Background: In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a nationwide unplanned transition to distance learning. For teachers, these school closures resulted in a rapid, substantial transformation of their work. To date, however, almost all of the evidence surrounding the effects of COVID-19 on teachers has been collected retrospectively,…

Background & Context: Accurate, reliable, and scalable measurement of classroom quality is critical to ensure that children benefit from early childhood programs. Early childhood classroom quality is most commonly measured using classroom observation tools serving multiple purposes including (1) teacher support (e.g., coaching, professional…

The current study sought to scientifically adapt the existing five essentials teacher survey and develop a new parent survey, and pilot test them for use in early childhood education settings. The adaptation and development of these "Early Education Surveys" occurred in 2014-15, was based strongly on Bryk et al.'s (2010) existing…

In response to initiatives to increase educator effectiveness states throughout the nation are placing greater emphasis on teacher evaluation tools that differentiate teacher effectiveness and include timely and constructive feedback. One of the three principles of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility waivers requires that…

Educare is a network of enhanced Early Head Start (EHS)/Head Start (HS) (birth to age 5) programs that implement innovative Research-Program Partnerships (RPPs) to engage researchers, program leaders, staff, and at times, other stakeholders in a collaborative approach to supporting data use practices for decision-making and continuous quality…

Until recently, asking K-12 students--who spend hundreds of hours with their teachers annually--to weigh in on their teachers' performance was considered taboo. Many have questioned students' capacities to provide reliable, fair feedback on teaching quality. Media outlets report that teacher unions staunchly oppose integrating student feedback in…

Recent emphasis on teacher effectiveness and accountability has led the education policy, research, and practitioner communities to take a closer look at the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs, motivated in large part by concerns about program quality. Several national- and state-level studies have found new teachers to be underprepared…

This paper describes the content, organization and rigor of the f2f and online summer algebra courses that were delivered in summers 2011 and 2012. Examining the content of both types of courses is important because research suggests that algebra courses with certain features may be better than others in promoting success for struggling students.…

This paper describes the implementation of the online and f2f summer algebra courses that were delivered in summers 2011 and 2012. These data will be used to frame the impact results presented in an earlier paper. In particular, the paper will provide a detailed picture of how the online course was structured and the types of supports provided to…

The Fidelity of Implementation (FOI) study that is the focus of this report was conducted as a component of a scale-up effectiveness trial of the SRA/McGraw-Hill Open Court Reading program. The overall purpose of the FOI study was to support and provide context for findings from the larger experimental impact study of Open Court Reading (OCR). To…

Starting in 2012-13, researchers have worked in partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to study implementation of Chicago's new teacher evaluation system: Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago's Students (REACH). This paper presents findings as well as experiences from the collaboration with CPS and…

An extensive body of research has demonstrated that the use in a K-12 classroom of technology, such as the Internet, computers, and software programs, enhances the learning of mathematics (Cheung & Slavin, 2013; Cohen & Hollebrands, 2011). In particular, growing empirical evidence supports that certain types of technology, such as…

Currently in Kenya, secondary school government bursaries are administered through committees set up at the level of parliamentary constituencies. However, there is widespread consensus that this system is not functioning adequately, as the process is often haphazard and funds are often spread too thinly across students. The Ministry of Education…

Nationally, two-thirds of high school students are unable to read and comprehend complex academic materials, think critically about texts, and synthesize information from multiple sources, or communicate what they have learned. Without a substantial change in their academic literacy, U.S. high school students face continued academic problems in…

In this paper, the authors looked at the effectiveness of special education schools for mathematics learning. Mathematics education is a key to increasing the later professional and citizenship opportunities of students and mathematical understanding influences decision making in all areas of life. Additionally, math failure correlates highly with…