Project Activities
The replication study was to include following ELs through a pathway of language arts classes at nine middle schools and five high schools. In these pathways, students progressed as a cohort from one grade level to the next. The teachers of this cohort received intensive, ongoing professional development on a reading and writing intervention that was designed to provide students with knowledge of and practice with the cognitive strategies that experienced readers and writers use to construct meaning from and with texts. The researchers planned to use the results as a basis for scaling up the pathway intervention across public school districts that serve large numbers of Latino students, ELs, and low-income children.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The schools are in California.
Sample
Participants will be approximately 3600 middle school and high school English language learners from a large urban school district in California. This district serves a student population that is 97 percent ethnic minority (predominantly Latino), 75 percent low socioeconomic status, and 60 percent limited English proficient.
The researchers will create a pathway of language arts classes at nine middle schools and five high schools in which students will progress as a cohort from one grade level to the next. The teachers of this cohort will receive intensive, ongoing professional development on a reading and writing intervention that is designed to provide students with knowledge of and practice with the cognitive strategies that experienced readers and writers use to construct meaning from and with texts. The results will provide a basis for scaling up the pathway intervention across public school districts serving large numbers of Latino students, ELs, and low-income children.
Research design and methods
The researchers will conduct a randomized controlled field trial involving 9 middle schools, 5 high schools, 52 pathway teachers,52 control teachers, and nearly 3,600 students. The design is a multi-site, clustered, randomized experiment since it involves students and teachers who are clustered within a treatment or control classroom, nested within multiple school sites.
Control condition
Students in the control condition will receive the existing language arts curriculum, and control teachers will use the standard teachers' guide available with the existing curriculum.
Key measures
Student achievement will be assessed using standardized measures of reading, writing, and language proficiency including the TOWL/3, CST, STAR-7th grade Writing Assessment, and CAHSEE-10th grade test. Baseline data on teachers include
- years of teaching experience
- training in English as Second Language
- training in secondary literacy
- qualification status with No Child Left Behind (meeting high-quality teacher criteria)
- California Subject Matter Examination—English scores
- a measure of self-efficacy
In addition to these baseline data, the researchers will collect information on
- the fidelity of teachers' implementation of the intervention
- the quality of teacher practice and use of cognitive strategies in the classroom
- knowledge of current theories of English instruction and teaching English language learners
- teacher self-efficacy
Data analytic strategy
The researchers will use hierarchical linear models (HLM) to estimate the causal effect of the Pathway Project on student and teacher outcomes.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
WWC review:
Kim, J.S., Olson, C.B., Scarcella, R., Kramer, J., Pearson, M., van Dyk, D., Collins, P., and Land, R.E. (2011). A Randomized Experiment of a Cognitive Strategies Approach to Text-Based Analytical Writing for Mainstreamed Latino English Language Learners in Grades 6 to 12. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4(3): 231-263. [WWC Review]
Olson, C.B., Kim, J.S., Scarcella, R., Kramer, J., Pearson, M., van Dyk, D.A., Collins, P., and Land, R.E. (2012). Enhancing the Interpretive Reading and Analytical Writing of Mainstreamed English Learners in Secondary School: Results From a Randomized Field Trial Using a Cognitive Strategies Approach. American Educational Research Journal, 49(2): 323-355. [WWC Review]
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Select Publications:
Journal articles
Kim, J.S., Olson, C.B., Scarcella, R., Kramer, J., Pearson, M., van Dyk, D., Collins, P., and Land, R.E. (2011). A Randomized Experiment of a Cognitive Strategies Approach to Text-Based Analytical Writing for Mainstreamed Latino English Language Learners in Grades 6 to 12. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4(3): 231-263.
Olson, C.B., Kim, J.S., Scarcella, R., Kramer, J., Pearson, M., van Dyk, D.A., Collins, P., and Land, R.E. (2012). Enhancing the Interpretive Reading and Analytical Writing of Mainstreamed English Learners in Secondary School: Results From a Randomized Field Trial Using a Cognitive Strategies Approach. American Educational Research Journal, 49(2): 323-355.
Additional project information
This project was submitted to and funded under Teacher Quality: Reading and Writing in FY 2006.
Related projects
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
