This appendix augments a report that updates 2013 guidance to school district leaders and their partners across the country who are interested in launching summer learning programs or improving established ones. In that report, the authors present recommendations based on evaluations, conducted between 2011 and 2016, of summer programs in five…

A core motivation for the widespread teacher evaluation reforms of the last decade was the belief that these new systems would promote teacher development through high-quality feedback. We examine this theory by studying teachers' perceptions of evaluation feedback in Boston Public Schools and evaluating the district's efforts to improve feedback…

Over the course of six years, a diverse group of school districts and charter management organizations in California ran a substantial experiment in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in elementary and middle grades. WestEd led an extensive evaluation of that effort, the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative,…

Today many special education classrooms implement procedures based upon the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to establish educationally relevant skills and decrease aberrant behaviors. However, it is difficult for school staff and consultants to evaluate the implementation of various components of ABA and general classroom set up. In…

Research Learning Communities (RLC) was an intervention that aimed to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes by raising teachers' awareness, understanding, and use of educational research in their teaching practice. Two Evidence Champion teachers from each school attended four RLC workshops with peers from up to four other schools.…

Many students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have specialized interests and passions that are highly reinforcing. Such special interest areas (SIAs) are more than mere hobbies or simple curiosities. Rather, the SIAs of an individual with autism may be characterized by (a) significant depth and breadth of knowledge about the area, (b)…

Academic libraries are one of the most important sources of "on the job" training for future library instructors. Librarians who supervise and assess these future library instructors (often in graduate assistant positions) often choose to provide observations and feedback each semester to these instructors in training. Scholarly…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder display impairments in social interactions and communication that appear at early ages and result in short- and long-term negative outcomes. As such, there is a need for effective social skills training programs for young children with autism spectrum disorder--particularly interventions capable of being…

Across the Middle East and North Africa region the quality of education has been highlighted as an issue of concern by the World Bank, in particular the less than positive impact on economic development. Also, it has been found that improvement initiatives often fail if they are transferred from the Western world without the consideration of local…

Disruptive behavior in the classroom negatively affects all students' academic engagement, achievement, and behavior. Group contingencies have been proven effective in reducing disruptive behavior as part of behavior interventions in the classroom. The Good Behavior Game is a Tier 1 classwide intervention that utilizes an interdependent group…

A total of 620 staff from all 38 REACH schools responded to the Spring survey and 149 staff at the 18 newest REACH schools attended focus groups to provide their thoughts about specific aspects of AISD REACH. Results are summarized in this report.

Background: Scientific literacy development is widely emphasized as the overarching goal of science education. It encompasses development of understanding of the nature of science as well as knowledge, attitudes, and values that contribute to empowering adolescents to engage with and make evidence-based decisions about socioscientific issues.…

The ReflectED programme was developed by Rosendale Primary School to improve pupils' metacognition--their ability to think about and manage their own learning. This includes the skills of setting and monitoring goals, assessing progress, and identifying personal strengths and challenges. ReflectED consists of 28, weekly, half-hour lessons, which…

This report examines traditional calendar school Read to Achieve reading camps implemented in the summer of 2014. Teacher and student survey respondents reported positive reading camp experiences and reading camp was well attended. Based on data for 502 students, a small percentage (16.1%) reached reading proficiency by the end of camp. Gains in…

The MathsFlip intervention aimed to improve the attainment of pupils in Years 5 and 6. The programme, developed by Shireland Collegiate Academy, used a 'flipped learning' approach involving pupils learning core content online, outside of class time, and then participating in activities in class to reinforce their learning. The programme used an…