Research suggests effective professional learning communities (PLCs) enhance teacher collaboration and student achievement. Some studies indicate that these communities also predict greater collective efficacy, while others suggest teacher efficacy is predictive of teachers working together. Although studies have identified effective,…

This paper reports on the findings in the first phase of a design-based research project as part of a large-scale intervention study in Dutch kindergartens. The project aims at enhancing differentiated instruction and evaluating its effects on children's development, in particular high-ability children. This study investigates relevant…

In this qualitative case study the researcher examined educators' perceptions of an RTI/MTSS model of instruction and how staff perceptions relate to fidelity of implementation. The purpose of this research was to investigate educators' understanding of the critical components necessary to support implementation of RTI/MTSS framework. The…

Treatment integrity is an important concern in treatment centers but is often overlooked. Performance feedback is a well-established approach to improving treatment integrity, but is underused and undervalued. One way to increase its value to treatment centers may be to expose unrealized benefits on the observer who collects the performance…

Purpose: Treatment fidelity is a measure of the reliability of the administration of an intervention in a treatment study. It is an important aspect of the validity of a research study, and it has implications for the ultimate implementation of evidence-supported interventions in typical clinical settings. Method: Aphasia treatment studies…

Noise is a fundamental hurdle that impedes the processing of information-bearing signals, specifically the extraction of salient information. Processing that is both optimal and efficient is desired; optimality ensures the extracted information has the highest fidelity allowed by the noise, while efficiency ensures limited resource usage. Optimal…

The term "fidelity" is often used in educational contexts to describe the degree to which a practitioner follows the prescribed directions when delivering an instructional program (Sanetti & Kratochwill, 2009; Dane & Schneider, 1998). Within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework, the term fidelity also extends to assessment…

How do we remove learning barriers and provide all students with the opportunity to succeed? Written for both general and special educators from grades Pre-K through 12, "What Really Works with Universal Design for Learning" is the how-to guide for implementing aspects of Universal Design Learning (UDL) to help every student be…

The growing cost of college is one of the most significant barriers to completion. However, research shows that frequent, intensive advising, combined with financial and other support, can make a tremendous difference in helping students complete. For two years, TICAS has worked with a group of rigorously evaluated organizations across the country…

Induction programmes including assessments of suitability were introduced in Sweden 2011 and were in use for three years. The purpose of this study is to examine the conditions for and the consequences of giving the induction programme a gatekeeper function to the teaching profession. The empirical basis consists of a web-based survey, which…

Theory and empirical work suggest that teachers' social capital influences school improvement efforts. Social ties are prerequisite for social capital, yet little causal evidence exists on how malleable factors, such as instructional management approaches, affect teachers' ties. In this cluster-randomized trial, we apply a decision-making…

This article describes Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC), a model based on extensive research that is designed for feasibility and effectiveness for treating challenging behaviors in classroom settings. This model is designed to meet the needs of children with and without disabilities who engage in challenging behavior that…

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of evaluation findings at the culmination of the Collaborative Regional Education (CORE) i3 2013 grant, including implementation and impact results from the local and national study phases. The goal of CORE is to have a positive impact on students' college and work readiness outcomes by…

This multiyear scale-up effectiveness study of Open Court Reading (OCR) involved approximately 4,500 students and more than 1,000 teachers per year in Grades K-5 from 49 elementary schools in seven districts across the country. Using a school-level cluster randomized trial design, we assessed the implementation and effectiveness of Open Court…

Although the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are not federally mandated national standards or performance expectations for K-12 schools in the United States, they stand poised to become a de facto national science and education policy, as state governments, publishers of curriculum materials, and assessment providers across the country…