By 2013, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had adopted college- and career-ready standards in English language arts and mathematics, placing a greater emphasis on argument writing to prepare students for life after high school. Solving the specific problem of how to help teachers teach to new standards for argument writing as well as the broader problem of improving teaching and learning requires continued efforts to understand how to support teachers in making substantial changes in instruction. This paper reports on a district-randomized controlled trial of the National Writing Project’s College-Ready Writers Program (CRWP), implemented in high-need rural districts in 10 states, testing one instance of professional development paired with supporting curricular resources and a formative assessment tool designed to shift instruction to align with the new college- and career-ready standards in English language arts classes in grades 7–10. Researchers randomly assigned 44 rural districts either to receive 2 years of CRWP or to be in a business-as-usual control group and found positive impacts on teacher practice and student source-based argument writing.
Katrina Woodworth
SRI Author
Pathway Schools Initiative Developmental Evaluation-Learning Brief 3 (February 2017)
To support its Pathway Schools Initiative, The McKnight Foundation has engaged initiative leaders in a developmental evaluation (DE) led by SRI International and Child Trends. A collaborative effort, DE begins with identification of high-priority questions of practical interest. It supports continuous improvement through data gathering and provision of rapid, relevant feedback to the initiative leaders who develop action plans based on the implications of the findings.
Improving early literacy in PreK–3: Lessons learned (August 2016)
In 2011, The McKnight Foundation partnered on a preK–3 literacy initiative with a set of districts and schools in the Twin Cities area, all serving high-needs students. The Pathway Schools Initiative aims to dramatically increase the number of students who reach the critical milestone of grade 3 reading proficiency, an indicator predictive of later academic outcomes and high school graduation. This report presents findings from Phase I of the Pathway Schools Initiative (2011–15).
Pathway Schools Initiative Developmental Evaluation-Learning Brief 2 (July 2016)
To support its Pathway Schools Initiative, The McKnight Foundation has engaged initiative leaders in a developmental evaluation (DE) led by SRI International and Child Trends. DE is a collaborative effort that begins with identification of high-priority questions of practical interest and then supports continuous improvement through data gathering and provision of rapid, relevant feedback to the initiative leaders who develop action plans based on the implications of the findings.
Pathway Schools Initiative Developmental Evaluation-Learning Brief 1 (January 2016)
To support its Pathway Schools Initiative, The McKnight Foundation has engaged initiative leaders in a developmental evaluation (DE) led by SRI International and Child Trends. DE is a collaborative effort that begins with identification of high-priority questions of practical interest and then supports continuous improvement through data gathering and provision of rapid, relevant feedback to the initiative leaders who develop action plans based on the implications of the findings.
Research Brief: Impact of the National Writing Project’s College-Ready Writers Program on Teachers and Students
SRI’s two-year random assignment evaluation found consistent program implementation and positive impacts of the National Writing Project’s College-Ready Writers Program (CRWP).
International Baccalaureate national trends for low-income students 2008–2014
This study examines the postsecondary trajectories of low-income International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) candidates and course takers from public schools in the United States from 2008–2014.
Evaluating the Impact of Professional Development to Meet Challenging Writing Standards in High-Need Elementary Schools
The adoption of the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) has brought a new prominence to writing instruction. Additionally, the CCSS-ELA increase the focus on argument and informational/explanatory writing. To facilitate elementary teachers’ transition to this new emphasis on writing in general, and argument and informational writing specifically, the National Writing Project was awarded a 1-year U.S. Department of Education Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant. This grant enabled the National Writing Project to provide intensive, sustained in-service professional development to high-need elementary schools focused on CCSS-ELA implementation in third, fourth, and fifth grades. SRI conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial to estimate the effects of the SEED professional development on teachers’ writing instruction and student argument writing, while documenting the implementation of the SEED program and the contexts in which the program was executed. This report describes SRI’s findings.
Evaluating the Impact of Professional Development to Meet Challenging Writing Standards in High-Need Elementary Schools: Executive Summary
The adoption of the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) has brought a new prominence to writing instruction. Additionally, the CCSS-ELA increase the focus on argument and informational/explanatory writing. To facilitate elementary teachers’ transition to this new emphasis on writing in general, and argument and informational writing specifically, the National Writing Project was awarded a 1-year U.S. Department of Education Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant. This grant enabled the National Writing Project to provide intensive, sustained in-service professional development to high-need elementary schools focused on CCSS-ELA implementation in third, fourth, and fifth grades. SRI conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial to estimate the effects of the SEED professional development on teachers’ writing instruction and student argument writing, while documenting the implementation of the SEED program and the contexts in which the program was executed. This executive summary describes SRI’s findings.
Evaluation of the First Year of the Oakland Blended Learning Pilot
Much in the same way technology is changing the way we work and interact in other aspects of our lives, technology will inevitably influence the way we approach teaching and learning. Blended learning describes the integration of technology—and online learning in particular—into classroom-based instruction. In 2012–13, the Rogers Family Foundation (RFF) and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) launched a blended learning pilot program in four schools. SRI International was contracted to evaluate this pilot.
With support from RFF, OUSD, and other external assistance providers, the goal of the pilot is to support teachers in Oakland schools as they worked to personalize learning through the integration of online digital content, small group instruction, and the use of data. To support efforts to learn from the pilot, a research team from SRI documented how blended learning was applied in participating schools and classrooms and the supports required for success. More specifically, the goals of the evaluation were
• To understand how the core components of blended learning (digital content, small group instruction, data use) work together to improve student learning outcomes
• To track how classroom practices and student learning experiences change over time
• To understand the most useful supports for effective implementation of personalized blended learning in a large school district like Oakland Unified.
The evaluation relied on multiple sources of data, including teacher surveys, classroom observations, school visits that included teacher and principal interviews and student focus groups, and additional interviews with key stakeholders. Because the pilot intended to support substantial experimentation in this first year, the evaluation was designed to examine early-stage implementation and does not assess the impact on student outcomes.
An Unfinished Canvas: District Capacity and the Use of New Funds for Arts Education in California
Questions about district leadership and capacity—particularly in light of the new funding—served as the impetus for this study. Through a survey of leaders in 385 districts, we assessed districts’ capacity with respect to arts education, explored early spending choices, and examined the relationship between the two. We also studied changes in arts education since the new resources became available and worked to understand the barriers that continue to stand in the way of comprehensive arts education for all California students.
An Unfinished Canvas: Local Partnerships in Support of Arts Education in California
A team of SRI researchers conducted case studies of partnerships between districts and arts organizations in six diverse California communities in spring 2008. The case study sites were selected for their
particular arts education activities and diverse contexts and, as a result, do not offer generalizable data about partnerships between school districts and arts organizations in California. Instead, we highlight the ways that a sample of partnerships promotes arts education in California elementary schools to inform others who may be interested in building partnerships between school districts and arts organizations.
An Unfinished Canvas: Fact Sheet
Introduction California policymakers have established ambitious goals for arts education, calling on schools to provide a standards-based, sequential course of study in dance, music, theater, and visual arts. Yet An Unfinished Canvas, a report by SRI International, revealed that an overwhelming majority of California schools fail to meet these guidelines and that key barriers include […]
An Unfinished Canvas: A Review of Large-Scale Assessment in K-12 Arts Education
This paper provides a review of the status of large-scale arts assessments and current practice in statewide arts assessment for the purpose of K–12 education accountability. We begin with an overview of the recent history of developments in standards, assessment, and accountability in arts education. Next, we describe and discuss the strengths and limitations of several influential approaches to large-scale arts assessment, the NAEP Arts Assessment and two large-scale portfolio assessment models, the IB arts portfolio assessment and the AP Studio Art portfolio program. Then follows a discussion of the very different approaches to standards-based arts assessment adopted by the five states that had active large-scale arts assessment programs: Kentucky, Washington, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Minnesota.
An Unfinished Canvas: Allocating Funding and Instructional Time for Elementary Arts Education
The study’s aim is to provide California policy-makers and educators with examples and lessons from other jurisdictions that have been more successful in providing all students with access to arts education. These examples and lessons are particularly important at this time, when California has made new investments in arts education: In 2006, the state committed an unprecedented amount of funding to arts education, including $500 million in one-time funds for arts and physical education and $105 million in ongoing funding.
