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Home » Archives for Rebecca A. Schmidt

Rebecca A. Schmidt

SRI Author

  • Rebecca A. Schmidt

    Senior Education Researcher, SRI Education

    View all posts

Education & learning publications December 1, 2020 Tech Report

Scaling Up Teacher Induction: Implementation and Impact on Teachers and Students

Rebecca A. Schmidt, Aliya R. Pilchen, Katrina Laguarda, Haiwen Wang December 1, 2020

Beginning teachers enter a profession that places particularly challenging demands on novice practitioners. The New Teacher Center’s (NTC) induction model provides intensive, instructionally focused coaching to teachers during their first two years in the classroom, in-depth training for induction mentors, a suite of tools to guide coaching cycles, and capacity-building for district leaders to sustain induction mentoring programs after NTC’s direct involvement in the district ends.
With funding from a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) scale-up grant, NTC tested strategies for scaling its validated induction model to 301 schools in five school districts serving high proportions of students of color and students from low-income households. NTC adapted its model to support district adoption at scale, including an option for deploying part-time, school-based mentors, reduced requirements for mentor training, and online training and video-sharing tools.
SRI’s evaluation of the implementation and impact of NTC’s i3 scale-up grant employed a cluster-randomized controlled trial design with schools as the unit of randomization. All first-year teachers in randomized schools were included in the study. Treatment teachers received induction supports from NTC-trained mentors, while control teachers received the supports provided by their districts under business-as-usual conditions.
The evaluation examined fidelity of implementation to the model as designed, the contrast between the induction supports in the treatment and control conditions, and impacts on three key outcomes: 1) teachers’ classroom practice as measured by the Danielson Framework for Teaching, 2) student achievement on state standardized assessments in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) in grades 4 through 8, and 3) teacher retention within district.
NTC’s induction model was not implemented with adequate fidelity in any of the five sites according to thresholds set by NTC, and the mentoring received by NTC treatment teachers was not substantially different in key respects from the mentoring received by control teachers. There were no statistically significant impacts of the model as implemented on overall teacher practice, student achievement, or teacher retention.
Exploratory findings suggest conditions under which NTC might see a greater impact. There was a positive correlation between students’ mathematics achievement and mentoring that met NTC’s fidelity thresholds for frequency and duration, as well as between mathematics achievement and mentoring that met NTC’s expectations for instructional focus. NTC induction supports also had a positive impact on student ELA achievement in schools with higher proportions of historically underserved students.
These findings indicate the importance of ensuring high-quality implementation of a program. Under the i3 scale-up grant, NTC attempted to adapt its model for scaling, but the partner districts failed to fully implement key components and mediators as intended. There is evidence that the model has promise when fully implemented, particularly in schools with higher proportions of historically underserved students, but without further research this evidence is simply suggestive.

School and district reform publications October 1, 2020 Article

Shining a Light on Algebra I Access and Success: Embracing Equity at All Levels

Laura Kassner, Rebecca A. Schmidt, Deborah L. Jonas October 1, 2020

This REL Appalachia blog summarizes a recent IES report, examining Algebra I course taking pathways and outcomes based on students’ performance on Virginia’s grade 5 statewide math test, which showed significant equity gaps. The blog further encourages systematic data analysis related to course taking access and student success and includes practical advice on accomplishing this, including ideas on specific data points to pull and use.

Education & learning publications February 6, 2020 Tech Report

Evaluation of the New Teacher Center (NTC) i3 scale-up grant: Cohort 1 preliminary teacher and student impact

Rebecca A. Schmidt February 6, 2020

SRI is conducting an independent five-year evaluation of the New Teacher Center’s federally funded Investing in Innovation (i3) Scale-up grant. The grant funds an intensive program of mentoring and induction for beginning teachers in five geographically diverse locations. To analyze the impact of NTC induction on beginning teacher retention, beginning teacher practice, and student outcomes, SRI education researchers developed a rigorous study design using cluster randomized controlled trials at each of the five sites. SRI’s preliminary analysis of outcomes for the first cohort of teachers participating in the scaleup of the NTC model found that NTC induction had a positive impact on teacher classroom practice and student achievement in mathematics. The impact on student achievement was found equally in sites with school-based and sites with full-release mentors.

Education & learning publications February 1, 2020 Tech Report

Comparing the Achievement of Students in Virtual Virginia and Face-to-Face Courses

Jessica L. Mislevy, Rebecca A. Schmidt, Daniela Saucedo February 1, 2020

The Virginia Department of Education’s Virtual Virginia (VVA) program delivers more than 90 supplemental online courses to more than 10,000 middle and high school students each year. The department partnered with Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Appalachia to examine the relationship between students’ participation in a subset of 31 VVA online courses and their performance on end-of-course Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 school years. Relying on administrative records available through the Virginia Longitudinal Data System, REL Appalachia researchers conducted descriptive analyses and regression analyses with statistical controls. After controlling for demographic and prior achievement differences, students in face-to-face courses were more likely to score higher and demonstrate proficiency on SOL and AP exams than students taking the same courses through VVA across most subject areas. Because the study design was correlational, additional research is needed to determine whether the difference in performance is due to the characteristics of the students in online courses, aspects of the VVA program itself, or some other factor such as students’ reasons for enrolling in the course or the supports available in their local schools.

Teaching quality publications September 5, 2019 Tech Report

Evaluation of the New Teacher Center (NTC) i3 Scale-up grant: Teacher practice impacts

Rebecca A. Schmidt September 5, 2019

SRI’s analysis of outcomes for two cohorts of teachers participating in the scale-up of the New Teacher Center’s intensive program of mentoring and induction for beginning teachers found that NTC induction had a positive impact on teacher classroom practice after two years of mentoring support. There was no difference in impacts between school-based and full-release sites, suggesting that the school-based mentoring model, one of NTC’s key scaling strategies, was as effective as the full-release model that was tested in an earlier study. These findings provide promising evidence that NTC induction support, delivered via strategies that allow scaling across a variety of district contexts, can help beginning teachers surmount early obstacles to success and focus on increasing their students’ learning.

Education & learning publications August 30, 2019 Article

The Study of Implementation of the ESEA Title I – Part C Migrant Education Program

Rebecca A. Schmidt August 30, 2019

In 2018, SRI conducted a study to examine how state MEP grantees and local/regional subgrantees implemented the program’s four central components—(1) identification and recruitment, (2) records transfer, (3) service delivery, and (4 ) coordination and collaboration—and thereby positioned the program to achieve its longer-term goals of reducing barriers to migratory children’s school success, closing the gaps in their academic achievement, and increasing their high school graduation rates. The study focused on four main study questions:

How do state MEP grantees and local/regional subgrantees identify, recruit, and prioritize migratory children for services?
How does the Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX) system facilitate the transfer of educational and health information to support enrollment, placement, and accrual of credits for migratory children?
What services do state MEP grantees and local/regional subgrantees provide to migratory children?
How do state MEP grantees and local/regional subgrantees collaborate with other programs and organizations to deliver services to migratory children?

Early childhood learning and development publications July 1, 2018 Tech Report

Pathway Schools Initiative: Fundamental evaluation summary

Shari Golan, Katrina Woodworth, Wei-Bing Chen, Rebecca A. Schmidt, Lauren J. Cassidy July 1, 2018

This report summarizes the progress made by the schools that participated in the Pathway Schools Initiative through the 2017–18 school year on a fundamental set of outcome indicators: continuity in the PreK–3 enrollment pipeline, literacy instructional practices, teaching quality, effective school leadership, and student reading achievement.

Education & learning publications March 30, 2018 Article

Issue brief: Academic support classes

Rebecca A. Schmidt March 30, 2018

In 2015–16, the high school graduation rate reached a record high of 84 percent (U.S. Department of Education 2017). Despite the gains, over half a million students still drop out of high school each year (U.S. Department of Education 2015). High schools have adopted various strategies designed to keep students who are at risk of not graduating in school and on track for earning the credits required to graduate. “At-risk” students are defined as those failing to achieve basic proficiency in key subjects or exhibiting behaviors that can lead to failure and/or dropping out of school. Dropout prevention strategies are diverse; they vary in type of program, services offered, frequency, intensity, and duration of contact with target students.
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) sponsored the National Survey on High School Strategies Designed to Help At-Risk Students Graduate (HSS), which aimed to provide descriptive information on the prevalence and characteristics of dropout prevention strategies for at-risk students. The survey collected data in the 2014–15 school year from a nationally representative sample of 2,142 public high schools and focused on 13 specific high school improvement strategies1 identified by a panel of external experts and senior Department officials. All findings are based on self-reported data from school principals. This brief on academic support classes is the twelfth in a series of briefs with key findings about these high school improvement strategies.

Teaching quality publications December 1, 2017 Tech Report

A comprehensive model of teacher induction: Implementation and impact on teachers and students evaluation of the New Teacher Center’s i3 validation grant, final report

Rebecca A. Schmidt, Haiwen Wang, Lauren J. Cassidy, Katrina Laguarda December 1, 2017

SRI Education’s evaluation of the New Teacher Center’s (NTC’s) Investing in Innovation (i3) Validation grant examined the impact of the NTC induction model on teacher practice and student achievement. To account for different local contexts and needs, the study used randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in two districts—Broward County Public Schools and Chicago Public Schools—and a quasi-experimental design in Grant Wood Area Education Agency, a consortium of districts in Iowa. In the RCT districts, the study found positive impacts of the induction model on student achievement in English language arts and mathematics. The study found no statistically significant differences between NTC-supported teachers and comparison teachers on teacher practice measures or on teacher retention into their third year of teaching.
However, the high implementation fidelity levels and contrasts in induction experiences between treatment and comparison teachers indicate that the NTC induction model can be implemented well in a range of district contexts.

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