The McKnight Foundation’s Education & Learning (E&L) program is an effort to improve the literacy achievement of students in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota) through pathways that integrate and enhance prekindergarten through third-grade literacy education. This four-year study seeks to:
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Document baseline conditions to understand the strengths and needs in the partner districts
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Formatively support the development and refinement of the E&L program
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Measure the E&L program’s effectiveness in developing proficient third-grade readers
To answer the formative research questions, SRI education researchers are using a multi-method approach that involves case studies, teacher observations, teacher logs, and early literacy assessment data.
To investigate the program’s impact on student achievement, we will conduct a longitudinal quasi-experimental study comparing literacy skill growth from preschool to second grade between students who stay in pathways schools and matched students who attend other elementary schools.
We also will assess impact on literacy skills through a cross-sectional study that examines third-grade reading test scores in pathway schools compared with matched non-pathway schools.
