schools using an FTC scholarship enrolled in and graduated from Florida colleges at a higher rate than their public school counterparts. [Additional support for this study was provided by the Bill and Susan Oberndorf Foundation and Kate and Bill Duhamel.]

Playground Physics is a technology-based application and accompanying curriculum designed by New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) to support middle school students' science engagement and learning of force, energy, and motion. The program includes professional development, the Playground Physics app, and a curriculum aligned with New York State Learning Standards, Common Core State Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards. The iOS app allows students to record and review videos through three "lenses": (1) motion; (2) force (Newton's third law); and (3) energy, and the curriculum integrates informal and formal, inquiry-based learning strategies to promote greater student knowledge and understanding of physics. The program was designed to be implemented in a formal school setting during the regular school day. This report describes the results of an experimental study of the Playground Physics program's impact on learning of physics concepts, student engagement, and science-related attitudes. Sixty New York City middle grade teachers were randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment teachers were asked to participate in Playground Physics professional development and use Playground Physics as part of their physics instruction during the 2015-16 academic year; control teachers were asked to use their regular instruction. In total, 15 teachers left the study. The final sample included student data from 24 treatment teachers and 21 control teachers. The following are appended: (1) Playground Physics Curriculum Activities; (2) Student Outcome Measures; (3) Teacher Survey; (4) Impact Analysis Technical Approach; (5) Output from Statistical Models; (6) Knowledge Assessment Responses and Standards Alignment; (7) 2014-15 Fidelity of Implementation Analysis; and (8) Supplemental Analysis.

Supporting the reading comprehension and content knowledge acquisition of English language learners (ELs) requires instructional practices that continue beyond developing the foundational skills of reading. In particular, the challenges ELs face highlight the importance of teaching reading comprehension practices in the middle grades through content acquisition. We conducted a randomized control trial to examine the efficacy of a content acquisition and reading comprehension intervention implemented in eighth-grade social studies classrooms with English language learners. Using a within-teacher design, in which 18 eighth-grade teachers' social studies classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison conditions. Teachers taught the same instructional content to treatment and comparison classes, but the treatment classes used instructional practices that included comprehension canopy, essential words, knowledge acquisition, and team-based learning. Students in the treatment group (n = 845) outperformed students in the comparison group (n = 784) on measures of content knowledge acquisition and content reading comprehension but not general reading comprehension. Both ELs and non-ELs who received the treatment outperformed those assigned to the BAU comparison condition on measures of content knowledge acquisition (ES = 0.40) and content-related reading comprehension (ES = 0.20). In addition, the proportion of English language learners in classes moderated outcomes for content knowledge acquisition.

This article presents the findings of an evaluation of the eMINTS (enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies) professional development program. eMINTS is an intensive teacher professional development program designed to promote inquiry-based learning, support high-quality lesson design, build community among students and teachers, and create technology-rich learning environments. This evaluation included 60 high-poverty rural schools across Missouri that were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions and a control condition, with approximately 200 teachers and 3,000 students in the 2011-2012 baseline academic year. The researchers conclude that after 3 years, the eMINTS treatment group and an eMINTS treatment group with an additional year of Intel support resulted in changed teacher instructional behaviors and increased student achievement in mathematics.

We study the effectiveness of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in Washington State, which has one of the largest populations of National Board-Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in the nation. Based on value-added models in math and reading, we find that NBPTS-certified teachers are about 0.01-0.05 student standard deviations more effective than non-NBCTS with similar levels of experience. Certification effects vary by subject, grade level, and certification type, with greater effects for middle school math certificates. We find mixed evidence that teachers who pass the assessment are more effective than those who fail, but that the underlying NBPTS assessment score predicts student achievement.

Behavioral trajectories during middle childhood are predictive of consequential outcomes later in life (e.g., substance abuse, violence). Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are designed to promote trajectories that reflect both growth in positive behaviors and inhibited development of negative behaviors. The current study used growth mixture models to examine effects of the "Positive Action" program (PA) on behavioral trajectories of social-emotional and character development (SECD) and misconduct using data from a cluster-randomized trial that involved 14 schools and a sample of predominately low-income, urban youth followed from 3rd through 8th grade. For SECD, findings indicated that PA was similarly effective at improving trajectories within latent classes characterized as "High/declining" and "Low/stable". Favorable program effects were likewise evident to a comparable degree for misconduct across observed latent classes that reflected "Low/rising" and "High/rising" trajectories. These findings suggest that PA and perhaps other school-based universal SEL programs have the potential to yield comparable benefits across subgroups of youth with differing trajectories of positive and negative behaviors, making them promising strategies for achieving the intended goal of school-wide improvements in student outcomes. [This paper was published in "Prevention Science" v18 p214-224 2017.]

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of public charter schools whose stated mission is to help underserved students enroll in and graduate from college. Prior studies (see Tuttle et al. 2013) have consistently found that attending a KIPP middle school positively affects student achievement, but few have addressed longer-term outcomes and no rigorous research exists on impacts of KIPP schools at levels other than middle school. In this first high-quality study to rigorously examine the impacts of the network of KIPP public charter schools at all elementary and secondary grade levels, Mathematica found that KIPP schools have positive impacts on student achievement, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels. In addition, the study found positive impacts on student achievement for new entrants to the KIPP network in high school. For students continuing from a KIPP middle school, KIPP high schools' impacts on student achievement are not statistically significant, on average (in comparison to students who did not have the option to attend a KIPP high school and instead attended a mix of other non-KIPP charter, private, and traditional public high schools). Among these continuing students, KIPP high schools have positive impacts on several aspects of college preparation, including more discussions about college, increased likelihood of applying to college, and more advanced coursetaking. This report provides detailed findings and also includes the following appendices: (1) List of KIPP Schools In Network; (2) Detail on Survey Outcomes; (3) Cumulative Middle and High School Results; (4) Detailed Analytic Methods: Elementary School (Lottery-Based Analyses); (5) Detailed Analytic Methods: Middle School (Lottery-Based Analyses); (6) Understanding the Effects of KIPP As It Scales Mathematica Policy Research; (7) Detailed Analytic Methods: Middle School (Matched-Student Analyses); (8) Detailed Analytic Methods: High School (Matched-Student Analyses); (9) Detailed Analytic Methods: High School (Matched-School Analyses); and (10) Detailed Tables For What Works Clearinghouse Review. [For the executive summary, see ED560080; for the focus brief, see ED560043.]

My Teaching Partner-Secondary (MTP-S) is a web-mediated coaching intervention, which an initial randomized trial, primarily in middle schools, found to improve teacher-student interactions and student achievement. Given the dearth of validated teacher development interventions showing consistent effects, we sought to both replicate and extend these findings with a modified version of the program in a predominantly high school population, and in a more urban, sociodemographically diverse school district. MTP-S produced substantial gains in student achievement across 86 secondary school classrooms involving 1,194 students. Gains were robust across subject areas and equivalent to moving the average student from the 50th to the 59th percentile in achievement scores. Results suggest that MTP-S can enhance student outcomes across diverse settings and implementation modalities.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of Achieve3000, a differentiated online literacy curriculum, on students' scores on the California State Test (CST). In the 2011-12 school year, 1,957 students in Chula Vista began using Achieve3000's solutions in 3rd through 8th grade. Using a form of propensity score matching called Inverse Probability-of-Treatment Weighting (IPTW), the researchers assigned weights for the likelihood that students in the non-user comparison group (N = 7,598) could have been in the Achieve3000 treatment group. A Weighted Least Squares (WLS) regression model with IPTW weights estimated the average treatment effect. The researchers found that, overall, the students assigned to Achieve3000 performed statistically significantly higher on the CST, by 2.4 points, than students who were not using these solutions. This suggests the program is effective in improving student learning over conventional classroom activities in the first year of use, however more data is needed to determine the long term impact of usage. Five appendices contain supplemental tables and figures.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested in the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) as one strategy to support teachers' and students' transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts. This report provides an early look at the implementation of LDC in sixth-grade Advanced Reading classes in a large Florida district, and the effectiveness of the intervention in this setting. The study found that teachers understood LDC and implemented it with fidelity and that curriculum modules were well crafted. Teachers also generally reported positive attitudes about the effectiveness of LDC and its usefulness as a tool for teaching CCSS skills. Although implementation results were highly positive, quasi-experimental analyses employing matched control group and regression discontinuity designs found no evidence of an impact of LDC on student performance on state reading or district writing assessments. Furthermore, students generally performed at basic levels on assessments designed to align with the intervention, suggesting the challenge of meeting CCSS expectations. Exploratory analyses suggest that LDC may have been most effective for higher achieving students. However understandable, the findings thus suggest that, in the absence of additional scaffolding and supports for low-achieving students, LDC may be gap enhancing. Two appendices are included: (1) LDC Instruments and Rubrics; and (2) Summary Report: Developing an Assignment Measure to Assess Quality of LDC Modules (Abby Reisman, Joan Herman, Rebecca Luskin, and Scott Epstein).

New Leaders is a nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure high academic achievement for all students by developing outstanding school leaders to serve in urban schools. Its premise is that a combination of preparation and improved working conditions for principals, especially greater autonomy, would lead to improved student outcomes. Its approach involves both preparing principals and partnering with school districts and charter management organizations (CMOs) to improve the conditions in which its highly trained principals work. As part of the partnerships, New Leaders agrees to provide carefully selected and trained principals who can be placed in schools that need principals and to provide coaching and other support after those principals are placed. The districts and CMOs agree to establish working conditions that support, rather than hinder, the principals' efforts to improve student outcomes. This report describes how the New Leaders program was implemented in partner districts, and it provides evidence of the effect that New Leaders has on student achievement. [The research in this report was produced within RAND Education. For the appendices that accompany this report, see ED561154. For the research brief, "Principal Preparation Matters: How Leadership Development Affects Student Achievement. Research Brief," see ED561155.]

The current teacher workforce is younger, less experienced, more likely to turnover, and more diverse in preparation experiences than the workforce of two decades ago. Research shows that inexperienced teachers are less effective, but we know little about the effectiveness of teachers with different types of preparation. In this study, we classify North Carolina public school teachers into "portals"--fixed and mutually exclusive categories that capture teachers' formal preparation and qualifications upon first entering the profession--and estimate the adjusted average test score gains of students taught by teachers from each portal. Compared with undergraduate-prepared teachers from in-state public universities, (a) out-of-state undergraduate-prepared teachers are less effective in elementary grades and high school, (b) alternative entry teachers are less effective in high school, and (c) Teach For America corps members are more effective in STEM subjects and secondary grades.

Expeditionary Learning (EL) is a growing provider of curriculum and professional development services to teachers and school leaders. The EL model combines an interdisciplinary instructional approach with ongoing training and coaching for teachers and school leaders. The EL curriculum uses an experiential approach in which students conduct research projects to share with outside audiences. Learning expeditions--case-studies of academic topics--often bring together teachers from different subjects to coordinate shared projects; this curriculum includes several elements that are closely aligned with the Common Core standards for English-language arts and literacy. As of the 2010-2011 school year, EL's network included a total of 161 schools in 30 states. This report presents findings from the first rigorous study of the impacts of EL schools. This research aims to use the best available quasi-experimental methods to estimate the impacts of five urban EL middle schools on students' reading and math test scores. Using the study's data on student characteristics, the report also provides additional descriptive information on the types of students who enroll in EL schools. [The report was submitted to Expeditionary Learning.]

This is the final report in a five-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). This report features analyses of student achievement growth four years after the authors carefully assembled longitudinal study panels of MPCP and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) students in 2006-07. The MPCP, which began in 1990, provides government-funded vouchers for low-income children to attend private schools in the City of Milwaukee. The maximum voucher amount in 2010-11 was $6,442, and 20,996 children used a voucher to attend either secular or religious private schools. The MPCP is the oldest and largest urban school voucher program in the United States. This evaluation was authorized by 2005 Wisconsin Act 125, which was enacted in 2006. The primary purpose of the evaluation is twofold: 1) to analyze the effectiveness of the MPCP in promoting growth in student achievement as compared to MPS; and 2) to examine the educational attainment--measured by high school graduation and college enrollment rates--of MPCP and MPS students. The first purpose is accomplished by gauging growth in student achievement--as measured by the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE) in math and reading in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10--over a five-year period for a sample of MPCP students and a carefully matched group of MPS students. The second purpose is accomplished by following the 2006-07 8th and 9th grade MPCP and matched MPS cohorts over a five-year period during which they would have had the opportunity to graduate from high school and enroll in college. Appended are: (1) Descriptive Statistics; (2) Attrition Study; and (3) Stability of the Sample. (Contains 4 figures, 12 tables and 14 footnotes.) [For the "MPCP Longitudinal Educational Growth Study: Fourth Year Report. SCDP Milwaukee Evaluation. Report # 23", see ED518597. Additional support for this report was provided by the Robertson Foundation.]

In 2007, using funds from the federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) and private foundations, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began piloting its version of a schoolwide reform model called the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP). Under the TAP model, teachers can earn extra pay and take on increased responsibilities through promotion (to mentor teacher or master teacher), and they become eligible for annual performance bonuses based on a combination of their contribution to student achievement (known as "value added") and observed performance in the classroom. The model calls for weekly meetings of teachers and mentors ("cluster groups"), and regular classroom observations by a school leadership team to help teachers meet their performance goals. The idea behind TAP is that giving teachers performance incentives, along with tools to track their performance and improve instruction, will help schools attract and retain talented teachers and help all teachers raise student achievement. This report is the last in a series of reports providing evidence on the impacts of CPS' version of TAP, called "Chicago TAP." It presents findings from the four-year implementation period, with special emphasis on the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, the third and fourth years of the program's rollout in Chicago. Earlier reports (Glazerman et al. 2009; Glazerman and Seifullah 2010) provide detailed data on each of the first two years of the program, respectively. CPS implemented Chicago TAP as a pilot program intended for 40 high-need schools. The program began in 10 schools in the first year (cohort 1) with a rollout plan to add 10 more Chicago TAP schools (cohorts 2, 3, and 4) in each year of the TIF grant's four-year implementation period. The authors address three research questions regarding Chicago TAP: (1) How was the program implemented?; (2) What impact did the program have on student achievement?; and (3) What impact did the program have on teacher retention within schools? To assess the first year under Chicago TAP for schools that began the program in fall 2009 (cohort 3), the authors looked at how teacher development and compensation practices in Chicago TAP schools differ from practices normally implemented in CPS schools. The authors found that teachers in Chicago TAP schools reported receiving significantly more mentoring support than teachers in similar non-TAP (control) schools. This finding reflects the fact that under the Chicago TAP model, teachers are guided by mentor teachers, and cluster groups meet weekly. They also found that veteran teachers in Chicago TAP schools were more likely than their control group counterparts to provide mentoring support to their colleagues; this finding is consistent with the fact that under Chicago TAP, teachers have the opportunity to assume leadership roles and responsibilities as Chicago TAP mentor or lead teachers. Teachers in Chicago TAP schools (veteran and novice) were aware of their eligibility for performance-based compensation. The authors found that the amount of compensation they expected approached the amount that was eventually paid out; that is, the average expectation was about $900, and the actual amount paid out in bonuses to this group was an average of about $1,100 per teacher. They generally did not find evidence of an impact of Chicago TAP on teacher attitudes or school climate. While the introduction of Chicago TAP led to real changes inside the schools, the program did not consistently raise student achievement as measured by growth in Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) scores. The authors found evidence of both positive and negative test score impacts in selected subjects, years, and cohorts of schools, but overall there was no detectable impact on math, reading, or science achievement that was robust to different methods of estimation. For example, impacts on science scores overall (across years and cohorts) were positive, but not statistically significant unless they used one particular matching method that excluded some Chicago TAP schools from the analysis. The authors did find evidence suggesting that Chicago TAP increased schools' retention of teachers, although the impacts were not uniform or universal across years, cohorts, and subgroups of teachers. They found that teachers who were working in Chicago TAP schools in 2007 returned in each of the following three years at higher rates than teachers in comparable non-TAP schools. For example, the authors found that 67 percent of classroom teachers in cohort 1 schools in fall 2007 returned to their same school in fall 2010 compared to about 56 percent of teachers in non-TAP schools, an impact of nearly 12 percentage points. In other words, teachers in Chicago TAP schools in fall 2007 were about 20% more likely than teachers in comparison schools to be in those same schools three years later. When the authors looked at teachers who were working in schools that started Chicago TAP in later years, some of the impact estimates were not statistically significant. The authors also found some evidence of impacts on retention for subgroups of teachers, such as those with less experience, but the pattern of findings was not consistent. When they considered retention of teachers in the district, the authors did not find consistent evidence of a measurable impact. Given that Chicago TAP is a school-specific program, their main focus was on school-level retention, as opposed to retention in the district. Appended are: (1) Propensity Score Matching; and (2) Supplemental Tables. (Contains 32 tables, 6 figures and 27 footnotes.) [For related reports, see "An Evaluation of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) in Chicago: Year One Impact Report. Final Report" (ED507502) and "An Evaluation of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) in Chicago: Year Two Impact Report" (ED510712).]

School leaders are increasingly being asked, whether by rhetoric or policy, to measurably improve student achievement. The resultant need to assist school leaders in their ability to improve teaching and learning for all students in their schools led to the establishment of the National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program. The NISL program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in which all students meet high standards. The current national focus on the importance of effective, instructional leadership has, in turn, led to calls for principal evaluation to be tied directly to student achievement (Davis, Kearney, Sanders, Thomas, and Leon, 2011). Within this milieu, effective and proven principal leadership development programs are crucial. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.) [This report was produced by the Center for Educational Partnerships, Old Dominion University.]

Improving teaching quality is widely recognized as critical to addressing deficiencies in secondary school education, yet the field has struggled to identify rigorously evaluated teacher-development approaches that can produce reliable gains in student achievement. A randomized controlled trial of My Teaching Partner-Secondary--a Web-mediated approach focused on improving teacher-student interactions in the classroom--examined the efficacy of the approach in improving teacher quality and student achievement with 78 secondary school teachers and 2237 students. The intervention produced substantial gains in measured student achievement in the year following its completion, equivalent to moving the average student from the 50th to the 59th percentile in achievement test scores. Gains appeared to be mediated by changes in teacher-student interaction qualities targeted by the intervention. [For a related What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report, see ED557783.]

This study was conducted by members of a site of the California Writing Project in partnership with a large, urban, low-SES school district where 93% of the students speak English as a second language and 69% are designated Limited English Proficient. Over an eight-year period, a relatively stable group of 55 secondary teachers engaged in ongoing professional development implemented a cognitive strategies approach to reading and writing instruction, making visible for approximately 2000 students per year the thinking tools experienced readers and writers access in the process of meaning construction. The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of this approach on the reading and writing abilities of English language learners (ELLs) in all 13 secondary schools in the district. Students receiving cognitive strategies instruction significantly out-gained peers on holistically scored assessments of academic writing for seven consecutive years. Treatment-group students also performed significantly better than control-group students on GPA, standardized tests, and high-stakes writing assessments. Findings reinforce the importance of having high expectations for ELLs; exposing them to a rigorous language arts curriculum;explicitly teaching, modeling and providing guided practice in a variety of strategies to help students read and write about challenging texts; and involving students as partners in a community of learners. What distinguishes the project is its integrity with respect to its fidelity to three core dimensions: Teachers and students were exposed to an extensive set of cognitive strategies and a wide array of curricular approaches to strategy use (comprehensiveness) in a manner designed to cultivate deep knowledge and application of those strategies in reading and writing (density) over an extended period of time (duration). The consistency of positive outcomes on multiple measures strongly points to the efficacy of using this approach with ELLs. Appended are: (1) Great Expectations Writing Prompt; and (2) Student Models. (Contains 1 note, 5 tables, and 6 figures.)

We explored how a progress monitoring and instructional management system can be used to help educators differentiate instruction and meet the wide-ranging learning needs of their increasingly diverse classrooms. We compared classrooms in 24 states that used a curriculum-based progress monitoring and instructional management system, Accelerated Math, to same school control classrooms that did not use it. Among the major findings were the following: (1) At every grade level there were large differences in grade equivalent score and percentile gains for students in the experimental and control classrooms; (2) Gains were experienced across the achievement spectrum. An analysis of low-, middle-, and high-achieving students showed consistent rates of gain for each math objective mastered; (3) Intervention integrity had a significant effect on student achievement; (4) Teachers using the progress monitoring and instructional management system spent more time providing individual versus group instruction and felt better able to meet the individual needs of their students; and (5) Significantly more students who were in classrooms where teachers used the progress monitoring and instructional management system reported that they like math, help each other with math, and like math better this year than last year. Addition of a progress monitoring and instructional management system to ongoing mathematics instruction improves mathematics outcomes for students. The effects of the program clearly are a function of intervention integrity; when progress monitoring and instructional management practices are implemented with high fidelity or integrity, the mathematics performance of all students is significantly enhanced. Implications for practice are discussed.

Investigates the value of a tiered model of staff development for five districts using "teacher consultants" drawn from a parent district with a long writing project history. Evaluates preconditions, processes and outcomes. Discusses results in terms of student achievement and classroom practices. (SR)

Two studies evaluated the use of the Student Team Reading (STR) and Student Team Writing (STW) program in urban middle schools. The first study investigated the use of STR in 20 experimental sixth-grade classes in three schools matched with 39 classes in three control schools. The second study investigated the use of STR and STW in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in two urban middle schools in Maryland matched with three control schools. In the first study, experimental students achieved significantly higher on a standardized measure of reading comprehension. The reading comprehension achievement of academically handicapped students, analyzed separately, was highly significant in favor of the experimental group. In the second study, the STR and STW students had significantly higher achievement on measures of reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, and language expression. (Two tables of data are included in the first study, and one table of data is included in the second study; 25 references are attached to the first study, and 22 references are attached to the second study.) (Author/RS)

During the transition from the elementary to middle grades, young adolescents may become increasingly vulnerable for emotional and behavioral problems. Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams for middle level school (CW-FIT MS), the independent variable examined in this study, was developed to improve teaching and learning by fostering student engagement. The study's purpose was to examine the feasibility and effects of CW-FIT MS Tier 1 implementation in nine middle level school classes using a single-subject ABAB withdrawal design. Participants were 234 students in grades 6-8, including 23 identified as at risk for emotional behavioral disorders. Results of CW-FIT MS Tier 1 implementation showed significant improvement in on-task behavior for groups as well as individual target students, increased teacher praise-to-reprimand ratios, and decreased target student disruptions. Outcomes of social validity surveys were consistent with earlier studies. Study findings extend previous results by demonstrating positive intervention effects in novel settings with a greater number of participants. Study limitations and areas for future research are discussed.

This article presents findings from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) testing the impact of a novel coaching approach utilized as one element of the Double Check cultural responsivity and student engagement model. The RCT included 158 elementary and middle school teachers randomized to receive coaching or serve as comparisons; all participating teachers were exposed to school-wide professional development activities. Pre-post nonexperimental comparisons indicated improvements in self-reported culturally responsive behavior management and self-efficacy for teachers in both conditions following professional development exposure. With regard to the experimental findings, trained observers recorded significantly more proactive behavior management and anticipation of student problems by teachers, higher student cooperation, less student noncooperation, and fewer disruptive behaviors in classrooms led by coached teachers relative to comparison teachers. Taken together, the findings suggest the potential promise of coaching combined with school-wide professional development for improving classroom management practices and possibly reducing office discipline referrals among Black students.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of 2 brief school-based interventions targeting the homework problems of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention and the Completing Homework by Improving Efficiency and Focus (CHIEF) intervention, as implemented by school mental health providers during the school day. A secondary goal was to use moderator analyses to identify student characteristics that may differentially predict intervention response. Method: Two-hundred and eighty middle school students with ADHD were randomized to the HOPS or CHIEF interventions or to waitlist, and parent and teacher ratings were collected pre, post, and at a 6-month follow-up. Results: Both interventions were implemented with fidelity by school mental health providers. Participants were pulled from elective periods and sessions averaged less than 20 min. Participants in HOPS and CHIEF demonstrated significantly greater improvements in comparison with waitlist on parent ratings of homework problems and organizational skills and effect sizes were large. HOPS participants also demonstrated moderate effect size improvements on materials management and organized action behaviors according to teachers. HOPS participants made significantly greater improvements in parent- and teacher-rated use of organized actions in comparison with CHIEF, but not on measures of homework problems. Moderation analyses revealed that participants with more severe psychopathology and behavioral dysregulation did significantly better with the HOPS intervention as compared to the CHIEF intervention. Conclusions: Brief school-based interventions implemented by school providers can be effective. This type of service delivery model may facilitate overcoming the oft cited research-to-practice gap. [At the time of submission to ERIC, this article was in press with "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology."]

This study reports 2 years of findings from a randomized controlled trial designed to replicate and demonstrate the efficacy of an existing, successful professional development program, the Pathway Project, that uses a cognitive strategies approach to text-based analytical writing. Building on an earlier randomized field trial in a large, urban, low socioeconomic status (SES) district in which 98% of the students were Latino and 88% were mainstreamed English learners (ELs) at the intermediate level of fluency, the project aimed to help secondary school students, specifically Latinos and mainstreamed ELs, in another large, urban, low-SES district to develop the academic writing skills called for in the rigorous Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. The Pathway Project draws on well-documented instructional frameworks that support approaches that incorporate strategy instruction to enhance students' academic literacy. Ninety-five teachers in 16 secondary schools were stratified by school and grade and then randomly assigned to the Pathway or control group. Pathway teachers participated in 46 hr of training to help students write analytical essays. Difference-in-differences and regression analyses revealed significant effects on student writing outcomes in both years of the intervention (Year 1, d = 0.48; Year 2, d = 0.60). Additionally, Pathway students had higher odds than control students of passing the California High School Exit Exam in both years.

Purpose: We examined the effects of a text-processing reading comprehension intervention emphasizing listening comprehension and expressive language practices with middle school students with reading difficulties. Method: A total of 134 struggling readers in grades 6-8 were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 83) and control conditions (n = 51) using a 2:1 ratio (two students randomized to treatment for every one student randomized to control). Students in the treatment condition received 40 min of daily instruction in small groups of four to six students for approximately 17 hr. Results: One-way analysis of covariance models on outcome measures with the respective pretest scores as a covariate revealed significant gains on proximal measures of vocabulary and key word and main idea formulation. No significant differences were found on standardized measures of listening and reading comprehension. Discussion: Results provide preliminary support for integrating listening comprehension and expressive language practices within a text-processing reading comprehension intervention framework for middle-grade struggling readers.

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics will place more pressure on special education and math teachers to raise the skill levels of all students, especially those with disabilities in math (MD). The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of enhanced anchored instruction (EAI) on students with and without MD in co-taught general education classrooms. Results showed that students in the EAI condition improved their performance on math skills contained in several of the standards. Effect sizes were especially large for students with MD when the special education teacher more actively participated in the instructional activities with the math teacher. Classroom observations provided examples of how teachers can work together to benefit students in inclusive math settings.

Chicago Public Schools initiated the Excellence in Teaching Project, a teacher evaluation program designed to increase student learning by improving classroom instruction through structured principal-teacher dialogue. The pilot began in forty-four elementary schools in 2008-09 (cohort 1) and scaled up to include an additional forty-eight elementary schools in 2009-10 (cohort 2). Leveraging the experimental design of the roll-out, cohort 1 schools performed better in reading and math than cohort 2 schools at the end of the first year, though the math effects are not statistically significant. We find the initial improvement for cohort 1 schools remains even after cohort 2 schools adopted the program. Moreover, the pilot differentially impacted schools with different characteristics. Higher-achieving and lower-poverty schools were the primary beneficiaries, suggesting the intervention was most successful in more advantaged schools. These findings are relevant for policy makers and school leaders who are implementing evaluation systems that incorporate classroom observations.

This chapter concerns a year-long, United States federally-funded evaluation of Educate Online, an online, at home, 1:1 tutoring program aimed at improving reading performance for middle school students who are below grade level. Participating students receive after-school instruction from teachers in real-time over Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) connections. The researcher discusses study findings, the methodological challenges of conducting research on online tutoring, the multiple perspectives for understanding the effectiveness of a tutoring program, and areas for additional research. The chapter examines a key aspect of the evaluation, a delayed treatment control group design study to determine the effect that involvement in the tutoring program has upon student academic achievement in reading. [This chapter was published in: F. J. García-Peñalvo, A. M. Seoane Pardo (Eds.), "Online Tutor 2.0: Methodologies and Case Studies for Successful Learning," (pp. 264-279). Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2014. (978-1-4666-5832-5 / 2326-8905).]

This paper presents the findings from a randomized control trial study of reading/literacy-integrated science inquiry intervention after 1 year of implementation and the treatment effect on 5th-grade low-socio-economic African-American and Hispanic students' achievement in science and English reading. A total of 94 treatment students and 194 comparison students from four randomized intermediate schools participated in the current project. The intervention consisted of ongoing professional development and specific instructional science lessons with inquiry-based learning, direct and explicit vocabulary instruction, and integration of reading and writing. Results suggested that (a) there was a significantly positive treatment effect as reflected in students' higher performance in district-wide curriculum-based tests of science and reading and standardized tests of science, reading, and English reading fluency; (b) males and females did not differ significantly from participating in science inquiry instruction; (c) African-American students had lower chance of sufficiently mastering the science concepts and achieving above the state standards when compared with Hispanic students across gender and condition, and (d) below-poverty African-American females are the most vulnerable group in science learning. Our study confirmed that even a modest amount of literacy integration in inquiry-based science instruction can promote students' science and reading achievement. Therefore, we call for more experimental research that focus on the quality of literacy-integrated science instruction from which middle grade students, particularly low-socio-economic status students, can benefit.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the effectiveness of a system-wide Response to Intervention (RTI) program on the mathematical achievement of seventh and eighth grade students. The study consisted of five district schools with a total of 502 participants. The students were identified as belonging to one of two tiers, which differed in regard to amount of intervention. The first tier (Tier 1) of students only received the regular classroom instruction while the second tier (Tier 2/3) received an additional thirty minutes of intervention strategies. The students receiving interventions, the Tier 2/3 students, were divided into two groups. One group received primarily teacher-directed instruction (TDI) as an intervention while the other group received computer-assisted instruction (CAI) as an intervention. For the purpose of this study, the CAI intervention involved the use of the commercial program, Odyssey Math. The students were benchmark tested at the beginning and end of the 2010-2011 school year using the STAR Math assessment program and also progress monitored on a regular basis. In an attempt to determine the effectiveness of the RTI program, a gain score ANOVA was conducted using the scaled scores of the two tiers from the beginning and the end of the school year. The analysis indicated that Tier 2/3 students did demonstrate greater growth than the students in Tier 1. The gain scores of the two groups of Tier 2/3 students were also used in a gain score ANOVA to measure differences in growth. An additional analysis of their mean scores was also conducted using ANCOVA. Both analyses indicated that the CAI group demonstrated greater gains. A third analysis was conducted in order to determine how accurately the STAR Math assessment program could predict student success (reaching either a Proficient or Advanced level) on the state assessment. While the STAR Math program did not accurately predict the students' level in every case, the logistic regression analysis did indicate that the program was successful in identifying struggling students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content acquisition and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade social studies teachers. Using a within-teacher design, the eighth-grade teachers' social studies classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison conditions. Teachers (n = 5) taught the same instructional content to both treatment and comparison classes, but the treatment classes used instructional practices focused on teaching essential words, text as a source for reading and discussion, and team-based learning approaches. Students in the treatment conditions (n = 261) scored statistically higher than students in the comparison conditions (n = 158) on all three outcomes: content acquisition (ES = 0.17), content reading comprehension (ES = 0.29), and standardized reading comprehension (ES = 0.20). Findings are interpreted as demonstrating support for the treatment in improving both knowledge acquisition and reading comprehension within content area instruction. (Contains 8 tables, 1 figure, and 1 note.)

Background: A key learning outcome in problem-solving domains is the development of procedural flexibility, where learners know multiple procedures and use them appropriately to solve a range of problems (e.g., Verschaffel, Luwel, Torbeyns, & Van Dooren, 2009). However, students often fail to become flexible problem solvers in mathematics. To support flexibility, teaching standards in many countries recommend that students be exposed to multiple procedures early in instruction and be encouraged to compare them. Aims: We experimentally evaluated this recommended instructional practice for supporting procedural flexibility during a classroom lesson, relative to two alternative conditions. The alternatives reflected the common instructional practice of delayed exposure to multiple procedures, either with or without comparison of procedures. Sample: Grade 8 students from two public schools (N= 198) were randomly assigned to condition. Students had not received prior instruction on multi-step equation solving, which was the topic of our lessons. Method: Students learned about multi-step equation solving under one of three conditions in math class for about 3 hr. They also completed a pre-test, post-test, and 1-month-retention test on their procedural knowledge, procedural flexibility, and conceptual knowledge of equation solving. Results: Novices who compared procedures immediately were more flexible problem solvers than those who did not, even on a 1-month retention test. Although condition had limited direct impact on conceptual and procedural knowledge, greater flexibility was associated with greater knowledge of both types. Conclusions: Comparing procedures can support flexibility in novices and early introduction to multiple procedures may be one important reason. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

The purpose of this evaluation of Scholastic's "System 44" conducted by RMC Research was to expand the existing research on students with learning disabilities by conducting a randomized study of struggling readers with approximately half of the sample comprised of students with learning disabilities. Specifically, this evaluation examined the impact of "System 44" on the reading outcomes of struggling readers and on a subsample of students with learning disabilities in Grades 4-8. The evaluation of the implementation and impact of "System 44" involved 12 elementary schools and 4 middle and K-8 schools in a district in Michigan. Scholastic's "System 44" is a foundational reading program intended for older struggling readers who have not mastered basic phonics and decoding skills. Combining researched-based phonics instruction with adaptive technology, "System 44" is designed to improve students' word reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. The "System 44" program delivers research-based instruction through an adaptive computer component; teacher-led small-group instruction; and individual student practice involving high-interest, leveled materials. Thus students who have not responded to classroom reading instruction may benefit from the more intensive and specific decoding instruction provided through "System 44." The evaluators selected the target sample based on student performance on the fall 2011 Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) and spring 2011 AIMSweb assessment. The Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) was used to screen students for "System 44" eligibility. The district administered the SRI to all students in the target sample. Those students who scored below 600 Lexiles on the SRI were administered the Scholastic Phonics Inventory (SPI). All students who scored in the Beginning or Developing reader categories on the SPI were randomly assigned (stratified by school and grade level) to either the "System 44" treatment group or the control group. RMC Research hired and trained 4 local testers to individually administer a battery of standardized reading tests to all treatment and control group students. The testers administered the tests in October 2011 to establish baseline scores and again in May 2012 to attain follow-up scores. The tests included the following: (1) Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension (TOSREC); (2) Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) Elision subtest; (3) Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) Sight Word Efficiency subtest; and (4) Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) Phonetic Decoding Efficiency subtest. The evaluation of "System 44" revealed significant impacts on several tests for both the overall sample and the learning disabled sample. Additional findings revealed that impacts were stronger on several tests for middle school students than for elementary school students, particularly on SPI Nonsense Word Accuracy, TOSREC, and SRI. Although significant impacts were attained by the end of Year 1, the majority of students in the study did not complete the "System 44" program. Data collected through teacher surveys, classroom visits, and interviews provided information on teachers' implementation of "System 44" in the classroom, and software usage data were used to examine differences in students with varying program exit and topic completion patterns. [For the November 2011 report, see ED613693.]

Scholastic's "System 44" is a foundational reading program intended for older struggling readers who have not mastered basic phonics and decoding skills. Combining researched-based phonics instruction with adaptive technology, "System 44" is designed to improve students' word reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. The "System 44" program delivers research-based instruction through an adaptive computer component; teacher-led small group instruction; and individual student practice involving high-interest, leveled materials. Thus students who have not responded to classroom reading instruction may benefit from the more intensive and specific decoding instruction provided through "System 44." Using a randomized design, this evaluation assessed the effectiveness of "System 44" in terms of improving the foundational reading skills of struggling readers in Grades 4-8 in a large suburban school district in southern California during the 2010-2011 school year. The evaluation of the implementation and impact of "System 44" involved 7 of the 11 elementary schools and all 4 middle schools in the district. A 2-step process was used to establish student eligibility for "System 44." The Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) was used to screen students in Grades 4-8 who performed below the 50th percentile on the spring 2010 California Standards Test (CST) for "System 44" eligibility. Those students who scored below 600 Lexiles on the SRI were administered the Scholastic Phonics Inventory (SPI), a computer-based test used to identify students in need of additional phonics instruction. Students who scored in the Beginning or Developing reader categories on the SPI were randomly assigned (stratified by school and grade level) to either the "System 44" treatment group or the control group. Data collection activities for the "System 44" evaluation included student reading tests, teacher surveys, "System 44" classroom observations, a professional development observation, and staff interviews. RMC Research hired and trained 4 local testers to administer a battery of standardized reading tests to all treatment and control students. The testers administered the tests to each student separately over a 3-week period in September and October 2010 to establish baseline scores and again in May 2011 to attain follow-up scores. Listed in order of administration, the tests included the following: (1) Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension (TOSREC); (2) Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) Elision subtest; (3) Woodcock-Johnson III Word Identification subtest; (4) Woodcock-Johnson III Word Attack subtest; (5) Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) Sight Word Efficiency subtest; and (6) Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) Phonetic Decoding Efficiency subtest. This report details the program impact findings and concludes with recommendations from the evaluation team.

Portland Public Schools (PPS), the largest school district in Oregon, serves more than 46,000 students in regular and special programs. More than 2,900 classroom teachers address the needs of a diverse student population (44% minority, 46% low income, 14% special education, 9% English language learners). A district needs assessment in fall 2005 revealed that 13 of Portland's 85 regular schools were eligible to participate in the Striving Readers program. Four of the high schools and 5 of the middle schools determined that they could meet the program's research requirements. All 9 schools had at each grade level a significant number of students who were at least 2 years behind in reading achievement; all received Title I funding; and none had achieved Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind at the time of the Striving Readers application. School leaders expected the Striving Readers program to impact more than 6,400 students and 450 teachers in the 9 participating schools. After examining adolescent reading programs and studying the research on adolescent literacy, Portland Public Schools selected the Strategic Instruction Model Content Literacy Continuum developed by the University of Kansas' Center for Research on Learning to improve teacher instruction and student reading achievement in the participating middle and high schools. This report summarizes Year 1 (2006-2007), Year 2 (2007-2008), Year 3 (2008-2009), Year 4 (2009-2010), and Year 5 (2010-2011) of implementation of the targeted intervention for students reading at least 2 years below grade level in Grades 7-10 and the whole school intervention designed to help all students in Grades 6-12 learn the critical content in all curricular areas.

This experimental study reports findings on the effects from a year-long reading intervention providing daily 50-min sessions to middle school students with identified learning disabilities (n = 65) compared with similar students who did not receive the reading intervention (n = 55). All students continued to receive their special education services as provided by the school. Statistically significant results favored the treatment group for sight word reading fluency following intervention. Small effects were found for phonemic decoding fluency and passage comprehension. No other statistically significant differences were noted between groups. The findings suggest that although gains on word reading fluency resulted from the additional reading treatment, accelerating the reading performance of students identified with learning disabilities may be unlikely to result from a 1-year daily intervention provided in groups of 10 to 15 students. (Contains 2 tables.)

Aimed at low-income families in six of New York City's highest-poverty communities, Family Rewards ties cash rewards to a pre-specified set of activities and outcomes thought to be critical to families' short- and long-term success in the areas of children's education, family preventive health care, and parents' employment. The purpose of this project is to experimentally evaluate the effects of this three-year innovative holistic conditional cash transfer (CCT) initiative. This paper presents initial findings from an ongoing and comprehensive evaluation of Family Rewards. It examines the program's implementation in the field and families' responses to it during the first two of its three years of operations, and early findings on the program's impacts on children's educational processes and outcomes. More specifically, this paper addresses the following questions: (1) What are the effects of ONYC-Family Rewards on family income, poverty, and financial hardship?; (2) What are the effects of ONYC-Family Rewards on use of health care and health insurance?; (3) What are the effects of ONYC-Family Rewards on parents' employment and educational attainment?; and (4) What are the effects of ONYC-Family Rewards on children's educational outcomes? Overall, this study shows that, despite an extraordinarily rapid start-up, the program was operating largely as intended by its second year. Although many families struggled with the complexity of the program, most were substantially engaged with it and received a large amount of money for meeting the conditions it established. Specifically, nearly all families (98 percent) earned at least some rewards in both program years, with payments averaging more than $6,000 during the first two program years combined. The program reduced current poverty and hardship; increased savings; increased families' continuous use of health insurance coverage and increased their receipt of medical care; and increased employment in jobs that are not covered by the unemployment insurance (UI) system but reduced employment in UI-covered jobs. The program has had mixed success in improving children's academic performance specifically. Contrary to expectations, Family Rewards did not affect school attendance or annual standardized test scores in Math and English Language Arts (ELA) for either group of youngest children, but did lead to notable gains for a group of more academically prepared high school students. The program also had important effects on several key proposed mediators of the intervention. However, these effects vary by parents with different age groups of children. Appended are: (1) References; and (2) Tables and Figures. (Contains 2 tables.)

The District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, passed by Congress in January 2004, established the first federally funded, private school voucher program in the United States. Since that time, more than 8,400 students have applied for what is now called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), and a rigorous evaluation of the Program, mandated by Congress, has been underway. This last formal report from the ongoing evaluation describes the impacts of the Program at least four years after families who applied and were given the option to move from a public school to a participating private school of their choice. The research priorities for the evaluation were shaped largely by the primary topics of interest specified in the statute. This legislative mandate led the evaluators to focus on the following research questions: (1) What is the impact of the Program on student academic achievement? (2) What is the impact of the Program on other student measures? (3) What effect does the Program have on school safety and satisfaction? (4) What is the effect of attending private versus public schools? (5) To what extent is the Program influencing public schools and expanding choice options for parents in Washington, DC? These research questions are consistent with the topics that scholars and policymakers have identified as important questions of interest surrounding private school scholarship programs. The report found that that the Program had mixed longer-term effects on participating students and their parents, including: (1) No conclusive evidence that the OSP affected student achievement overall, or for the high-priority group of students who applied from "schools in need of improvement"; (2) The Program significantly improved students' chances of graduating from high school, according to parent reports. Overall, 82 percent of students offered scholarships received a high school diploma, compared to 70 percent of those who applied but were not offered scholarships. This graduation rate improvement also held for the subgroup of OSP students who came from "schools in need of improvement."; and (3) Although parents had higher satisfaction and rated schools as safer if their child was offered or used an OSP scholarship, students reported similar ratings for satisfaction and safety regardless of whether they were offered or used a scholarship. Appendices include: (1) Research Methodology; (2) Benjamini-Hochberg Adjustments for Multiple Comparisons; (3) Sensitivity Testing; (4) Relationship Between Attending a Private School and Key Outcomes; (5) Detailed ITT Tables; (6) Exploration of Whether Parents Get What They Seek From School Choice; (7) To What Extent Are Treatment Effects of the OSP Observed Across the Outcome Test-Score Distribution? Quantile Regression Analysis of the OSP; and (8) Intermediate Outcome Measures. (Contains 99 tables, 31 figures, and 61 footnotes.)

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a bold effort to create a network of charter schools designed to transform and improve the educational opportunities available to low/income families. KIPP schools seek to actively engage students and parents in the educational process, expand the time and effort students devote to their studies, reinforce students' social competencies and positive behaviors, and dramatically improve their academic achievement. Ultimately, the goal of KIPP is to prepare students to enroll and succeed in college. The KIPP Foundation is guiding this effort by selecting and training school leaders, promoting the program model, and supporting the KIPP network schools. This report presents preliminary findings from a matched, longitudinal analysis designed to estimate KIPP's effect on student achievement. The author's preliminary work estimates effects in 22 KIPP middle schools--making this the first report that applies a rigorous (nonexperimental) methodological approach across a nationwide sample of KIPP schools. They selected schools for which they were able to collect longitudinal, student/level data, and that were established by the 2005/06 school year or earlier to ensure that a minimum of two entering cohorts of students per school would be observed for multiple years. They find that students entering these 22 KIPP schools typically had prior achievement levels that were lower than average achievement in their local school districts. For the vast majority of KIPP schools studied, impacts on students' state assessment scores in mathematics and reading are positive, statistically significant, and educationally substantial. Estimated impacts are frequently large enough to substantially reduce race/ and income/based achievement gaps within three years of entering KIPP. They describe these findings in more detail in this report. Appendices include: (1) Administrative Data; (2) Supplemental Tables for Chapter II; (3) Analytic Methods; (4) Alternative Specifications; and (5) Subgroup Analyses. (Contains 34 tables, 21 figures and 28 footnotes.) [This paper was submitted to KIPP Foundation. For the accompanying report, see ED511108.]

The primary purpose of this study was to explore if there could be a more beneficial method in organizing the individual instructional reading components (phonological decoding, spelling, fluency, and reading comprehension) within a remedial reading program to increase sensitivity to instruction for middle school students with reading disabilities (RD). Three different modules (Alternating, Integrated, and Additive) of the Reading Achievement Multi-Modular Program were implemented with 90 middle school (sixth to eighth grades) students with reading disabilities. Instruction occurred 45 min a day, 5 days a week, for 26 weeks, for approximately 97 h of remedial reading instruction. To assess gains, reading subtests of the Woodcock Johnson-III, the Gray Silent Reading Test, and Oral Reading Fluency passages were administered. Results showed that students in the Additive module outperformed students in the Alternating and Integrated modules on phonological decoding and spelling and students in the Integrated module on comprehension skills. Findings for the two oral reading fluency measures demonstrated a differential pattern of results across modules. Results are discussed in regards to the effect of the organization of each module on the responsiveness of middle school students with RD to instruction.

In 2007, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began implementing a schoolwide reform called the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) using funds from the federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) and private foundations. Under the TAP model, teachers can earn extra pay and responsibilities through promotion to mentor or master teacher as well as annual performance bonuses based on a combination of their value added to student achievement and observed performance in the classroom. The idea behind the program is that performance incentives, combined with tools for teachers to track performance and improve instruction, should help schools attract and retain talented teachers and help all teachers produce greater student achievement. This report provides evidence on the impacts of TAP during the 2008-2009 school year, the second year of the program's rollout in CPS. Appended are: (1) Propensity Score Matching; and (2) Longitudinal Analysis of Test Score Data. (Contains 18 tables, 7 figures and 14 footnotes.) [For the Year One Impact Report, see ED507502.]

This paper describes a series of school-based randomized trials in over 250 urban schools designed to test the impact of financial incentives on student achievement. In stark contrast to simple economic models, our results suggest that student incentives increase achievement when the rewards are given for inputs to the educational production function, but incentives tied to output are not effective. Relative to popular education reforms of the past few decades, student incentives based on inputs produce similar gains in achievement at lower costs. Qualitative data suggest that incentives for inputs may be more effective because students do not know the educational production function, and thus have little clue how to turn their excitement about rewards into achievement. Several other models, including lack of self-control, complementary inputs in production, or the unpredictability of outputs, are also consistent with the experimental data.

At the request of the State of Pennsylvania, the School District of Philadelphia, in the summer of 2002, asked three for-profit firms to assume responsibility for 30 of its lowest-performing schools and it asked four nonprofit managers to assume the management of 16 other low-performing schools. A difference-in-differences analysis is used to estimate the impact of nonprofit and for-profit management on individual student achievement. Gains in test scores at the treated schools are estimated by comparing them with gains in other low-performing schools in the district. Students at schools under for-profit management outperformed those at schools under nonprofit management in all six years in both reading and math. Most estimations are statistically significant. Impacts of for-profit management relative to district management were positive in math, but no reading impacts could be detected. At nonprofits, students appear to have learned substantially less, especially in math, at nonprofit schools, than had their school remained under regular district management. However, impacts fell short of statistical significance. (Propensity Score Analysis is appended. Contains 21 endnotes and 9 tables.)

In the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Congress called for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to conduct a rigorous study of the conditions and practices under which educational technology is effective in increasing student academic achievement. A 2007 report presenting study findings for the 2004-2005 school year, indicated that, after one school year, differences in student test scores were not statistically significant between classrooms that were randomly assigned to use software products and those that were randomly assigned not to use products. School and teacher characteristics generally were not related to whether products were effective. The second year of the study examined whether an additional year of teaching experience using the software products increased the estimated effects of software products on student test scores. The evidence for this hypothesis is mixed. For reading, there were no statistically significant differences between the effects that products had on standardized student test scores in the first year and the second year. For sixth grade math, product effects on student test scores were statistically significantly lower (more negative) in the second year than in the first year, and for algebra I, effects on student test scores were statistically significantly higher in the second year than in the first year. The study also tested whether using any of the 10 software products increased student test scores. One product had a positive and statistically significant effect. Nine did not have statistically significant effects on test scores. Five of the insignificant effects were negative and four were positive. Study findings should be interpreted in the context of design and objectives. The study examined a range of reading and math software products in a range of diverse school districts and schools. But it did not study many forms of educational technology and it did not include many types of software products. How much information the findings provide about the effectiveness of products that are not in the study is an open question. Products in the study also were implemented in a specific set of districts and schools, and other districts and schools may have different experiences with the products. The findings should be viewed as one element within a larger set of research studies that have explored the effectiveness of software products. Three appendixes are included: (1) Second-Year Data Collection and Response Rates; (2) Description of Sample for the 10 Products; and (3) Details of Estimation Methods. (Contains 29 footnotes, 4 figures and 24 tables.

Researchers in both cognitive science and mathematics education emphasize the importance of comparison for learning and transfer. However, surprisingly little is known about the advantages and disadvantages of what types of things are being compared. In this experimental study, 162 seventh- and eighth-grade students learned to solve equations (a) by comparing equivalent problems solved with the same solution method, (b) by comparing different problem types solved with the same solution method, or (c) by comparing different solution methods to the same problem. Students' conceptual knowledge and procedural flexibility were best supported by comparing solution methods and to a lesser extent by comparing problem types. The benefits of comparison are augmented when examples differ on relevant features, and contrasting methods may be particularly useful in mathematics learning. (Contains 3 figures, 8 tables, and 1 footnote.)

Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), which combines community investments with reform minded charter schools, is one of the most ambitious social experiments to alleviate poverty of our time. We provide the first empirical test of the causal impact of HCZ on educational outcomes, with an eye toward informing the long-standing debate whether schools alone can eliminate the achievement gap or whether the issues that poor children bring to school are too much for educators alone to overcome. Both lottery and instrumental variable identification strategies lead us to the same story: Harlem Children's Zone is effective at increasing the achievement of the poorest minority children. Taken at face value, the effects in middle school are enough to close the black-white achievement gap in mathematics and reduce it by nearly half in English Language Arts. The effects in elementary school close the racial achievement gap in both subjects. We conclude by presenting four pieces of evidence that high-quality schools or high-quality schools coupled with community investments generate the achievement gains. Community investments alone cannot explain the results.

Direct, explicit, and systematic instruction of critical skills has been a hallmark of effective teaching for many years. In this study, we implemented a quasi-experimental pre-/post-test design with nonequivalent groups to determine the effectiveness of syllable skills instruction on reading achievement. Classes were randomly assigned to control or treatment groups. Participants included middle-school students with high incidence disabilities, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their peers at risk for reading failure. The syllable skills intervention included instruction in syllable patterns, syllabication steps and rules, and accenting patterns. Students practiced skills by decoding and encoding nonsense and low-frequency mono- and multisyllabic words. Statistically significant differences were evident between pre-test and post-test scores for three dependent measures: (a) word identification, (b) word attack, and (c) reading comprehension. The treatment group demonstrated greater increase from pre-test to post-test on word identification, word attack, and reading comprehension; and the gap in fluency performance between the groups decreased. We discuss these outcomes with regard to their implications for practice and future research. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

The "District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003," passed by the Congress in January 2004, established the first federally funded, private school voucher program in the United States. The purpose of the new scholarship program was to provide low-income residents, particularly those whose children attend schools in need of improvement or corrective action under the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act," with "expanded opportunities to attend higher performing schools in the District of Columbia" (Sec. 303). As part of this legislation, the Congress mandated a rigorous evaluation of the impacts of the Program, now called the "DC Opportunity Scholarship Program" (OSP). This report presents findings from the evaluation on the impacts three years after families who applied were given the option to move from a public school to a participating private school of their choice. The evaluation is based on a randomized controlled trial design that compares the outcomes of eligible applicants randomly assigned to receive (treatment group) or not receive (control group) a scholarship through a series of lotteries. The main findings of the evaluation so far include: (1) After 3 years, there was a statistically significant positive impact on reading test scores, but not math test scores; (2) The OSP had a positive impact overall on parents' reports of school satisfaction and safety, but not on students' reports; (3) This same pattern of findings holds when the analysis is conducted to determine the impact of using a scholarship rather than being offered a scholarship; (4) The OSP improved reading achievement for 5 of the 10 subgroups examined; and (5) No achievement impacts were observed for five other subgroups of students, including those who entered the Program with relative academic disadvantage. Six appendices are included: (1) Research Methodology; (2) Benjamini-Hochberg Adjustments for Multiple Comparisons; (3) Sensitivity Testing; (4) Detailed ITT Tables; (5) Relationship Between Attending a Private School and Key Outcomes; and (6) Intermediate Outcome Measures.. (Contains 115 footnotes, 15 figures and 129 tables.) [For Executive Summary, see ED504784. For "Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts after Two Years", see ED501696. For "Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts after One Year", see ED497154.]

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of revising goals focused on content and audience awareness on the persuasive writing of fifth- and eighth-grade students. Students were randomly assigned to three different goal conditions: a general goal; a goal to improve content; and a goal to improve content and communication with an audience. Final drafts of essays were scored for elements of persuasive discourse relevant to content and audience and for overall persuasiveness. Students in the audience goal group were more likely than both other groups to consider opposing positions and rebut them. Students in both the content and audience goal groups wrote essays that were more persuasive than essays by students in the general goal group. The results also indicate that eighth-grade students wrote more persuasively than fifth-grade students and that girls wrote more persuasively than boys.

This study examined the effects of individualized, integrated language arts as a reading approach on struggling readers' comprehension scores obtained from oral narrative, silent narrative, and silent expository passages at three levels: below-grade, on-grade, and above-grade levels. Students (N = 93) in grades four through eight, who were reading below grade level, participated in the study. Treatment group students (n = 51) received individualized, integrated language arts as a reading approach once a week in place of basal reading instruction. Comparison group students (n = 42) received basal reading instruction for the duration of the study. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze posttest Analytical Reading Inventory (ARI) comprehension scores. Several statistically significant (p less than 0.001) differences in comprehension performance were found for on-grade-level scores and for above-grade-level scores, but few differences were found between treatment and comparison groups on below-grade-level scores. All statistically significant differences favored students in the treatment group. The findings of the study strongly suggest that the use of individualized, integrated language arts as a method for teaching reading is an effective approach for improving the reading comprehension performance of struggling readers. (Contains 5 tables.)

We examined the extent to which use of a technology-enhanced continuous progress monitoring system would enhance the results of math instruction, examined variability in teacher implementation of the program, and compared math results in classrooms in which teachers did and did not use the system. Classrooms were randomly assigned to within-school experimental and control groups. Participating students were pre- and post-tested using two standardized, nationally normed tests of math achievement. When teachers implemented the continuous progress monitoring system as intended, and when they used the data from the system to manage and differentiate instruction, students gained significantly more than those for whom implementation was limited or nil. Failure to take into account intervention integrity would have made it look like continuous progress monitoring did not enhance math results. (Contains 5 tables.)

Research was conducted to ascertain if a combined repeated reading and question generation intervention was effective at improving the reading achievement of fourth through eighth grade students with learning disabilities or who were at risk for reading failure. Students were assigned to a treatment or control group via a stratified random sampling. Instructional components and training were based on best practices reported in the literature. Students receiving intervention significantly improved their reading speed and ability to answer inferential comprehension questions on passages that were reread. Compared to the control group, students in the intervention group also made significant gains in oral reading fluency on independent passages.

This study investigated the differential effects of two problem-solving instructional approaches--schema-based instruction (SBI) and general strategy instruction (GSI)--on the mathematical word problem-solving performance of 22 middle school students who had learning disabilities or were at risk for mathematics failure. Results indicated that the SBI group significantly outperformed the GSI group on immediate and delayed posttests as well as the transfer test. Implications of the study are discussed within the context of the new IDEA amendment and access to the general education curriculum.

Finds that eighth grade students in Facing History and Ourselves classrooms show increases in relationship maturity and decreases in racist attitudes and self-reported fighting behavior relative to comparison students. Reports that the gains made by Facing History students in moral reasoning and in civic attitudes and participation were not significantly greater than the comparison students. (DAJ)

Compared students who had four years of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) secondary curriculum to two distinct groups of comparable students at three different sites (one urban and two suburban). UCSMP students at all three sites achieved higher but registered little difference in attitude. (Contains 48 references.) (MDH)

Teacher residencies are surfacing as a promising model for teacher preparation. One such residency program--Collaboration and Reflection to Enhance Atlanta Teacher Effectiveness (CREATE)--seeks to raise student achievement in local high-needs schools by increasing the effectiveness and retention of both new and veteran educators. CREATE aims to achieve this by developing critically-conscious, compassionate, and skilled educators who are committed to teaching practices that prioritize racial justice and interrupt inequities. This quasi-experiment, funded by an Investing in Innovations (i3) grant, follows two staggered cohorts of study participants (CREATE and comparison teachers) for three years per cohort, starting with the first cohort in 2015-16. Confirmatory analyses found no statistically significant effects of CREATE on two Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards (TAPS) ratings for Instructional Strategies (p = 0.221) and Positive Learning Environment (p = 0.192), or on student achievement on ELA (p = 0.454), math (p = 0.569), and general achievement (p = 0.234). However, exploratory analyses (pre-registered) found very promising results showing undisrupted retention over a three-year time period (spanning graduation from Georgia State University's College of Education and Human Development, entering teaching, and retention into the second year of teaching) for the CREATE group, relative to the comparison group (p = 0.038). We also observed that the favorable impact is driven largely by higher continuous retention among Black educators in CREATE relative to those in the comparison group (p = 0.021). The percentages of teachers in CREATE, as averaged across the two study cohorts, who maintain an uninterrupted trajectory of graduating from GSU-CEHD, and taught in their first and second year are 94.8%, 87.4% and 84.6%, respectively. In the matched comparison group the corresponding values are 87.9%, 72.9%, and 68.0%. Among Black teachers in CREATE, the values are 98.6%, 96.3% and 95.5%, respectively. In the matched comparison group of Black teachers, the corresponding values are 85.7%, 68.5%, and 62.8%. These results are further corroborated by statistically significant or marginally statistically significant differential impacts favoring Black teachers on several potential mediators of impact: resilience, self-efficacy, and stress management and empathy related to teaching. The positive findings on retention, particularly for Black educators, are important given that 44% of teachers in Georgia leave the profession within the first five years, with evidence in the literature indicating that in the South, Black teachers experience higher turnover rates than non-Black teachers (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). The authors discuss a number of factors that could have led to null impacts on confirmatory outcomes. The lack of variation in teacher performance ratings, which is a known issue in Georgia and in the literature at large (Weisberg et al, 2009; Kraft & Gilmour, 2017) could have contributed to the results for the TAPS ratings. Studies of teacher residency programs also suggest that impact on student achievement might not be present or detected in earlier years of teaching. Additionally, analyses of student achievement in this study were limited by small sample sizes of teachers in tested grades and subjects. The authors hope to address these limitations and to investigate the promising outcomes on retention, especially for Black educators, in current and future studies of CREATE, for which we have secured funding for programming and research through the eighth cohort. [For the appendices, see ED611803.]

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) offers publicly funded vouchers to moderate- and low-income students in low-performing public schools to enroll in participating private schools. Established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP expanded statewide in 2012. Drawing upon the random lotteries that placed students in LSP schools, we estimate the causal impact of using an LSP voucher to enroll in a private school on student achievement on the state accountability assessments in math, English Language Arts, and science over a four-year period, as well as on the likelihood of enrolling in college. The results from our primary analytic sample indicate substantial negative achievement impacts, especially in math, that diminish after the first year but persist after four years. In contrast, when considering the likelihood of students entering college, we observe no statistically significant difference between scholarship users and their control counterparts.

In 2016, McREL and the University of Southern California (USC) were awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund (Award Number U411C150011) to develop a translation of the identity-based motivation (IBM) in vivo program "Pathways to Success" to a digital platform to deliver IBM to middle and high school students. The resulting digital "Pathways to Success" program consisted of 12 15-minute digital platform activities, planned to take place over the first six to eight weeks in the Fall semester of 2017 in 10 schools from five districts in Colorado. While the former McREL research director and the original external evaluator led the field operation and the randomization process, in 2018, there was a change in the Principal Investigator at McREL, and an evaluator from USC was contacted to conduct the independent evaluation. Project data, including student and teacher responses and administrative data from schools in years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 were provided by McREL to the USC evaluator. The report documented the implementation fidelity and examined the impact of digital "Pathways to Success" on students' overall, English language, and Math achievement, and "non-cognitive" variables in the IBM theory.

This study reports findings from a multisite cluster randomized controlled trial designed to validate and scale up an existing successful professional development program that uses a cognitive strategies approach to text-based analytical writing. The Pathway to Academic Success Project worked with partner districts affiliated with 4 National Writing Project (NWP) sites in southern California. Informed by a wide body of research on the efficacy of strategy instruction to enhance students' academic literacy, the intervention aimed to help secondary school students, particularly Latinos and mainstreamed English learners, to develop the academic writing skills called for in the rigorous Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. Two hundred thirty teachers from partner districts affiliated with the NWP sites were stratified by school and grade and then randomly assigned to the treatment or control group. Treatment teachers participated in 46 hrs of training and learned how to apply cognitive strategies by using an on-demand writing assessment to help students understand, interpret, and write analytical essays about nonfiction texts. Multilevel models revealed significant effects on a holistic measure of an on-demand writing assessment (d = 0.32) as well as on 4 analytic attributes: content (d = 0.31), structure (d = 0.29), fluency (d = 0.27), and conventions (d = 0.32). Four dimensions of scaling up--spread, reform ownership, depth, and sustainability--are also discussed.

Middle school special education teachers often express concern about challenging student behavior. Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT), a behavior management program based on school-wide positive behavior support, have been effective in elementary general education classrooms. The present study, the first to apply it in a middle school special education setting, used an ABAC design to examine effects on student on-task behavior and teacher praise rates in a self-contained special education classroom for students with severe disabilities and their typically developing peer tutors. Results suggested that CW-FIT Tier 1 is associated with improvements in student on-task behavior and teacher praise rates, especially when peer tutors are included in the intervention and when the timer is silent. Both teachers and students reported the intervention to be socially valid. Study limitations and areas for future research are addressed.

Too many talented students who go to under-resourced schools do not achieve their full potential. Though they may perform very well relative to their classmates, these students do not receive the same kinds of academically challenging opportunities throughout their educational journey as do their counterparts in better-resourced public and private schools. Rather than matriculating to competitive high schools and from there to selective colleges they are qualified to attend, these students often go to less academically competitive high schools and on to colleges where graduation rates are low. Some even forgo college altogether. To address this problem, Higher Achievement offers an intensive, academically oriented program for middle school students in under-resourced schools. Starting in the summer before fifth or sixth grade, Higher Achievement offers its participants, called "scholars," 650 extra hours of academic enrichment and instruction after school and during the summers through the eighth grade. The program includes English and math instruction as well as field trips to competitive high schools and colleges, achievement test preparation, and assistance in applying for financial aid. This short report presents the results of a randomized controlled trial of Higher Achievement that started in 2005, comparing the outcomes of students who were offered the opportunity to participate in Higher Achievement (the program group) and students who were not (the control group). It presents the impacts of the program one, two, and four years after enrollment, as well as its long-term impacts on college attendance. The study found that Higher Achievement was successful at changing the educational trajectory of students through middle school and improved the academic quality of many students' high school experiences, but did not affect the colleges to which they matriculated. By Year 2, there were positive impacts on students' math and reading test scores. In Year 4, the impacts on math test scores remained statistically significant. Higher Achievement had a small impact on the types of high schools its scholars ultimately attended. Program group students were more likely than control group students to matriculate to private or parochial schools and less likely to go to nonacademically competitive charter or magnet schools. By 2019, there was no difference in college going. More than 70 percent of both program and control group students had ever attended college. There were no differences in the academic quality of the colleges Higher Achievement's scholars ultimately attended, as measured by being a two- or four-year college; a college having a lower acceptance rate; or a college whose freshmen on average had higher SAT math or reading scores. Higher Achievement's college impacts did not differ by whether a student's parent had attended college or by student characteristics. The study shows that Higher Achievement is a very effective middle school program, improving students' middle school trajectories. However, the impacts did not persist after the program through high school and college.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the National Institute for School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) and paired leadership coaching as implemented in three states, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) grant program. NISL's Executive Development Program (EDP) is a year-long professional development program that has served thousands of principals in 23 states since 2014. The study was a randomized control trial study spanning 332 schools and 118 school districts. It evaluated the effects of the offer of and of participation in the EDP and coaching. Take up rates of the program were relatively low, and the study found no significant effects of the EDP and coaching on student achievement in English language arts or mathematics, on student attendance rates, or on student grade progression rates within three years of the start of the program. There were, however, effects of participation in the EDP and coaching in two areas of leadership practice as reported by principals on surveys conducted more than two years after the start of the intervention. We hypothesize that local buy-in and capacity to fully participate in the intensive professional development program most likely influenced the degree to which the intervention was successful. [Criterion Education sponsored this report, with funding from NISL through the i3 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. For the first report of this series, "Putting Professional Learning to Work: What Principals Do with Their Executive Development Program Learning," see ED606171.]

Engaged in the evaluation of LDC tools since June 2011, UCLA's National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) is using multiple data sources and a quasi-experimental design to examine LDC implementation and impact in two cohorts of schools in two large, urban school districts. This report presents the results on implementation of LDC in the large urban school district on the West Coast during the third year of the intervention, and the impact of the program across multiple years. Findings from both participant surveys and analyses of student outcomes reveal positive results for the LDC intervention. Analysis of student outcomes provided evidence of the program's effectiveness and confirmation for participants' positive views. Quasi-experimental analyses demonstrated a statistically significant positive impact of LDC as practiced by middle school teachers with 2 years of program experience across two cohorts of schools and teachers. A statistically significant positive impact was also found for Cohort 2 middle schools after just one year of implementation. [For the 2017-2018 report, see ED600053.]

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas. Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their existing curriculum across all content areas. This report presents the results on implementation of LDC in the New York City Department of Education during the third year of the intervention, and the impact of the program across multiple years. As of 2018-2019, participating schools included 13 from Cohort 1, which began implementation during the 2016-2017 school year, and 23 from Cohort 2, which commenced at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. Our primary impact analyses, presented in this report for the first time, pool teachers from both cohorts to measure their impact after participating in LDC for 2 consecutive years (2017-2018 student outcomes for Cohort 1 and 2018-2019 student outcomes for Cohort 2). Teachers and administrators appreciated LDC and perceived positive impact on their practice and their students' learning. Quasi-experimental analyses tended to produce positive estimates for the impact of LDC on student English language arts (ELA) assessment scores, but the differences did not reach the level of statistical significance. [For the 2017-2018 evaluation report, see ED606884.]

The Rural Math Innovation Network (RMIN) is a 4-year project that launched in January 2017 after receiving a $2.9 million Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and matching funds from the private sector. Virginia Ed Strategies and rural local education agencies (LEAs) in Virginia are implementing a project using a networked improvement community (NIC) of Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 teachers to incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL) factors of academic self-efficacy and growth mindset into lesson plans for teaching career readiness math competencies. During Year 1, the project established Memos of Understanding with 18 school divisions in southwest and southside Virginia, which enabled math teachers within these divisions to submit applications to participate in the project. At the end of Year 1, December 2017, the project had a 38-member teacher cohort across 25 schools. By the end of Year 2 (January 1 - December 31, 2018), the cohort included 30 teachers (19 middle school teachers and 11 high school teachers) across 20 schools (12 middle schools and 8 high schools) within 16 participating divisions (several teachers dropped out of the project in Year 2 and a few teachers were added). During Year 3 (January 1 - December 31, 2019), several more teachers dropped out of the project, resulting in 26 teachers (17 middle school and 9 high school) across 18 schools within 15 participating divisions. Sixteen of the 26 teachers are located in the southside region, with the remaining 10 teachers located in the southwest region of Virginia One of the i3 requirements is to have an external evaluation conducted of the project; development grants must include both an implementation study and an impact study. To fulfill this requirement, Virginia Ed Strategies hired ICF to conduct an independent evaluation of the RMIN project throughout the 4-year period. The evaluation includes three components: a formative study to provide ongoing feedback about participants' reactions, learning, behaviors, and results; an implementation study focusing on how well the structural and programmatic aspects of the RMIN project are implemented, as well as facilitating or impeding factors; and an impact study to determine the extent to which the project impacts high-need students' math achievement. Previously in Year 2, the evaluation team recruited 10 comparison teachers across rural Virginia school divisions who were also teaching either Pre-Algebra or Algebra 1 (no school has both a participating and comparison teacher). The purpose of this report is to summarize key findings from the impact study. The primary audience is the RMIN project staff at Virginia Ed Strategies; secondary audiences include ED and other interested stakeholders. Although the impact study was designed originally to include students from the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years, the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 led to school closings and no administration of the statewide Standards of Learning (SOL) math assessment. Therefore, the impact study is based solely on the one year of SOL data. Findings are presented for the impact data and framed by the evaluation questions. Conclusions are presented below. Impact on student achievement. The one-year program impact on students' SOL scores was estimated and the results did not find evidence that the RMIN program significantly improved students' SOL performance. The program impact from the Pre-Algebra sample was negative, but it was not statistically significant, and the effect size was small. The program impact from the Algebra I analysis was positive but not statistically significant, and the effect size was small.

The study examined the effect of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in instructional leadership roles, operationalized as mentors to novice teachers, on (a) classroom practices of mentored novice teachers in Grades K-12 and (b) student achievement of mentored teachers' students in Grades 4-8. The study compared outcomes between NBCT mentors and non-NBCT mentors. The study examined the effect of NBCT mentors after one academic year and was conducted in San Francisco Unified School District. Using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, we examined novice teachers' classroom practices on the domains of Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, Instructional Support, and across all three domains. The results did not reach statistical significance, but the effect sizes for Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and a global measure across all domains suggest meaningful differences between classroom practices of novice teachers mentored by NBCTs and non-NBCTs. These effect sizes were 0.28, 0.28, and 0.21 standard deviations, respectively. The effect size for the domain of Instructional Support was near zero at -0.06 standard deviations. Our sample size for the analysis of classroom practices did not have sufficient power to estimate differences at a statistically significant level. We examined student achievement using the state's standardized test scores in mathematics and English language arts. Our achievement measure includes either subject: That is, we did not estimate effects separately for mathematics and English language arts. The results suggest that students taught by teachers mentored by NBCTs had a higher level of achievement than students mentored by non-NBCTs. The difference was statistically significant at a p value of 0.05, and the effect size was meaningful at 0.18 standard deviations. Small sample sizes and low statistical power prevent us from making confident conclusions about the effect of NBCTs in instructional leadership roles on classroom practices of supported teachers and student achievement. However, the evidence is encouraging and warrants additional rigorous research on the impact of NBCTs as instructional leaders.

The three-tiered Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework promotes the development of systems and data analysis to guide the selection and implementation of evidence based practices across multiple tiers. The current study examined the effects of universal (tier 1) or school-wide PBIS (SW-PBIS) in one state's scale-up of this tier of the framework. Annual propensity score weights were generated to examine the longitudinal effects of SW-PBIS from 2006–07 through 2011–12. School-level archival and administrative data outcomes were examined using panel models with an autoregressive structure. The sample included 1316 elementary, middle, and high schools. Elementary schools trained in SW-PBIS demonstrated statistically significantly lower suspensions during the fourth and fifth study years (i.e., small effect size) and higher reading and math proficiency rates during the first two study years as well as in one and two later years (i.e., small to large effect sizes), respectively. Secondary schools implementing SW-PBIS had statistically significantly lower suspensions and truancy rates during the second study year and higher reading and math proficiency rates during the second and third study years. These findings demonstrate medium effect sizes for all outcomes except suspensions. Given the widespread use of SW-PBIS across nearly 26,000 schools in the U.S., this study has important implications for educational practices and policies.

The Parent Leadership Institute (PLI) of Children's Aid (CA), funded via a 2013 Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant operated between the 2014-15 through 2018-19 school years. Key goals of the PLI included: (1) improving the capacity of parents to effectively engage in the school community in support of their child; and (2) increasing the capacity of school staff to create and support environments which are welcoming to and supportive of the active engagement of parents as key members of the school community. Through implementation of the PLI, CA expanded its partnership with six schools located in the South Bronx community of Morrisania, an area characterized by high levels of poverty, health disparities, and crime, and low levels of academic achievement and attainment among both children and adults. This report serves as the final report on this phase of the PLI and includes an exploration of implementation during year 4 (2016-17 school year) and analyses of quantitative data on student academic performance. [This report was prepared for Children's Aid New York.]

In contrast to prior federally mandated school reforms, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) allows states more discretion in reforming their lowest performing schools, removes requirements to disrupt the status quo, and does not allocate substantial additional funds. Using a regression discontinuity design, we evaluate a state turnaround initiative aligned with ESSA requirements. We find the effect on student test score growth was not significant in year one and -0.13 in year two. Also in year two, we find that teachers in turnaround schools were 22.5 percentage points more likely to turn over. Teacher turnover appears to have been voluntary rather than the result of strategic staffing decisions.

Nearly two dozen states now administer online exams to deliver testing to K-12 students. These tests have real consequences: their results feed into accountability systems, which have been used for more than a decade to hold schools and districts accountable for their students’ learning. We examine the rollout of computerbased testing in Massachusetts over 2 years to investigate test mode effects. Crucial to the study design is the state administering the same exam (PARCC) in online and offline formats each year during the transitional period. We find an online test penalty of about 0.10 standard deviations in math and 0.25 standard deviations in English language arts (ELA), which partially but not fully fades out in the second year of online testing.

Three central Virginia school districts and engineering education researchers at the University of Virginia were awarded an Investing in Innovation development grant to design, implement, test, and nationally disseminate a project-based engineering curriculum for middle school students. Referred to as invention kits, the curriculum is developed to teach key science and engineering principles and related skills to Grades 7 or 8 students by constructing modern interpretations of 19th-century inventions that sparked industrial activity within society: the solenoid, the linear motor, and the linear generator. As part of the external evaluation, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted an impact study to assess the invention kits' effect on students' engineering and physical science knowledge, as well as students' interest and confidence in STEM learning. The study used a quasi-experimental comparison group design investigating differences in student pre- and-posttests during the 2017-18 school year. Students in four schools across the three districts used a set of three invention kits in their engineering electives, as compared with students taking engineering electives in three schools within one district that had business-as-usual engineering curriculum. AIR studied implementation of the kits by collecting data reported by teachers on student use of kit components, interviews with teachers on how kits were incorporated into their engineering elective curriculum and adapted for use with their students, and observations of kits in use during site visits. The research team did not find a statistically significant difference between the physical science and engineering assessment scores of students who used the kits and comparison students. The research team did not find a statistically significant difference between the measures of STEM interest and confidence of students who used the kits and comparison students. Teachers and students in two of the four schools in the treatment group implemented the three invention kits with fidelity (defined as with at least 75% of their students, using at least 60% of kit components). One of the three kits (Solenoid) was implemented with fidelity by all four participating schools.

Reading Apprenticeship is a model of academic literacy instruction designed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) at WestEd to improve student literacy skills and academic achievement. Based on understandings of the close relationship between curricular reform and professional development, Reading Apprenticeship includes an instructional framework and associated professional development model for secondary and post-secondary teachers across the academic subject areas. Teachers across the subject areas learn how to build student capacities to carry out intellectually engaged reading, make meaning, acquire academic and disciplinary language, read independently, and set personal goals for literacy development. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education awarded SLI a three-year Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant to disseminate Reading Apprenticeship professional learning through the Reading Apprenticeship Across the Disciplines (RAAD) project, a cross-disciplinary blended model of Reading Apprenticeship. Through RAAD, WestEd served 2,240 teachers from 570 schools in 6 states (California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin). As part of the grant, IMPAQ International conducted an independent evaluation of RAAD effectiveness. This report presents findings from the randomized controlled trial conducted in California, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin. The impact evaluation employed a group-randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which 40 middle schools from 6 blocks, labeled A through F, were randomly assigned to a treatment group (19 schools), which received the RAAD intervention; or a control group (21 schools), which was set to receive delayed professional development. Grade 7 or 8 English Language Arts (ELA), science, and social studies teachers recruited from treatment schools received the RAAD professional development and ongoing support during the 2016-18 study period, while control schools conducted business as usual. Two years of data were collected from the study schools. Findings from this study demonstrate the success of the RAAD project in offering teachers professional learning and support to scale to help them change their instructional practices to foster metacognitive inquiry, increase class time spent reading, and encourage use of collaboration and reading strategies by students. These findings were accompanied by significant reduction in traditional teacher practices and are consistent with positive findings from other studies of Reading Apprenticeship. However, this study also shows that this iteration of the Reading Apprenticeship fell short of improving student literacy and achievement as measured by standardized assessments.

The Middle-Grades Leadership Development (MLD) Project was designed to develop principal leaders and leadership teams who create high-performing middle-grades schools. Designed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded from 2013 to 2017 by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant. The project was implemented in 12 middle-grades schools in rural and small town areas of Kentucky and Michigan. Schools received an extensive set of school improvement supports, including: creating a vision using the Forum's Schools to Watch (STW) criteria; engaging in an assessment and planning process for improvement; STW leadership coach; principal mentor; STW mentor schools; leadership team; networking opportunities; and focused professional development. The evaluation of the MLD Project used a quasi-experimental design (QED) with matched comparison schools (12 treatment schools and 38 comparison schools) to examine the impact of the project on intermediate outcomes such as culture, collaboration, work climate, and teaching efficacy, as well as the long term outcomes of principal effectiveness and student achievement. Results showed that MLD treatment schools significantly improved their collaboration practices, teaching efficacy, middle-grades instructional practices, and their implementation of the STW criteria for high performance. There was significant improvement in the long-term outcome of principal effectiveness among treatment principals, with nine of the twelve principals improving their leadership skills and behaviors to the proficient or distinguished levels by the end of the grant. Although there was no overall intervention effect on ELA/reading or math student achievement, seven treatment schools displayed larger growth than the state average for some groups of students. The results provide unique insight into a middle-grades program focused on principal leaders and collaborative leadership. A roadmap that depicts the key supports, activities, and practices implemented at MLD schools that were the most impactful on building middle-grades leadership effectiveness were articulated. These include school-level practices (i.e., guiding vision, continuous improvement practices, reflective practices), principal-level practices (i.e., knowledge of young adolescents, commitment to developmentally appropriate practices, instructional leadership), collaborative leadership practices (i.e., developing teacher leaders, shared capacity), and teaching practices (i.e., student centered, high expectations, rigorous instruction) that combined, result in middle-grades leadership that is more effective. [The report was prepared by the Center for Prevention Research and Development.]

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas. Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their existing curriculum across all content areas. The 2016-2017 school year was the first year of implementation, following a pilot year during which the implementation plan, instruments, data collection processes, and analytical methodologies were refined. Participants across all groups reported positive attitudes toward LDC and perceive a positive impact on student outcomes. Analysis of module artifacts suggest that teachers at the elementary school level were moderately successful in the backwards design process, particularly in developing high-quality writing tasks for students. As an ongoing multiyear intervention, the LDC implementation will continue to evolve year to year as participants provide feedback and LDC program managers make refinements. Thus, we anticipate that further significant changes to the course material and the delivery system that are already in progress for Year 2 will likely result in continued and possibly increased positive feedback. [Funding for this work was provided by the Literacy Design Collaborative.]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a school-wide attendance and truancy intervention and universal procedures (ATI-UP) on student attendance. Student attendance was measured through average daily attendance and the percentage of students who would be considered chronically absent, i.e., missing 10% or more of school. The sample included 27 elementary schools in Oregon implementing school-wide positive behavior intervention and supports (SWPBIS) with varying levels of fidelity. Results indicate that schools can have a moderate effect on increasing average daily attendance (ADA) and a small effect on decreasing chronic absenteeism, although these results were not statistically significant. SWPBIS implementation did not act as a statistically significant moderator on the ATI-UP effects, although the treatment effect on ADA decreased with higher SWPBIS implementation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of evaluation findings at the culmination of the Collaborative Regional Education (CORE) i3 2013 grant, including implementation and impact results from the local and national study phases. The goal of CORE is to have a positive impact on students' college and work readiness outcomes by improving teachers' use of classroom technology and project-based learning (PBL). This report provides details on data collection procedures and results obtained during school year (SY) 2017-18, which represents the second year of the national-phase study and final year of the evaluation. Impact and implementation study findings from all grant years are presented separately in the report.

Purpose: We examined the effectiveness of a multistrategy inference intervention designed to increase inference making and reading comprehension for middle-grade struggling readers. Method: A total of 66 middle-grade struggling readers were randomized to treatment (n = 33) and comparison (n = 33) conditions. Students in the treatment group received explicit instruction in 4 inference strategies (i.e., clarification using text clues; activating and using prior knowledge; understanding character perspectives and author's purpose; answering inferential questions). In addition, narrative and informational texts were carefully chosen and sequenced to build requisite background knowledge to form inferences. Intervention was delivered in small groups of 3 students for 10 days of instruction. Results: One-way analysis of covariance models on outcome measures with the respective pretest scores as a covariate revealed significant gains on a proximal measure of Egyptian-content knowledge (g = 1.37) and on a standardized measure of reading comprehension--i.e., Wechsler Individual Achievement Test--Third Edition Reading Comprehension (g = 0.46). Conclusion: The moderate effect on a standardized measure of reading comprehension provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of this multistrategy inference intervention in improving reading comprehension of middle-grade struggling readers.

To succeed in today's economy, students need both proficiency in the "three Rs" (reading, writing and arithmetic) and strong applied skills. Communication skills, team work, and critical thinking have long been at the top of employers' lists of applied skills they seek in employees. States are responding to employers' needs by putting in place new educational standards. These standards include not only higher levels of basic academic knowledge that students are expected to master but also applied skills pertaining to presenting information, explaining one's reasoning, and effectively collaborating in groups. As a result, teachers nationwide are having students work in groups more frequently. This report examines a recent large-scale effort to expand a cooperative learning program in middle schools. The change in standard instructional practices gives schools a chance to not only teach students applied skills, but improve students' academic learning, if they can help teachers turn "group work" into "cooperative learning teams." PowerTeaching, a structured cooperative learning program, was designed to do just that. Thus, the expansion of PowerTeaching through a federal Investing in Innovation grant offers the education field a unique opportunity to learn what it takes to help teachers create cooperative learning environments in their classrooms. This report presents the lessons learned from this scale-up effort and findings from a multiyear evaluation of it. It describes how PowerTeaching was implemented over the first few years, how classrooms with the program differed from those without it, and whether students in the program performed better in math. The evaluation found that while teachers who taught with PowerTeaching learned to place their students into longstanding mixed-ability groups, which are thought to be conducive to cooperative learning, teachers did not consistently use the program's instructional techniques that transform group work into cooperative learning. In turn, students' math performance did not differ significantly between schools using the program and schools not using it. A likely cause for the weak implementation was that the ongoing professional development, which is an integral part of the PowerTeaching program, mostly did not occur or focused more on teaching the new material required by recently adopted education standards rather than on cooperative learning techniques. The evaluation thus points to the importance of focused, ongoing training and support when trying to modify teachers' instructional practices. This report was written with Deni Chen, Ashley Kennedy, and Joseph Quinn.

In this experimental study we examined the effects of a technology-mediated, multicomponent reading comprehension intervention, Comprehension Circuit Training (CCT), for middle school students, the majority of whom were struggling readers. The study was conducted in three schools, involving three teachers and 228 students. Using a within-teacher design, middle school teachers' reading classes were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 9) or business as usual (n = 7) conditions. In the CCT condition, students received, on average, 39 lessons of video-modeled instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction during reading intervention classes. Results of multilevel structural equation models indicated statistically significant effects favoring the CCT condition on three measures: reading comprehension latent variable (ES = 0.14), proximal vocabulary (ES = 0.43), and silent reading efficiency (ES = 0.28). Subgroup analyses indicated that students with lower entry-level reading comprehension tended to benefit more from the CCT intervention in reading comprehension, silent reading efficiency, and state test scores.

In 2011, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) received an Investing in Innovation (i3) Grant through the U.S. Department of Education. UAF applied for the grant to expand the predominantly rural-serving Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP) to urban settings. ASMP is a professional development initiative that supplies fully released, highly trained mentors to early career teachers (ECTs). UAF's i3 grant, The Urban Growth Opportunity (UGO), included five districts: Anchorage, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and Sitka. This is the final report for the grant conducted over four years (2011 2012 to 2014 2015). The research team randomly assigned 556 ECTs to treatment (UGO) and business as usual (BAU) groups. UGO ECTs received an ASMP mentor for two years; BAU ECTs received their districts' business as usual support that varied by district and included content coaches without mentoring support and non-ASMP instructional mentoring support. Researchers conducted impact, implementation, and intervention studies. The impact study included seven outcomes: teacher retention; teacher instructional practice as measured by the three Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) domains (Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support); and student achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics as measured by the state assessment. While UGO ECTs were retained as teachers in Alaska public schools at higher rates than BAU ECTs, the difference was not statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences between UGO and BAU ECTs on instructional practices as measured by CLASS®. Finally, student achievement was generally higher for students of UGO ECTs, but differences in achievement were statistically significant only for some student groups: primary reading students and secondary math students who were White, Hispanic, Alaskan Native, or two or more races. Results from the implementation study, conducted over three of the four years of implementation, found ASMP implemented UGO with fidelity across all components: mentor recruitment and assignment, mentor participation in professional development, mentor interaction with their ECTs, and mentors' use of formative assessment tools. Results from the intervention study identified two types of mentor-mentee dyads: Gliders and Sliders, with gliders engaging in longer conversations, focused more explicitly on instruction and students, responding to each other more often, and engaging as peers more frequently than the slider dyads.

Working memory (WM) is the ability to temporarily store and retrieve a limited amount of information during complex cognitive activities, especially in the face of distraction. The dual-component model describes WM as including active maintenance in primary memory (PM) and cue-dependent search and retrieval from secondary memory (SM). Previously, researchers have found that WM training (WMT) fails to enhance SM capacity, a component that mediates the relationship between WM and fluid reasoning (gF). Thus, a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was conducted to elucidate whether retrieval from SM could be targeted using a two-component WMT regimen versus two control conditions: adaptive one-component WMT targeting solely PM capacity and non-adaptive one-component WMT. Participants were 174 adolescents, aged 10 to 13 years, who were assessed before, after, and six-moths following training. Retrieval from SM was measured using delayed free recall tasks, far transfer to gF was assessed with matrix reasoning and verbal inference tests, and far transfer to academic performance was assessed with reading and math tests. It was predicted that solely two-component WMT would enhance retrieval from SM and result in far transfer. ANCOVAs with pre-test scores as the covariate indicated that two-component participants increased total errors over controls. There were no significant differences between the groups on recall latency, total correct, or gF measures. The non-adaptive one-component group significantly improved on reading, although a drop in the other two groups drove the effect. Additional research is needed to elucidate whether theoretically-motivated WMT can positively impact higher-level cognition through SM retrieval mechanisms. [This paper was published in "Journal of Cognitive Enhancement" v1 p455-477 2017.]

Data-based instructional programs have proliferated in American schools despite limited evidence of their effectiveness in improving educator practice and raising student achievement. We report results from a two-year school-randomized evaluation of the Achievement Network (ANet), a program providing schools with standards-aligned interim assessments and intensive supports for instructional data use. Survey data show that ANet increased teacher satisfaction with the timeliness and clarity of the data they receive and available supports for instructional data-use and caused them to review and use interim assessment data more often. ANet did not, however, affect their confidence in data use or how frequently they differentiated instruction. Student impact estimates show no overall effect on student achievement in English language arts or mathematics. Despite the lack program effects on student achievement, we find that achievement is positively correlated with our survey-based measures of teacher perceptions and practices around instructional data use. Exploratory analyses suggest that the success of ANet in improving teacher practice and student achievement varies with the pre-existing capacity of schools to engage in data-based instruction. Schools rated by program staff as having a high level of readiness to implement the intervention prior to random assignment experienced positive impacts on student achievement, while those rated as a having a low level of readiness experienced negative impacts. The following are appended: (1) School Screener Scoring Rubric; (2) Year 2 School Leader and Teacher Survey Scale Items; and (3) School Leader and Teacher Survey Impact Tables.

In August 2010, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) received a grant of more than $25 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) program for a five-year study to validate its Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model in three very diverse regions of the United States: rural North Carolina, northern New Mexico, and the Houston Independent School District (HISD). This current report focuses on the confirmatory and exploratory research questions submitted to i3 for the two studies conducted for the LASER i3 validation grant, providing clarifying detail related to methodology and instrumentation. The studies were conducted to answer two confirmatory research questions and two exploratory research questions.

Middle school algebra students (N = 125) randomly assigned within classroom to a Problem-solving control group, a Correct worked examples control group, or an Incorrect worked examples group, completed an experimental classroom study to assess the differential effects of incorrect examples versus the two control groups on students' algebra learning, competence expectancy, and sense of belonging to math class. The study also explored whether prior knowledge impacted the effectiveness of the intervention. A greater sense of belonging and competence expectancy predicted greater learning overall. Students' sense of belonging to math and competence expectancies were high at the start of the study and did not increase as a result of the intervention. A significant interaction between prior knowledge and incorrect worked examples on post-test scores revealed that students with low prior knowledge who struggle with learning math benefit most from reflecting on highlighted errors within an incorrect worked examples intervention. The unique contributions of these findings as well as educational implications are discussed. [This article was published in "Learning and Individual Differences," v48 p36-44 May 2016.]

Middle school algebra students (N = 125) randomly assigned within classroom to a Problem-solving control group, a Correct worked examples control group, or an Incorrect worked examples group, completed an experimental classroom study to assess the differential effects of incorrect examples versus the two control groups on students' algebra learning, competence expectancy, and sense of belonging to math class. The study also explored whether prior knowledge impacted the effectiveness of the intervention. A greater sense of belonging and competence expectancy predicted greater learning overall. Students' sense of belonging to math and competence expectancies were high at the start of the study and did not increase as a result of the intervention. A significant interaction between prior knowledge and incorrect worked examples on post-test scores revealed that students with low prior knowledge who struggle with learning math benefit most from reflecting on highlighted errors within an incorrect worked examples intervention. The unique contributions of these findings as well as educational implications are discussed. [This article was published in "Learning and Individual Differences," v48 p36-44 May 2016.]

Structural behavioral assessment (SBA) involves a series of heuristic approaches similar to those used with functional behavioral assessment (FBA). It involves assessing contextual variables that precede the occurrence of a behavior. These variables have also been termed antecedents, setting events, or establishing operations. Once these variables have been assessed, contextually based manipulations are developed and implemented, and interventions are developed from the results to reduce or prevent challenging behaviors from occurring. A major advantage of structural assessment is that teachers may find interventions based on the results easy to implement and relevant to the classroom. However, most of the research on SBA has been conducted with younger children with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and those with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to extend the research by training a general education teacher to use SBA to develop interventions for secondary students displaying challenging behaviors who are at risk in general education classrooms. An alternating treatments design was used with four at-risk middle school students. Results indicated that a brief SBA can easily be conducted in general education classrooms, and interventions developed from manipulations can not only decrease (a) verbal outbursts (e.g., talking out of turn, arguing, laughing at inappropriate times); (b) inappropriate contact with others (e.g., touching, pushing, hitting, kicking, braiding hair); (c) taking other's belongings; (d) being out of the student's assigned seat without permission; and (e) passing notes but also increase writing and eyes on materials or eyes on the teacher during a language arts class. Implications for practice and future research are described.

This five-year evaluation examined the effectiveness of a promising middle-school mathematics intervention funded through an Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant. Evaluation objectives were to: (1) study the impact of an intervention aimed at increasing the academic achievement of students in Algebra I--a gate-keeping course--as measured by student performance on an end-of-year state test in mathematics; and (2) better understand the relationship between intervention impact and implementation fidelity, as measured by levels of compliance by teachers with the study protocol. The intervention was piloted in Year 2 of the grant (2011-12 school year) that was followed by a two-year [randomized control trial] RCT in grant years 3 (2012-13 school year) and 4 (2013-14 school year). Data collected in the RCT years were focused on impact and exploratory analyses, respectively. For the RCT component, 70 Grade 8 Algebra I teachers were recruited from 15 school districts across California. Randomization, conducted by WestEd in spring 2012, was conducted at the teacher level. Students were assigned to classrooms without knowledge of the group membership of teachers (treatment vs. control), using each district's routine placement policies. Fidelity of implementation study was monitored by collecting systematically information from teachers assigned to the treatment condition throughout the course of the study. The contrast of interest was performance on a standardized Algebra I test by students assigned to classrooms taught by treatment teachers compared to performance by students assigned to classrooms taught by control teachers. The final analytic sample for the 2012-13 cohort included 1,384 students assigned to 28 treatment teachers and 1,088 students assigned to 27 control teachers. None of the contrasts showed a statistically significant difference at the 0.05 level. Students who were assigned to classrooms taught by treatment teachers did not perform differently in relation to those assigned to classrooms taught by control teachers. Overall findings from the implementation study indicated that great variability emerged in the ways in which teachers implemented the intervention. The threshold for fidelity was reached with only one component (Instructional Unit #1) of the four studied (three instructional units and professional coaching). The following appendices are included: (1) Logic Model: SLOPE (DEV11) v.13; (2) Teacher Background Survey; (3) Interpreting Intervention Impact through the Lens of Implementation Fidelity: Findings from a Federally Funded Evaluation--Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Chicago, Illinois, April 19, 2015); (4) Implementation Survey for Air Traffic Control; (5) 2012-2013 Measuring Fidelity of Implementation for Algebra I Drop-in Units: DEV11 (SLOPE); (6) Teacher-Level Participation in i3 SLOPE Evaluation (2011-2014); and (7) Findings from Evaluator Study of Implementation: Implementation Year 1.

This study uses a randomized design to assess the impact of the Balanced Leadership program on principal leadership, instructional climate, principal efficacy, staff turnover, and student achievement in a sample of rural northern Michigan schools. Participating principals report feeling more efficacious, using more effective leadership practices, and having a better instructional climate than control group principals. However, teacher reports indicate that the instructional climate of the schools did not change. Furthermore, we find no impact of the program on student achievement. There was an impact of the program on staff turnover, with principals and teachers in treatment schools significantly more likely to remain in the same school over the 3 years of the study than staff in control schools.

Too many students drop out and never earn their high school diploma. For students at risk of dropping out, academic, social, and other supports may help. "Communities In Schools" seeks to organize and provide these supports to at-risk students in the nation's poorest-performing schools, including through "case-managed" services. This report, the first of two from a random assignment evaluation of "Communities In Schools" case management, focuses primarily on the implementation of case management in 28 secondary schools during the 2012-2013 school year. The report also includes interim one-year findings about case management's impact on student outcomes. The report concludes with suggestions for improvement for "Communities In Schools" based mainly on the implementation findings. The next report will present two-year impact findings and more about the implementation of case management in the 2013-2014 school year. Appended to the report are: (1) Statistical Model and Statistical Power; and (2) Sample and Response Analysis.

The Schools to Watch: School Transformation Network Project is a whole school reform model designed to improve the educational practices, experiences, and outcomes of low-performing middle-grades schools. Developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded in 2010 by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of the project on intermediate outcomes such as culture, collaboration, and instructional practices as well as the long term outcome of student achievement. The study employed a quasi-experimental design where two student cohorts were tracked over four years at 34 schools (17 intervention and 17 comparison) in three states. The intervention schools were comprised of persistently low-performing middle-grades schools serving high need students. Comparison schools were selected using key demographics to match to intervention schools. Several process and measurement tools for assessing implementation and intermediate outcomes were used, including surveys, the STW criteria rating rubric, coach's logs, and focus groups. The long term outcome data for the impact study included student English and math achievement scores on annual standardized state assessments. To examine achievement scores between intervention and comparison students, a series of 2-level models (students within schools) were run to assess 8th grade achievement (i.e., after students received all three years of the intervention). Results showed that i3 STW Project schools improved their culture and climate, collaboration practices, leadership practices, STW criteria implementation, and classroom instructional practices. There was no overall intervention effect on either English or math student achievement, however, significant results were found for the highest implemented schools, those project schools that achieved STW designation during the project. The results of the study provide unique insight into the reform process for i3 STW Project schools as well as other middle-grades schools that are struggling to improve. The multiple supports provided by the project combined with the guiding vision of the STW criteria and rubric supported these high need schools to improve contextual factors (i.e., culture, collaboration, leadership, teaching and learning practices), and for a subsample of schools, student achievement. Districts and schools embarking on reform need to focus on collaborative leadership, have a guiding vision, use a continuous improvement model for instructional improvements, and value networking with other schools to gain knowledge. Two appendices are included: (1) Psychometric Properties of the Self-Study Survey Constructs; and (2) Fidelity Matrix for National Forum's STW School Transformation Network Project.

Previous research has linked inquiry-based science instruction (i.e., science instruction that engages students in doing science rather than just learning about science) with greater gains in student learning than text-book based methods (Vanosdall, Klentschy, Hedges & Weisbaum, 2007; Banilower, 2007; Ferguson 2009; Bredderman, 1983; Shymansky, Hedges, & Woodworth, 1990). The LASER model, being validated in the current study, has already been the subject of a number of case studies (RMC Research Corporation, 2010; Horizon Research, 2010; Vanosdall et al., 2007). However, experimental studies of the type that might establish a causal link between program implementation, student science learning, and other valued outcomes have yet to be conducted. Only a handful of studies have involved random assignment, and most of these have involved random assignment of students in a relatively small number of classrooms (see Furtak et al. 2009). With support from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation Fund (i3), the current validation study of the LASER Model encompasses approximately 60,000 students, 1,900 teachers, and over 140 district administrators and principals. The efficacy of the LASER program has important implications for both research and practice when working with high-poverty schools and districts, who have limited resources and time available for science interventions. LASER's initial success with early learners also demonstrates its potential for reducing the development of chronic, long-term deficiencies and academic problems. One table and one figure are appended.

TAP™: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement was launched in 1999 as a comprehensive educator effectiveness model to offer career advancement and leadership opportunities for educators, a fair and transparent evaluation process linked to job-embedded professional development and performance-based compensation, which culminate in improved instructional practices and student achievement. This study illustrates the impact of the TAP System in 66 Louisiana schools. These are primarily high-need schools, with average free/reduced price lunch eligibility of 86%, impacting more than 32,000 students each year. The authors report evidence of a positive effect of the TAP System on student achievement using two complementary analysis strategies: (1) They found a significant positive effect of TAP on 2012-13 K-8 Assessment Index scores, controlling for previous achievement, percentage of students receiving free or reduced price lunch, school configuration, school size (number of students), and percentage of English language learners. The 66 TAP schools scored 3.7 points higher on average than non-TAP schools statewide; and (2) They also found that the TAP schools had significantly greater 2012-13 Assessment Index scores than a group of matched control schools. The TAP schools scored 5.5 points higher on average than their matched controls.

This article examines the effectiveness of a technology-based algebra curriculum in a wide variety of middle schools and high schools in seven states. Participating schools were matched into similar pairs and randomly assigned to either continue with the current algebra curriculum for 2 years or to adopt Cognitive Tutor Algebra I (CTAI), which uses a personalized, mastery-learning, blended-learning approach. Schools assigned to implement CTAI did so under conditions similar to schools that independently adopt it. Analysis of posttest outcomes on an algebra proficiency exam finds no effects in the first year of implementation, but finds evidence in support of positive effects in the second year. The estimated effect is statistically significant for high schools but not for middle schools; in both cases, the magnitude is sufficient to improve the median student's performance by approximately eight percentile points.

Interim assessments are increasingly common in U.S. schools. We use high-quality data from a large-scale school-level cluster randomized experiment to examine the impact of two well-known commercial interim assessment programs on mathematics and reading achievement in Indiana. Results indicate that the treatment effects are positive but not consistently significant. The treatment effects are smaller in lower grades (i.e., kindergarten to second grade) and larger in upper grades (i.e., third to eighth grade). Significant treatment effects are detected in Grades 3 to 8, especially in third- and fourth-grade reading and in fifth- and sixth-grade mathematics.

This study explored the effects of a web-based decision support system ("Tutorial") for writing standards-based Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). A total of 35 teachers and 154 students participated across two academic years. Participants were assigned to one of three intervention groups based on level of "Tutorial" access: Full, Partial, or Comparison. Direct effects of the intervention on procedural and substantive elements of IEPs revealed that, although all groups had initial IEPs of similar quality, the Full Intervention group's post-"Tutorial" IEPs had a significantly higher proportion of substantive items rated as adequate than did the IEPs of other groups. The intervention's indirect effects were examined using student scores on the State Reading Assessment. The Full Intervention group demonstrated a higher rate of reading score gain than the other two groups during the academic year in which the IEP prepared with access to the "Tutorial" was implemented. Implications for educational practices and future research directions are discussed.

Background: School-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) programs can influence not only SECD but also academic-related outcomes. This study evaluated the impact of one SECD program, Positive Action (PA), on educational outcomes among low-income, urban youth. Methods: The longitudinal study used a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled design. Student-reported disaffection with learning and academic grades, and teacher ratings of academic ability and motivation were assessed for a cohort followed from grades 3 to 8. Aggregate school records were used to assess standardized test performance (for entire school, cohort, and demographic subgroups) and absenteeism (entire school). Multilevel growth-curve analyses tested program effects. Results: PA significantly improved growth in academic motivation and mitigated disaffection with learning. There was a positive impact of PA on absenteeism and marginally significant impact on math performance of all students. There were favorable program effects on reading for African American boys and cohort students transitioning between grades 7 and 8, and on math for girls and low-income students. Conclusions: A school-based SECD program was found to influence academic outcomes among students living in low-income, urban communities. Future research should examine mechanisms by which changes in SECD influence changes in academic outcomes.

Improving the long-term life outcomes of disadvantaged youth remains a top policy priority in the United States, although identifying successful interventions for adolescents--particularly males--has proven challenging. This paper reports results from a large randomized controlled trial of an intervention for disadvantaged male youth grades 7-10 from high-crime Chicago neighborhoods. The intervention was delivered by two local non-profits and included regular interactions with a pro-social adult, after-school programming, and--perhaps the most novel ingredient--in-school programming designed to reduce common judgment and decision-making problems related to automatic behavior and biased beliefs, or what psychologists call cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We randomly assigned 2,740 youth to programming or to a control group; about half those offered programming participated, with the average participant attending 13 sessions. Program participation reduced violent-crime arrests during the program year by 8.1 per 100 youth (a 44 percent reduction). It also generated sustained gains in schooling outcomes equal to 0.14 standard deviations during the program year and 0.19 standard deviations during the follow-up year, which we estimate could lead to higher graduation rates of 3-10 percentage points (7-22 percent). Depending on how one monetizes the social costs of crime, the benefit-cost ratio may be as high as 30:1 from reductions in criminal activity alone. [A full list of sponsors of this project can be found on NBER's web site: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19014.ack.]

Charter schools--public schools of choice that are operated autonomously, outside the direct control of local school districts--have become more prevalent over the past two decades. There is no consensus about whether, on average, charter schools are doing better or worse than conventional public schools at promoting the achievement of their students. Nonetheless, one research finding is clear: Effects vary widely among different charter schools. Many educators, policymakers, and funders are interested in ways to identify and replicate successful charter schools and help other public schools adopt effective charter school practices. Charter-school management organizations (CMOs), which establish and operate multiple charter schools, represent one prominent attempt to bring high performance to scale. The National Study of CMO Effectiveness aims to fill the gap in systematic evidence about CMOs, providing the first rigorous nationwide examination of CMOs' effects on students' achievement and attainment. The study includes an examination of the relationships between the practices of individual CMOs and their effects on student achievement, with the aim of providing useful guidance to the field. This updated edition of the report provides key findings from the study on CMO practices, impacts, and the relationships between them. A forthcoming report will explore promising practices in greater depth. This study uses multiple data sources to describe CMOs, assess their impacts on students, and identify practices associated with positive impacts in order to address the following research questions: (1) How quickly are CMOs growing? Which students and areas do they serve and what resources do they use? What are the practices and structures of CMOs? What state policies and other factors appear to influence the location and growth of CMOs?; (2) What are the impacts of CMOs on student outcomes and to what extent do these impacts vary across CMOs?; and (3) Which CMO practices and structures are positively associated with impacts? To examine eligible CMOs and address the research questions, the authors conducted a survey of CMO central office staff, surveys of CMO principals and principals in nearby conventional public schools, a survey of CMO teachers, and site visits to 10 CMOs and 20 schools. In addition, they collected and analyzed school records with data on student characteristics and outcomes (including test scores), and they examined CMO financial records and business plans. Findings include: (1) Comprehensive behavior policies are positively associated with student impacts; (2) Intensive teacher coaching is positively associated with student impacts; (3) CMOs using TFA and teaching fellow teachers have higher impacts, but other staffing decisions are not associated with impacts; (4) CMOs categorized as "data-driven" and "time on task" have larger impacts, on average, than two other categories of CMOs; and (5) Tightness of CMO management is weakly associated with impacts. As is often the case in studies of this kind, some of the interesting findings raise other important questions. The following questions are discussed in this report: (1) To what extent do CMOs produce positive effects on longer term student outcomes?; (2) What explains why some CMOs have negative impacts on test scores?; (3) Which promising strategies should CMOs implement and how should they implement them?; (5) To what extent do CMOs add value compared to independent charter schools?; (6) Are new CMOs using the same strategies and producing the same impacts as more established CMOs?; and (7) What other factors might contribute to CMO impacts? Appended are: (1) Construction and Analysis of Measures Used in Chapter III; (2) Experimental Impacts; (3) Validation of Impact Estimation Approach; (4) Methodology for Estimating CMO and School- Level Impacts on Achievement in Middle- Schools; (5) Baseline Equivalence; (6) Method for Dealing with Grade Repetition; (7) Methodology and Results for CMO Impacts on High School Achievement and Attainment; (8) Impacts on Middle School Test Scores by CMO, Year, and Subject; (9) Comparing CMO and Independent Charter Impacts; (10) Subgroup Impacts; (11) Multiple Comparison Adjustments for Impact Analyses; (12) Methods for Correlating Impacts and CMO Characteristics; and (13) Correlational Analysis Results. Individual chapters contain footnotes. (Contains 56 tables and 49 figures.) [This document was commissioned by NewSchools Venture Fund and written with assistance from Michael Barna, Emily Caffery, Hanley Chiang, John Deke, Melissa Dugger, Emma Ernst, Alena Davidoff-Gore, Eric Grau, Thomas Decker, Mason DeCamillis, Philip Gleason, Amanda Hakanson, Jane Nelson, Antoniya Owens, Julie Redline, Davin Reed, Chris Rodger, Margaret Sullivan, Christina Tuttle, Justin Vigeant, Tiffany Waits, and Clare Wolfendale. For an earlier edition of this report, "The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness. Charter-School Management Organizations: Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts," see ED526951.]

In 2009, the United States Department of Education conducted a competition for a second round of Striving Readers grants. Its dual purpose was to: (1) Raise middle and high school students' literacy levels in Title I-eligible schools with significant numbers of students reading below grade level; and (2) Build a strong, scientific research base for identifying and replicating strategies that improve adolescent literacy skills through a required experimental study design. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), Washington's state education agency, joined together with evaluators at Education Northwest to submit a proposal for the competition. Washington state was one of just eight states to be awarded Striving Readers grants in the second round. The grant originally included a planning year, followed by three years of implementation in selected schools. However, Congress eliminated the funding for the program in spring 2011, three-quarters of the way through the first year of implementation. Existing funding was sufficient to complete the first year of program implementation and data collection, but the second and third years of implementation did not take place. Therefore, this Year 1 evaluation report is the only report about the program's implementation and outcomes. Five schools from three districts in Western Washington participated in Washington Striving Readers. Across the five schools, a total of 176 students participated in the treatment condition and 182 students were in the control condition. The program offered 70 hours of professional development for teachers, and all teachers participated in at least 90 percent of these offerings. All teachers also received the intended amount of in-class support, defined as at least 12 visits from a project coach with each visit lasting at least one hour. The study examined four aspects of program implementation: teachers' receipt of the intended professional development, their receipt of in-class coaching, their delivery of the programs as intended, and the completion of all the lessons that were supposed to be covered. Researchers used three different assessments to measure impact: (1) "Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test"; (2) two subtests from the "Woodcock Reading Mastery" assessment--the word attack and word identification subtests; and (3) scores from the "Measure of Student Progress" ("MSP"). Researchers examined the overall impact of Washington Striving Readers using a fixed effects regression model that accounted for the random assignment of students within schools and groups. The findings demonstrated that it is possible to make a statistically significant difference in struggling students' overall literacy achievement in the course of one school year. Students in the Washington Striving Readers intervention performed better on the state reading assessment than did students in the control condition, who did not receive any supplemental reading support. The following are appended: (1) Washington Striving Readers Implementation Measures; (2) Baseline Equivalence of Treatment and Control Groups; and (3) Detailed Regression Analysis Results.

By the end of school year (SY) 2008-2009, Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) applied for and was awarded a four-year Striving Readers grant to implement the "Virginia Striving Readers Intervention Initiative" (VSRII). VSRII proposed to implement a supplemental reading intervention with students in seventh and eighth grades at nine public schools in three school divisions in Virginia. The school division representatives chose to implement "Passport Reading Journeys (PRJ)," an intervention that was already in use in many Virginian schools. "PRJ" had been studied previously in other school districts using quasi-experimental designs, but had not been tested with an experimental study. A total of 913 students were eligible to participate. This report presents provisional findings from the first implementation year of VSRII (SY 2010-2011) and its preliminary impact on participating students. [Written with Kristina Najera, Laura Taylor, and Trina Willard.]

In this study, 72 secondary English teachers from the Santa Ana Unified School District were randomly assigned to participate in the Pathway Project, a cognitive strategies approach to teaching interpretive reading and analytical writing, or to a control condition involving typical district training focusing on teaching content from the textbook. Pathway teachers learned how to use an on-demand writing assessment to help mainstreamed English learners understand, interpret, and write analytical essays. In Year 2, treatment effects were replicated on an on-demand writing assessment (d = 0.67) and showed evidence of transfer to improved performance on a standardized writing test (d = 0.10). The results underscore the efficacy of a cognitive strategies reading/writing intervention for mainstreamed English learners (ELs) in the secondary grades. (Contains 1 note, 4 tables, and 3 figures.)

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an effective method of promoting change in adults, but research on adolescents is limited. This study tests the efficacy of MI for promoting academic achievement in middle school students. Participants were 103 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students randomly assigned to either a MI (n = 50) or a waitlist control condition (n = 53). Students in the MI condition participated in a single MI session during the 7th or 8th week of the second semester. In comparison to the control group, students who received MI demonstrated significant improvements in their class participation, overall positive academic behavior, and significantly higher 4th quarter math grades. Thus, consistent with other studies finding single session effects of MI, a single MI session can have beneficial effects on academic behaviors. Pending further study and replication of these findings, MI could become an efficient and effective new counseling approach for improving academic performance. (Contains 2 tables.)

The New York City Leadership Academy represents a unique experiment by a large urban school district to train and develop its own school leaders. Its 14-month Aspiring Principals Program (APP) selects and prepares aspiring principals to lead low-performing schools. This study provides the first systematic evaluation of achievement in APP-staffed schools after 3 or more years. We examine differences between APP principals and those advancing through other routes, the extent to which APP graduates serve and remain in schools, and their relative performance in mathematics and English language arts. On balance, we find that APP principals performed about as well as other new principals. If anything, they narrowed the gap with comparison schools in English language arts but lagged behind in mathematics. (Contains 2 figures, 9 tables, and 23 notes.)

This study evaluated an approach to professional development for middle school science teachers by closely examining one grade 8 course that embodies that approach. Using a cluster-randomized experimental design, the study tested the effectiveness of the Making Sense of SCIENCE[TM] professional development course on force and motion (Daehler, Shinohara, and Folsom 2011) by comparing outcomes for students of teachers who took the course with outcomes for students of control group of teachers who received only the typical professional development offered in their schools and districts. The study estimated impacts on student science achievement for all grade 8 students in the study sample as well as for the subsample of English language learners. It also estimated impacts on teacher science and pedagogical knowledge. Results for the primary confirmatory analyses indicate that after adjusting for multiple comparisons, there were no statistically significant differences between the test results on science content of students in intervention group classrooms and students in control group classrooms. Intervention group students in neither the full sample (effect size = 0.11) nor the English language learner subsample (effect size = 0.31) scored significantly higher on the ATLAST Test of Force and Motion than did their control group counterparts. Similarly, intervention group students in neither the full sample (effect size = 0.03) nor the English language learner subsample (effect size =0 .09) scored higher on the physical science reporting clusters of the California Standards Test than did their control group counterparts. Results for the intermediate confirmatory analyses indicate that after adjusting for multiple comparisons, teachers who received the professional development course outscored their control group counterparts on the ATLAST Test of Force and Motion for Teachers (effect size = 0.38), as well as on their ratings of confidence in their ability to teach force and motion (effect size = 0.49). With one exception, the study findings were not sensitive to variations in specification of the estimation models. The exception is that, for teacher content knowledge, inclusion of the pretest in the impact analysis model (basic model plus pretest) decreased the point estimate from 9.8 to 6.1 and the effect size from 0.61 to 0.38. In exploratory analyses, the study investigated whether there were differential impacts on student and teacher content knowledge outcomes across the six research sites. The estimated impacts were most pronounced at two of the six sites. For the full sample of students, point estimates for student and teacher content knowledge of force and motion followed exactly the same rank order at all sites. There are three main limitations of this study. First, there was high sample attrition: 48 of the 181 teachers who were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups left the study before data collection was completed. However, there is no evidence that attrition resulted in significant differences at the baseline between the intervention and control samples used in the analysis. Second, the study did not include analyses of classroom implementation of course-related practices. As a result it is not possible to infer whether the lack of student effects is due to a failure of treatment group teachers to modify classroom practices or a failure of modified practices to affect student outcomes. Third, the findings are based on volunteer teachers and students whose parents provided consent. It is possible that the findings would have been different had teachers been required to participate in the intervention, and all students been tested. Appended are: (1) Study power estimates; (2) Procedure for assigning blocks for recruited sample and final analytic sample; (3) Teacher agreement to protect the study; (4) Teacher survey responses related to contamination across groups; (5) Parent consent form; (6) California content standards in physical science reporting clusters; (7) Student data obtained from district administrative records; (8) Survey items used to measure teacher confidence; (9) Course session video recording protocol; (10) Course session attendance sheet; (11) Student test administration instructions for proctors; (12) Teacher test administration instructions for site coordinators; (13) Baseline equivalence of teacher demographics in intervention and control group samples; (14) Class selection worksheet; (15) Sensitivity analysis for nesting of students within teachers or classes within teachers; (16) Impact estimation methods; (17) Missing item--level data; (18) Schedule and content goals of Making Sense of SCIENCE[TM] professional development course on force and motion; and (19) Sensitivity analyses based on different models and analytic samples. (Contains 51 tables, 4 figures and 8 footnotes.)

In the 2007-2008 school year, the New York City Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers jointly implemented the Schoolwide Performance Bonus Program in a random sample of the city's high-needs public schools. The program lasted for three school years, and its broad objective was to improve student performance through school-based financial incentives. The question, of course, was whether it was doing so. To examine its implementation and effects, the department tasked a RAND Corporation-led partnership with the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University to conduct a two-year study of the program that would offer an independent assessment. This report describes the results of our analyses for all three years of the program, from 2007-2008 through 2009-2010. This work built on past research and was guided by a theory of action articulated by program leaders. Researchers examined student test scores; teacher, school staff, and administrator surveys; and interviews with administrators, staff members, program sponsors, and union and district officials. The researchers found that the program did not, by itself, improve student achievement, perhaps in part because conditions needed to motivate staff were not achieved (e.g., understanding, buy-in for the bonus criteria) and because of the high level of accountability pressure all the schools already faced. Individual chapters contain footnotes. (Contains 12 figures and 66 tables.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by the New York City Fund for Public Schools. For "What New York City's Experiment with Schoolwide Performance Bonuses Tells Us about Pay for Performance. Research Brief," see ED521918.]

Financial incentives for teachers to increase student performance is an increasingly popular education policy around the world. This paper describes a school-based randomized trial in over two-hundred New York City public schools designed to better understand the impact of teacher incentives on student achievement. I find no evidence that teacher incentives increase student performance, attendance, or graduation, nor do I find any evidence that the incentives change student or teacher behavior. If anything, teacher incentives may decrease student achievement, especially in larger schools. The paper concludes with a speculative discussion of theories that may explain these stark results.

Are teachers' impacts on students' test scores ("value-added") a good measure of their quality? This question has sparked debate largely because of disagreement about (1) whether value-added (VA) provides unbiased estimates of teachers' impacts on student achievement and (2) whether high-VA teachers improve students' long-term outcomes. We address these two issues by analyzing school district data from grades 3-8 for 2.5 million children linked to tax records on parent characteristics and adult outcomes. We find no evidence of bias in VA estimates using previously unobserved parent characteristics and a quasi-experimental research design based on changes in teaching staff. Students assigned to high-VA teachers are more likely to attend college, attend higher-ranked colleges, earn higher salaries, live in higher SES neighborhoods, and save more for retirement. They are also less likely to have children as teenagers. Teachers have large impacts in all grades from 4 to 8. On average, a one standard deviation improvement in teacher VA in a single grade raises earnings by about 1% at age 28. Replacing a teacher whose VA is in the bottom 5% with an average teacher would increase students' lifetime income by more than $250,000 for the average classroom in our sample. We conclude that good teachers create substantial economic value and that test score impacts are helpful in identifying such teachers.

In this article, we present the results from a longitudinal examination of the impact of a "Standards"-based or reform mathematics curriculum (called CMP) and traditional mathematics curricula (called non-CMP) on students' learning of algebra using various outcome measures. Findings include the following: (1) students did not sacrifice basic mathematical skills if they are taught using a "Standards"-based or reform mathematics curriculum like CMP; (2) African American students experienced greater gain in symbol manipulation when they used a traditional curriculum; (3) the use of either the CMP or a non-CMP curriculum improved the mathematics achievement of all students, including students of color; (4) the use of CMP contributed to significantly higher problem-solving growth for all ethnic groups; and (5) a high level of conceptual emphasis in a classroom improved the students' ability to represent problem situations. (However, the level of conceptual emphasis bears no relation to students' problem solving or symbol manipulation skills.) (Contains 12 tables and 3 figures.)

This study used a pre-post, nonequivalent control group design to examine the impact of an in-district, after-school tutoring program on eighth grade students' standardized test scores in language arts and mathematics. Students who had scored in the near-passing range on either the language arts or mathematics aspect of a standardized test at the end of seventh grade were recruited to receive tutoring in either language arts (LA) or mathematics (MA), depending on the area of weakness. An analysis of covariance revealed that both groups of students tutored in LA (n = 23) or MA (n = 20) significantly outperformed a matched control group (p = 0.02 for LA; p = 0.04 for MA). Components of effective after-school academic programs are discussed. (Contains 5 tables.)

This report summarizes the results of the Newark, New Jersey, Striving Readers program for project Years 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This report updates one analysis (3 years); the remainder of the impacts and implementation findings are for Year 4. The Striving Readers Grant addresses the unmet needs of middle school students reading 2 or more years below grade level and provides professional development for teachers in all core content areas to help them learn about and use more effective literacy strategies. Nineteen middle schools in Newark are participating in the U.S. Department of Education Striving Readers study. Two components of the project are being evaluated: a targeted intervention and a whole-school intervention. [This report is the product of a collaborative effort involving numerous individuals at Westat and Newark Public Schools.]

Analyzing mathematics and reading achievement outcomes from a district-level random assignment study fielded in over 500 schools within 59 school districts and seven states, the authors estimate the 1-year impacts of a data-driven reform initiative implemented by the Johns Hopkins Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE). CDDRE consultants work with districts to implement quarterly student benchmark assessments and provide district and school leaders with extensive training on interpreting and using the data to guide reform. Relative to a control condition, in which districts operated as usual without CDDRE services, the data-driven reform initiative caused statistically significant districtwide improvements in student mathematics achievement. The CDDRE intervention also had a positive effect on reading achievement, but the estimates fell short of conventional levels of statistical significance. (Contains 1 figure, 3 tables, and 16 notes.)

This is the third-year report in a five-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). The MPCP, which began in 1990, provides government-funded vouchers for low-income children to attend private schools in the City of Milwaukee. The general purposes of the evaluation are to analyze the effectiveness of the MPCP in terms of longitudinal student achievement growth and educational attainment as measured by high school graduation rates. The former will be primarily accomplished by measuring and estimating student growth in achievement as measured by the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE) in math and reading in 2006-07, grades 3 through 8 over a five-year period. The latter will be accomplished by following the 2006-07 8th and 9th grade cohorts over a five-year period or longer. The general research design consists of a comparison between a random sample of MPCP students and a matched sample of Milwaukee Public School (MPS) students. This third year report presents results from the November 2008 WKCE tests as second year student achievement growth in MPCP relative to the matched MPS sample. We provide varying descriptive statistics comparing test score means and distributions for math and reading for 2006-07 (baseline year) and 2008-09 (second outcome year) for each sample. The report also analyzes achievement growth using several multivariate techniques and models. The primary finding in all these comparisons is that, in general, there are few statistically significant differences between levels of MPCP and MPS student achievement growth in either math or reading two years after they were carefully matched to each other. In one of the ways of estimating these results, focusing only on those students who have remained in the public or private sector for all three years, private, voucher students are slightly behind MPS students in mathematics achievement growth. The report offers several cautions in interpreting this result against the overwhelming set of results that indicate no difference in achievement growth. Appended are additional tables and study attrition. (Contains 9 tables, 2 figures, and 7 footnotes.) [Additional funding for this project was provided by the Robertson Foundation.]

The primary purpose of this study was to explore if there could be a more beneficial method in organizing the individual instructional reading components (phonological decoding, spelling, fluency, and reading comprehension) within a remedial reading program to increase sensitivity to instruction for middle school students with reading disabilities (RD). Three different modules (Alternating, Integrated, and Additive) of the Reading Achievement Multi-Modular Program were implemented with 90 middle school (sixth to eighth grades) students with reading disabilities. Instruction occurred 45 min a day, 5 days a week, for 26 weeks, for approximately 97 h of remedial reading instruction. To assess gains, reading subtests of the Woodcock Johnson-III, the Gray Silent Reading Test, and Oral Reading Fluency passages were administered. Results showed that students in the Additive module outperformed students in the Alternating and Integrated modules on phonological decoding and spelling and students in the Integrated module on comprehension skills. Findings for the two oral reading fluency measures demonstrated a differential pattern of results across modules. Results are discussed in regards to the effect of the organization of each module on the responsiveness of middle school students with RD to instruction.

The primary purpose of this study was to explore if there could be a more beneficial method in organizing the individual instructional reading components (phonological decoding, spelling, fluency, and reading comprehension) within a remedial reading program to increase sensitivity to instruction for middle school students with reading disabilities (RD). Three different modules (Alternating, Integrated, and Additive) of the Reading Achievement Multi-Modular Program were implemented with 90 middle school (sixth to eighth grades) students with reading disabilities. Instruction occurred 45 min a day, 5 days a week, for 26 weeks, for approximately 97 h of remedial reading instruction. To assess gains, reading subtests of the Woodcock Johnson-III, the Gray Silent Reading Test, and Oral Reading Fluency passages were administered. Results showed that students in the Additive module outperformed students in the Alternating and Integrated modules on phonological decoding and spelling and students in the Integrated module on comprehension skills. Findings for the two oral reading fluency measures demonstrated a differential pattern of results across modules. Results are discussed in regards to the effect of the organization of each module on the responsiveness of middle school students with RD to instruction.

This study reports findings on the relative effects from a yearlong secondary intervention contrasting large-group, small-group, and school-provided interventions emphasizing word study, vocabulary development, fluency, and comprehension with seventh- and eighth-graders with reading difficulties. Findings indicate that few statistically significant results or clinically significant gains were associated with group size or intervention. Findings also indicate that a significant acceleration of reading outcomes for seventh- and eighth-graders from high-poverty schools is unlikely to result from a 50 min daily class. Instead, the findings indicate, achieving this outcome will require more comprehensive models including more extensive intervention (e.g., more time, even smaller groups), interventions that are longer in duration (multiple years), and interventions that vary in emphasis based on specific students' needs (e.g., increased focus on comprehension or word study).

This study reports findings on the relative effects from a yearlong secondary intervention contrasting large-group, small-group, and school-provided interventions emphasizing word study, vocabulary development, fluency, and comprehension with seventh- and eighth-graders with reading difficulties. Findings indicate that few statistically significant results or clinically significant gains were associated with group size or intervention. Findings also indicate that a significant acceleration of reading outcomes for seventh- and eighth-graders from high-poverty schools is unlikely to result from a 50 min daily class. Instead, the findings indicate, achieving this outcome will require more comprehensive models including more extensive intervention (e.g., more time, even smaller groups), interventions that are longer in duration (multiple years), and interventions that vary in emphasis based on specific students' needs (e.g., increased focus on comprehension or word study).

Teacher compensation schemes are often criticized for lacking a performance-based component. Proponents of merit pay argue that linking teacher salaries to student achievement will incentivize teachers to focus on raising student achievement and stimulate innovation across the school system as a whole. In this paper, we utilize a policy experiment conducted in the New York City public school system to explore the effects of one performance-based bonus scheme. We investigate potential impacts of group-based incentive pay over two academic years (2007-2008 and 2008-2009) on a range of outcomes including: teacher effort, student performance in math and reading, and classroom activities, measured through environmental surveys of teachers and students. We also explore impacts on the market for teachers by examining teacher turnover and the qualifications of newly hired teachers. Overall, we find the bonus program had little impact on any of these outcomes. We argue that the lack of bonus program impacts can be explained by the structure of the bonus program. Group bonuses led to free-riding, which significantly reduced the program's incentives. Once we account for free-riding, we find evidence that the program led teachers to increase their effort through a significant reduction in absenteeism. When considering the effectiveness of performance-based teacher pay, the structure of incentives matter. (Contains 11 tables, 3 figures and 24 footnotes.)

In the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Congress called for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to conduct a rigorous study of the conditions and practices under which educational technology is effective in increasing student academic achievement. A 2007 report presenting study findings for the 2004-2005 school year, indicated that, after one school year, differences in student test scores were not statistically significant between classrooms that were randomly assigned to use software products and those that were randomly assigned not to use products. School and teacher characteristics generally were not related to whether products were effective. The second year of the study examined whether an additional year of teaching experience using the software products increased the estimated effects of software products on student test scores. The evidence for this hypothesis is mixed. For reading, there were no statistically significant differences between the effects that products had on standardized student test scores in the first year and the second year. For sixth grade math, product effects on student test scores were statistically significantly lower (more negative) in the second year than in the first year, and for algebra I, effects on student test scores were statistically significantly higher in the second year than in the first year. The study also tested whether using any of the 10 software products increased student test scores. One product had a positive and statistically significant effect. Nine did not have statistically significant effects on test scores. Five of the insignificant effects were negative and four were positive. Study findings should be interpreted in the context of design and objectives. The study examined a range of reading and math software products in a range of diverse school districts and schools. But it did not study many forms of educational technology and it did not include many types of software products. How much information the findings provide about the effectiveness of products that are not in the study is an open question. Products in the study also were implemented in a specific set of districts and schools, and other districts and schools may have different experiences with the products. The findings should be viewed as one element within a larger set of research studies that have explored the effectiveness of software products. Three appendixes are included: (1) Second-Year Data Collection and Response Rates; (2) Description of Sample for the 10 Products; and (3) Details of Estimation Methods. (Contains 29 footnotes, 4 figures and 24 tables.

In the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Congress called for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to conduct a rigorous study of the conditions and practices under which educational technology is effective in increasing student academic achievement. A 2007 report presenting study findings for the 2004-2005 school year, indicated that, after one school year, differences in student test scores were not statistically significant between classrooms that were randomly assigned to use software products and those that were randomly assigned not to use products. School and teacher characteristics generally were not related to whether products were effective. The second year of the study examined whether an additional year of teaching experience using the software products increased the estimated effects of software products on student test scores. The evidence for this hypothesis is mixed. For reading, there were no statistically significant differences between the effects that products had on standardized student test scores in the first year and the second year. For sixth grade math, product effects on student test scores were statistically significantly lower (more negative) in the second year than in the first year, and for algebra I, effects on student test scores were statistically significantly higher in the second year than in the first year. The study also tested whether using any of the 10 software products increased student test scores. One product had a positive and statistically significant effect. Nine did not have statistically significant effects on test scores. Five of the insignificant effects were negative and four were positive. Study findings should be interpreted in the context of design and objectives. The study examined a range of reading and math software products in a range of diverse school districts and schools. But it did not study many forms of educational technology and it did not include many types of software products. How much information the findings provide about the effectiveness of products that are not in the study is an open question. Products in the study also were implemented in a specific set of districts and schools, and other districts and schools may have different experiences with the products. The findings should be viewed as one element within a larger set of research studies that have explored the effectiveness of software products. Three appendixes are included: (1) Second-Year Data Collection and Response Rates; (2) Description of Sample for the 10 Products; and (3) Details of Estimation Methods. (Contains 29 footnotes, 4 figures and 24 tables.

Comparing multiple examples typically supports learning and transfer in laboratory studies and is considered a key feature of high-quality mathematics instruction. This experimental study investigated the importance of prior knowledge in learning from comparison. Seventh- and 8th-grade students (N = 236) learned to solve equations by comparing different solution methods to the same problem, comparing different problem types solved with the same solution method, or studying the examples sequentially. Unlike in past studies, many students did not begin the study with equation-solving skills, and prior knowledge of algebraic methods was an important predictor of learning. Students who did not attempt algebraic methods at pretest benefited most from studying examples sequentially or comparing problem types, rather than from comparing solution methods. Students who attempted algebraic methods at pretest learned more from comparing solution methods. Students may need sufficient prior knowledge in a domain before they benefit from comparing alternative solution methods. These findings are in line with findings on the expertise-reversal effect. (Contains 2 figures and 6 tables.)

This study investigated the effectiveness of a multicomponent reading intervention implemented with middle school students with severe reading difficulties, all of whom had received remedial and/or special education for several years with minimal response to intervention. Participants were 38 students in grades 6-8 who had severe deficits in word reading, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Most were Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) with identified disabilities. Nearly all demonstrated severely limited oral vocabularies in English and, for ELLs, in both English and Spanish. Students were randomly assigned to receive the research intervention (n = 20) or typical instruction provided in their school's remedial reading or special education classes (n = 18). Students in the treatment group received daily explicit and systematic small-group intervention for 40 minutes over 13 weeks, consisting of a modified version of a phonics-based remedial program augmented with English as a Second Language practices and instruction in vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension strategies. Results indicated that treatment students did not demonstrate significantly higher outcomes in word recognition, comprehension, or fluency than students who received the school's typical instruction and that neither group demonstrated significant growth over the course of the study. Significant correlations were found between scores on teachers' ratings of students' social skills and problem behaviors and posttest decoding and spelling scores, and between English oral vocabulary scores and scores in word identification and comprehension. The researchers hypothesize that middle school students with the most severe reading difficulties, particularly those who are ELLs and those with limited oral vocabularies, may require intervention of considerably greater intensity than that provided in this study. Further research directly addressing features of effective remediation for these students is needed.

High schools have recently become a popular source of mentors for school-based mentoring (SBM) programs. The high school Bigs program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, for example, currently involves close to 50,000 high-school-aged mentors across the country. While the use of these young mentors has several potential advantages, their age raises questions about their capacity to be consistent, positive role models, and, in turn, their potential to yield strong impacts for the youth they mentor. With support from The Atlantic Philanthropies and in collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Public/Private Ventures set out to address these questions using data from our large-scale random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters SBM (Herrera, et al. 2007). We found that, on average, high school students were much less effective than adults at yielding impacts for the youth they mentor. However, our research identified several program practices that were linked with longer, stronger and more effective high school mentor relationships. High School Students as Mentors stresses the need for programs with high school volunteers to use the inherent strengths of these volunteers and, at the same time, meet their distinct needs. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is already initiating most of the changes suggested in the study in its high school Bigs program; it has convened a group of six of its strongest Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies to review these and other findings and share their own experiences and strategies in an effort to strengthen their model. (Contains 41 endnotes, 3 figures and 2 tables.)

Because a significant portion of U.S. students lacks critical mathematic skills, schools across the country are investing heavily in computerized curriculums as a way to enhance education output, even though there is surprisingly little evidence that they actually improve student achievement. In this paper we present results from a randomized study in three urban school districts of a well-defined use of computers in schools: a popular instructional computer program which is designed to teach pre-algebra and algebra. We assess the impact of the program using statewide tests that cover a range of math skills and tests designed specifically to target pre-algebra and algebra skills. We find that students randomly assigned to computer-aided instruction score at least 0.17 of a standard deviation higher on a pre-algebra/algebra test than students randomly assigned to traditional instruction. We hypothesize that the effectiveness arises from increased individualized instruction as the effects appear larger for students in larger classes and those in classes in which students are frequently absent. (Detailed data information is appended. Contains 40 footnotes and 17 tables.)

Under the "Math Science Partnership Grant," the Maui Hawaii Educational Consortium sought scientifically based evidence for the effectiveness of Carnegie Learning's "Cognitive Tutor[R]" (CT) program as part of the adoption process for pre-Algebra program. During the 2006-2007 school year, the researchers conducted a follow-on study to a previous randomized experiment in the Maui School District of the effectiveness of "CT" in Algebra I. In this second year, the focus was on the newly developed "Bridge to Algebra" program for pre-Algebra. The question being addressed specifically by the research is whether students in classes that use "CT" materials achieve higher scores on the standardized math assessment, as measured by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) General Math Test, than they would if they had been in a control classroom using the pre-Algebra curricula the Maui schools currently have in place. The researchers found that most students in both "CT" and control groups improved overall on the NWEA General Math Test. They did not find a difference in student performance in math between groups. Their analysis of the Algebraic Operations sub-strand revealed that many students in both groups did not demonstrate the growth in this scale, again with no discernible group differences. However, for Algebraic Operations outcomes, the researchers found a significant interaction between the pre-test and "CT": student scoring low before participating in "CT" got more benefit from the program's algebraic operations instruction than students with high initial scores. (Contains 8 figures, 33 tables, and 14 footnotes.) [For "Comparative Effectiveness of Carnegie Learning's "Cognitive Tutor Bridge to Algebra" Curriculum: A Report of a Randomized Experiment in the Maui School District. Research Summary," see ED538962.]

The process of functional assessment has emerged as an essential component for intervention development. Applications across divergent types of problem behavior, however, remain limited. This study evaluated the applicability of this promising approach to students with selective mutism. Two middle school students served as participants. The functional assessment included indirect and direct methods as well as a specially designed student interview that did not require speech. Individualized interventions were developed and experimentally evaluated. Results indicated that the assessment-based interventions effectively increased speaking in school contexts. (Contains 2 figures.)

This article illustrates how to (a) use schoolwide data to monitor student responsiveness to primary and secondary prevention efforts to identify students for tertiary preventions and (b) design, implement, and evaluate a function-based intervention in collaboration with two general education teachers, who served as the primary interventionists. Results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of function-based interventions with students who are nonresponsive to primary and secondary prevention efforts. A clear functional relationship was demonstrated between the introduction of the intervention and changes in student behavior using a changing criterion design at the elementary level and an ABAB withdrawal design at the middle school level. Limitations and directions for future research are offered.

This study investigated the effects of computer-assisted comprehension practice using a researcher-developed computer program, Computer-Assisted Collaborative Strategic Reading (CACSR), with students who had disabilities. Two reading/language arts teachers and their 34 students with disabilities participated. Students in the intervention group received the CACSR intervention, which consisted of 50-min instructional sessions twice per week over 10 to 12 weeks. The results revealed a statistically significant difference between intervention and comparison groups' reading comprehension ability as measured by a researcher-developed, proximal measure (i.e., finding main ideas and question generation) and a distal, standardized measure (i.e., "Woodcock Reading Mastery Test," Passage Comprehension). Effect sizes for all dependent measures favored the CACSR group. Furthermore, a majority of students expressed positive overall perspectives of the CACSR intervention and believed that their reading had improved.

This study compared the use of two supplemental balanced and strategic reading interventions that targeted the decoding, fluency, and reading comprehension of upper-elementary and middle school students with reading disabilities (RD). All students had significant delays in decoding, fluency, comprehension, and language processing. Two comparable, intensive tutorial treatments differed only in the degree of explicitness of the comprehension strategy instruction. Overall, there was meaningful progress in students' reading decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Gains in formal measures of word attack and reading fluency after five weeks of intervention translated into grade-equivalent gains of approximately half a school year. Analysis of the trends in the daily informal fluency probes translated into a weekly gain of 1.28 correct words per minute. The more explicit comprehension strategy instruction was more effective than the less explicit treatment. Findings are discussed in light of the question of how to maximize the effects of reading interventions for older children with RD.

The Talent Development Middle School model was created to make a difference in struggling urban middle schools. The model is part of a trend in school improvement strategies whereby whole-school reform projects aim to improve performance and attendance outcomes for students through the use of major changes in both the organizational structure and the educational processes of middle schools. The models that function in this way--broadly referred to as "comprehensive school reform (CSR) models"--have been developed both nationally and locally, and they receive support from a combination of federal, state, and local funding as well as from private foundations. Talent Development has been a key target of federal resources earmarked for expanding the use of CSR initiatives in middle schools. The model reflects many of the core principles embedded in the CSR movement. School-level structural changes, for example, create more personalized learning environments for students and teachers; curricular changes improve the rigor of coursework and raise teachers' and students' expectations; and professional development for teachers fills gaps in both content knowledge and pedagogy. The findings in this report--which offers an initial assessment of the first and most intensive effort at scaling up the use of the Talent Development Middle School model--indicate that Talent Development had a positive impact on eighth-grade math achievement and exhibited modest impacts on attendance rates. At the same time, the model produced an inconsistent pattern of impacts on eighth-grade reading and had few significant impacts on outcomes for seventh-grade students. This assessment is based on an innovative analytic methodology that relies on a combination of before-and-after and comparison-schools methods. Although the findings offer hope that the Talent Development model can improve academic outcomes, at least in math, for middle school students, more data collection and analysis are needed before definite conclusions can be drawn. A subsequent report will track outcomes for two additional years of implementation and will provide a clearer picture of the potential for improvements in middle school achievement to lead to greater persistence in high school and, eventually, to graduation. Appended are: (1) Tables for Eighth-Grade Students in Early-Implementing Schools; and (2) Tables for Seventh-Grade Students in Early-Implementing Schools. (Contains 4 boxes, 11 figures, and 13 tables.) [Dissemination of MDRC publications is also supported by Starr Foundation.]

Developed and evaluated a middle school literacy program designed to meet the needs of urban early adolescents. Findings from evaluation in two schools implementing the Student Team Reading and Writing program and three comparison schools indicated higher achievement for program participants. (SLD)

In the present study, middle school students were directly taught strategies that facilitated the execution of writing processes, skills, and knowledge involved in planning, drafting, and revising text. Students in the experimental treatment condition produced essays that were longer, contained more mature vocabulary, and were qualitatively better. (Contains 57 references and 4 tables.) (GCP)

Special education teachers (N=22) monitored the mathematics progress of 42 students (grades 2-8) with mild to moderate disabilities (mostly learning disabilities) for 20 weeks using curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Evaluation of instructional adjustments based on individual CBM results found that students whose instruction had been individually adjusted performed significantly better on a global achievement test than comparison students. (Contains references.) (DB)

Middle-school students with (n=6) and without (n=16) learning disabilities were taught a strategy for planning and writing expository essays using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development approach to instruction. Positive results were found for students with and without learning disabilities. Students' papers became longer, more complete, and improved in quality. (Author/CR)

Presents an experimental evaluation of a trial implementation of reciprocal teaching procedures by high school teachers to address reading comprehension deficits. Forty-six students were exposed to 1 of 3 conditions: 12-16 reciprocal teaching sessions, 6-8 sessions, or no treatment. Significant gains were observed with students in the extended program. (JBJ)

This article describes positive effects of modifying curricular activities in accordance with the individual interests of three elementary students with disabilities (including autism, mental retardation, and emotional/behavioral disorder). Students exhibited less problem behavior and more on-task responding in the modified activity condition. (DB)

The effects of on-going curriculum-based measurement of student growth and expert system instructional consultation on teacher planning and student achievement in mathematics operations were studied for 33 elementary teachers assigned to one control or 2 experimental groups. Each teacher worked with two learning disabled or emotionally disturbed students. (SLD)