Program exposure is a key element of implementation fidelity and refers to the amount of an intervention received by participants. For students using IXL, setting a target program exposure (i.e., an IXL usage goal) both allows monitoring of implementation fidelity and enhances students' motivational and learning outcomes. IXL's proposed optimal…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards. 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. Findings from…

This study evaluated the efficacy of the Word Learning Strategies (WLS) supplementary program designed to develop upper-elementary students' vocabulary skills in order to improve reading comprehension. The study used a true, group-randomized, experimental design, which randomly assigned 46 4th grade classrooms (n=1324 students) from 12 districts…

This study evaluated the efficacy of the Word Learning Strategies (WLS) supplementary program to improve elementary students' vocabulary skills and reading comprehension. The study used a multi-site cluster randomized, experimental design, which randomly assigned 92 4th grade classrooms (n=2558 students) from two cohorts to a treatment or control…

Project based learning (PBL) provides opportunities for teachers and students to create learning spaces that are authentic and relevant. Much of this work is taking place in STEM contexts, with few studies exploring PBL integration in English language arts (ELA) classrooms. In this co-design project, we collaborated with 13 9th grade ELA teachers…

In August, IES worked with the National Science Foundation and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to convene a technical working group to discuss research objectives related to college- and career-ready standards in English language arts and mathematics. Forty people (including researchers,…

In October 2010, WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) won an i3 "Validation" grant to scale up and validate the Reading Apprenticeship (RA) model in three core secondary content area classes: U.S. history, biology, and English language arts. SLI's proposal stated two goals. Goal 1: To transform academic literacy teaching and…

The implementation of the Houghton-Mifflin K-5 "Invitations to Literacy" language arts program was studied during its first year in California's Moreno Valley Unified School District. A sample teacher survey was developed, pilot tested, and sent to the District. The sample consisted of 658 regular, 20 special day, 19 resource specialist, and 118…

"Viewing and Representing in the Middle Years" was a 2-year project to investigate the development of visual literacy in the classrooms of 3 Canadian middle school teachers. These teachers tried a large variety of approaches and were generally optimistic about the increased use of visual materials to make classrooms more inclusive. They…

A study investigated the beliefs and practices of high school language arts teachers regarding mandated multicultural education in the language arts. Subjects, five tenured faculty in the language arts program of a midwestern high school, volunteered to be interviewed and have their classrooms observed while they conducted multicultural…

A process of reviewing teacher-made tests was developed to implement the court-approved subplan for a "procedure for continual quality control checks on teacher-constructed tests." The implementation process includes six steps: (1) distribution to teachers of Resource Materials Excerpted from Classroom Test Skills - a package to increase…

This report provides an overview of the issues related to a recently completed study of the use of computers in primary classrooms in six school districts and some special program classes, i.e., K-2 English-as-a-Second-Language and bilingual classes at one study site and Chapter 1 pullout classes for grades K-5 at another site. The sites used were…

This paper discusses the change process experienced by teachers participating in a study of a computer-based language arts instructional program for the early elementary grades--the Apple Learning Series: Early Language (ALS-EL). The study explored ways in which the teachers were implementing ALS-EL in their classrooms before attempting to…

The integrated learning system (ILS) was developed as a technology application that provides a teacher-proof, self-sufficient curriculum. However, there has been increased recognition of the need for teacher involvement in the implementation process and greater integration with existing curricula. The Colonial School District of Plymouth Meeting…