Study: 85545

IES Performance Measure

Review Details

Reviewed: February 2018

At least one finding shows strong evidence of effectiveness

At least one statistically significant positive finding

Meets WWC standards without reservations

For:

IES Performance Measure (findings for IES Funded Studies (NCER))

Using:

Rating:

Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.

This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Findings

Comprehension outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Picture Vocabulary	IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 418 students	102.40	101.90	No	--
Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Oral Comprehension	IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 418 students	106.80	106.70	No	--
Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Passage Comprehension	IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual	Full sample; 418 students	100.40	101.10	No	--

Science Achievement outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Postunit science knowledge	IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 423 students	25.06	16.50	Yes	43

Social Studies Achievement outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Postunit social studies knowledge	IES Funded Studies (NCER) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 435 students	22.70	12.90	Yes	47

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Sample Characteristics

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.

- B
- A
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- I
- H
- J
- K
- L
- P
- M
- N
- O
- Q
- R
- S
- V
- U
- T
- W
- X
- Z
- Y
- a
- h
- i
- b
- d
- e
- f
- c
- g
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- o
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- u
- v
- x
- w
- y
Florida

Race
Black		10%
Other or unknown		13%
White		77%

Study Details

Setting

The study took place in 40 kindergarten through grade 4 classrooms across six schools in one large school district in the panhandle region of Florida.

Study sample

The sample included students who were 75% White, 10% African American, and the remaining students belonged to other ethnicities. Approximately 50% of students qualified for free- and reduced-price lunch.

Intervention Group

CALI is a content-based method for literacy instruction that was delivered during literacy blocks. The literacy block, as described by the study authors, is a 1- to 2-hour block of time dedicated to reading. The intervention includes two social studies and two science units. Each unit was delivered over a 3-week time period, generally 4 days per week for approximately 15 to 20 minutes per session. The intervention was delivered by teachers specifically hired by the research team. These teachers were either certified or attending university programs to become certified. Intervention teachers were carefully monitored to ensure that they were implementing the program with fidelity. The project director provided ongoing feedback and support when it was observed that elements of the lesson were not being implemented as intended. Instruction was provided in small groups of up to five students that were formed based on students’ passage comprehension scores at pretest. One group had passage comprehension scores below grade level (standard score < 90), a second group had passage comprehension scores at grade level (standard score between 90 and 110), and a third group had passage comprehension scores above grade level (standard score above 110). The intervention is designed to change groups over time to reflect changes in student achievement; however, in this study, students remained in their original groups throughout the school year. In addition, classroom teachers covered science and social studies topics in their regular classroom programming outside of the literacy block, focusing on topics similar to content included in the CALI intervention. The researchers thus presume that intervention group youth had more exposure to social studies and science content, but less time on core reading instruction than comparison group youth.

Comparison Group

Students in the comparison condition received business-as-usual instruction from the classroom teacher during the literacy block. Based on researcher observations, most of the literacy block instruction for the comparison condition used the Houghton Mifflin literacy curriculum without a focus on science or social studies. Although not observed by the researchers, intervention and comparison group classroom teachers reported that they followed the Florida Sunshine State Standards for social studies and science using Scott Foresman curricula. These standards covered content similar to the CALI curriculum.

Support for implementation

Teachers were hired by the research team to implement the intervention. These teachers were trained in a full day workshop and participated in weekly project meetings. The project director observed teachers in the first week of implementation and observed the teachers and provided feedback until they were implementing the intervention as intended. Then teachers were observed monthly. Intervention group classrooms also still had their regular classroom teachers.

Acquiring Science and Social Studies Knowledge in Kindergarten through Fourth Grade: Conceptualization, Design, Implementation, and Efficacy Testing of Content-Area Literacy Instruction (CALI)