Strategic Education Research Partnership Institute

TO GENERATE INNOVATIVE, SCALABLE SOLUTIONS TO OUR SCHOOLS' MOST PRESSING PROBLEMS THROUGH SUSTAINED COLLABORATIONS AMONG EDUCATORS, RESEARCHERS, AND DESIGNERS.

BUILDING CAPACITY TO SUPPORT STRUGGLING ADOLESCENT READERS SERP WAS AWARDED A FIVE-YEAR, 7.8-MILLION EDUCATION INNOVATION AND RESEARCH (EIR) MID-PHASE GRANT STARTING IN OCTOBER 2018 TO BUILD THE CAPACITY TO SCALE THE STRATEGIC ADOLESCENT READING INTERVENTION (STARI). IN A PRIOR STUDY, STARI SHOWED IMPACTS THAT ARE STATISTICALLY AND SUBSTANTIVELY SIGNIFICANT ON COMPONENT READING SKILLS AND ON DEEP COMPREHENSION. THIS PROJECT WILL ALLOW SERP TO EXPAND THE CAPACITY- BUILDING RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR STARI AND SCALE THE PROGRAM TO MORE DISTRICTS, SCHOOLS, TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS. TO MEET THE COST-MATCHING REQUIREMENT, SERP HAS RECEIVED CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE ABELL FOUNDATION AND BLAUSTEIN FOUNDATIONS, AS WELL AS SEVERAL IN-KIND DONATIONS. OVER THE COURSE OF THE PROJECT, TRAINING WILL BE PROVIDED TO NEARLY 100 TEACHERS AND COACHES, PROGRAM MATERIALS WILL BE PROVIDED TO AN ESTIMATED 3,500 STUDENTS, INCLUDING WORKBOOKS, FLUENCY PASSAGES WRITTEN AT FOUR LEVELS, AND THE NOVELS, NON-FICTION TEXTS, AND POETRY THAT ACCOMPANY EACH UNIT. ELIGIBLE STUDENTS WILL BE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO RECEIVE STARI OR THE SCHOOL'S BUSINESS-AS-USUAL READING INTERVENTION, AND MDRC WILL CONDUCT THE EVALUATION. CAPACITY WILL BE SHIFTED FROM THE PROJECT TEAM TO DISTRICT STAFF TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABILITY AND EXPANSION IN PARTNER DISTRICTS. IN ADDITION, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO ENABLE MORE SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS TO ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAM SUCCESSFULLY IN THE FUTURE. THUS, ANTICIPATED IMPACT FAR EXCEEDS THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS DIRECTLY SERVED THROUGH THE PROJECT. BY THE END OF THE FIVE-YEAR GRANT PERIOD, WE EXPECT TO (1) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE PERFORMANCE ON COLLEGE AND CAREER ALIGNED STATE TESTS FOR APPROXIMATELY 3,500 STUDENTS IN 246 CLASSROOMS ACROSS FOUR PARTNER DISTRICTS; 2) VALIDATE THE EFFICACY OF STARI WHEN IMPLEMENTED ON A LARGER SCALE FOR SUBGROUPS OF STUDENTS IN DIVERSE CONTEXTS; 3) IMPROVE DISTRICT CAPACITY TO HELP STRUGGLING READERS MEET COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS STANDARDS; AND 4) EXPAND SERP'S CAPACITY TO SUPPORT THE USE OF STARI IN OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS. DEVELOPMENT WORK FOR THE PRODUCTS OF THE PROJECT WILL OCCUR DURING 2018-2021. DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WORK IN SCHOOLS AND DATA COLLECTION EFFORTS HAVE BEEN IMPACTED SIGNIFICANTLY IN 2020. WHILE THE RESEARCH COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT HAVE BEEN DISRUPTED, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS HAVE CONTINUED AND EXPANDED TO INCLUDE EXTENSIVE SUPPORTS AND RESOURCES FOR CLASSROOMS USING STARI IN HYBRID AND VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SERIES AN ONLINE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SERIES IS BEING DEVELOPED TO EXPAND TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE REGARDING STARI COMPONENTS AND PRACTICES. THE SERIES CONSISTS OF ONLINE SESSIONS THAT CAN BE COMPLETED INDEPENDENTLY OR IN TEACHER TEAMS. SESSIONS WILL CONSIST OF VIDEOS FEATURING STARI LEAD DEVELOPER LOWRY HEMPHILL, STARI PROJECT DIRECTOR MARGARET TROYER, AND STARI INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES TALKING THROUGH KEY FEATURES OF STARI, SUCH AS FLUENCY, GUIDED READING, DEBATE, COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES, AND DECODING. VIDEOS ARE INTERLEAVED WITH ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS TO COMPLETE. IF POSSIBLE, SESSIONS WOULD BE LED BY A COACH/FACILITATOR TO FOSTER DEEP AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS AMONG TEACHERS REGARDING STARI IMPLEMENTATION AND PRACTICES.

ACADEMICALLY PRODUCTIVE TALK SERP RECEIVED A THREE-YEAR, 1-MILLION GRANT FROM THE SPENCER FOUNDATION TO BRING TOGETHER A DIVERSE TEAM OF RESEARCHERS WITH EXPERTISE ON ACADEMICALLY PRODUCTIVE TALK. RESEARCH KNOWLEDGE BASE AND CURRENT EDUCATION STANDARDS SUPPORT A MAJOR SHIFT IN INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE - ONE THAT REQUIRES STUDENTS TO ENGAGE IN EXPLAINING THEIR THINKING AND MAKING AND DEFENDING ARGUMENTS. DESPITE AGREEMENT ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ACADEMICALLY PRODUCTIVE TALK, THERE ISN'T CONSENSUS ON WHAT CONSTITUTES ACADEMICALLY PRODUCTIVE TALK OR HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN IN CLASSROOMS. THE COLLABORATION WILL ADDRESS THREE PURPOSES: 1) TO CREATE A VIDEO DATABASE AND INSTRUMENT-SHARING SITE TO PROMOTE SITUATED RESEARCH ON CLASSROOM TALK CAPABLE OF INFORMING CLASSROOM PRACTICE; 2) TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON THE FEATURES OF CLASSROOM TALK THAT MAKE IT ACADEMICALLY PRODUCTIVE; AND 3) TO PROVIDE ANNOTATED VIDEO RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AND THOSE WHO PREPARE THEM PROFESSIONALLY THAT WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER EXPERTISE IN TALK-BASED PEDAGOGY. PRODUCTS PRODUCTS OF THE COLLABORATION WILL INCLUDE: A) A CORPUS OF TRANSCRIBED VIDEO AND CODING INSTRUMENTS HOUSED ON TALKBANK, AN EXISTING PLATFORM DESIGNED FOR RESEARCHERS AND CAPABLE OF EXPANSION OVER TIME; B) A NEW, FREELY-ACCESSIBLE WEBSITE TO SUPPORT PRACTICE WITH ANNOTATED VIDEOS THAT HAVE PERMISSIONS FOR PUBLIC SHARING; AND C) RESEARCH PAPERS THAT ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MARKERS OF TALK THAT MAKE IT ACADEMICALLY PRODUCTIVE AND THE CONDITIONS THAT SUPPORT IT. MEMBERS OF THE TEAM HAVE CONTRIBUTED A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF CLASSROOM FOOTAGE FROM THEIR OWN RESEARCH INITIATIVES TO THIS WORK. THE INITIAL FOOTAGE HAS BEEN VITAL IN GENERATING THE CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE HELPING TO ANSWER OUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND WILL BE USED IN OUR PRACTITIONER FACING WEBSITE. WE HAD INITIALLY PLANNED TO COLLECT ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE IN AREAS LIKE ELEMENTARY MATH WHERE WE DO NOT HAVE EXISTING VIDEO, HOWEVER PLANS FOR FURTHER VIDEO COLLECTION HAVE BEEN DELAYED DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. INITIAL FINDINGS FROM THE PROJECT WILL BE PRESENTED AT AERA 2022, THE PAPER WILL FOCUS ON THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN ACADEMICALLY PRODUCTIVE TALK ACROSS CONTENT AREAS.

CENTER FOR THE SUCCESS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS FUNDED BY THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES, THE CENTER FOR THE SUCCESS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS (CSEL) WILL AIM TO IDENTIFY AND REMOVE BARRIERS TO SCHOOL-LEVEL PRACTICES INFLUENCED BY POLICIES THAT CONSTRAIN STUDENT'S COURSE-TAKING AND DEVELOP AND TEST INTERVENTIONS THAT IMPROVE INSTRUCTION FOR ELS. THE WORK OF THE CENTER WILL CONSIST OF THREE STRANDS; 1) POLICY, 2) INSTRUCTION AND 3) LEADERSHIP. PRODUCT SERPS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CENTER WILL FOCUS ON THE INSTRUCTION STRAND THAT IS AIMED AT DEVELOPING AND TESTING INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION FOR ELS IN GRADES 6 AND GRADE 9 IN SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES. THE INTERVENTIONS WILL CONSIST OF NEW CONTENT AND ADAPTATIONS OF EXISTING SERP PRODUCTS, SCIGEN AND SOGEN FOR EL STUDENTS AND LEVERAGE FOUR TRANSDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION FOR ELS. THESE LEVERS INCLUDE: 1) FOREGROUNDING CONTENT TO BUILD LANGUAGE THROUGH CONTENT INSTRUCTION, 2) USING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE ENGAGING AND MEANINGFUL TO STUDENTS WHILE INVOLVING STUDENTS IN THE PRACTICES OF THE DISCIPLINE, 3) USING ORGANIZING LEARNING IN HETEROGENOUS TEAMS (TEAM-BASED LEARNING) TO PROMOTE COLLABORATION, DISCUSSION, AND SOCIAL MOTIVATION, AND 4) MAKING USE OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TO IMPROVE TEACHERS- AND STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENTS' DEVELOPMENT, AND TO PROMOTE RESPONSIVE INSTRUCTION AND FEEDBACK TO STUDENTS.

1. TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY THROUGH CLIMATE CHANGE 2. MATHBYEXAMPLE 3. GEOMETRY BY EXAMPLE 4. DCPS PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE EARLY LITERACY SUCCESS 5. LEARNING PROGRESSIONS IN SCIENCE 6. OAKLAND URBAN TEACHER RESIDENCY 7. OTHER PROGRAMS