IES compares effectiveness of 4 early elementary math curricula

Four math curricula, (1) Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, (2) Math Expressions, (3) Saxon Math, and (4) Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics (SFAW), were compared for effectiveness in the 1st and 2nd grades of 110 schools in 12 participating districts in 10 states. A brief overview of the findings and links to the full reports are located here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20114001/

IES publishes practice guide on Improving Reading Comprehension: K -3

A new guide from the Institute for Education Sciences is now available: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/readingcomp_pg_092810.pdf
 An addendum (9/30/10): Here is a summary from the introduction: "....presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers and other educators can use to successfully teach reading comprehension
to young readers." A record for this report has also been added to the UNLV Libraries catalog.

Recess improves 3rd graders classroom behavior--maybe

The What Works Clearinghouse provides an evaluation of a study which found that teachers report better classroom behavior when students have regular access to recess. WWC also cautions that the populations that have regular access to recess were different in several ways from the populations that didn't, and these differences may or may not have been corrected for by data analysis.

Barros, R. M., Silver, E. J., & Stein, R. E. K. (2009). School recess and group classroom behavior. Pediatrics, 123(2): 431–436.
(online access to this article is available through the UNLV Libraries)

Guide on using RTI for students struggling with math

"Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools." This new guide from the What Works Clearinghouse provides eight specific recommendations intended to help teachers, principals, and school administrators use Response to Intervention (RtI) to identify students who need assistance in mathematics, and to address the needs of these students through focused interventions. The guide also describes how to carry out each recommendation, including how to address potential roadblocks in implementing them.
The guide is linked from this page:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#rti_math_pg

Fiscal year 2007 data on revenues/expenditures for public elementary & secondary schools

"The Common Core of Data (CCD) is an annual collection of public elementary and secondary education data by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences. The data are reported by state education agencies (SEAs). The finance data are reported to the U.S. Census Bureau, which acts as the data collection agent for NCES. Student membership data are reported to the U.S. Department of Education’s EDFacts data collection system. This report presents findings on public education revenues and expenditures using fiscal year 2007 (FY 07) data from the National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS) of the CCD survey system. Programs covered in the NPEFS include regular, special, and vocational education; charter schools (if they reported data to the SEA); and state-run education programs (such as special education centers or education programs for incarcerated youth).

The CCD NPEFS is a universe collection of public elementary and secondary education finance data reported annually by SEAs in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the four other jurisdictions of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The NPEFS provides SEA-level data for all revenues and expenditures associated with each reporting state or jurisdiction, including revenues by source and expenditures by function and object." (from the Introduction at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/expenditures/)

Links to all Table data (also available in Excel format) are here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/expenditures/tables.asp

Link to the full report is here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009337

Research compares 1st grade math curricula

The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance within the Institute of Education Sciences today released a report on the effectiveness of four math curricula. The "Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools" reports on the relative impacts of four math curricula on first-grade mathematics achievement. The curricula were selected to represent diverse approaches to teaching elementary school math in the United States. The four curricula are Investigations in Number, Data, and Space; Math Expressions; Saxon Math; and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics. First-grade math achievement was significantly higher in schools randomly assigned to Math Expressions or Saxon Math than in those schools assigned to Investigations in Number, Data, and Space or to Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics. This study is being conducted as part of the National Assessment of Title I.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20094052/index.asp

WWC report on Early Intervention Reading (EIR) program

Not many studies meet the evidence criteria for WWC. Only one study looking at EIR did and here are excerpts from the summary findings.

"Early Intervention in Reading (EIR)^® is a program designed to provide extra instruction to groups of students at risk of failing to learn to read. The program uses picture books to stress instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, and contextual analysis, along with repeated reading and writing. In grades K, 1, and 2, the program is based on whole-class instruction, with additional small group instruction provided to struggling readers. In grades 3 and 4, the program consists of small group instruction for 20 minutes, four days a week. Teachers are trained for nine months using workshops and an Internet-based professional development program.

Research

One study of EIR^® meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards...

Based on this one study, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for EIR^® to be small for alphabetics and comprehension. No studies that meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations examined the effectiveness of EIR^® in the fluency or general reading achievement domains.

Effectiveness

EIR^® was found to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics and comprehension."

Links to other parts of the report are here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/eir/index.asp

IES Practice Guide: Reducing Problem Behaviors in the Elementary Classroom

Although I don't always agree with the exclusive focus on quantitative research promoted by the What Works Clearinghouse, I think the approach is warranted and fruitful in this area. This Practice Guide provides a detailed review of the evidence in support of 5 intervention strategies along with fairly detailed information for implementation (e.g., exemplar charts for tracking behaviors). Targeted to general classroom teachers of K-5 students (including special education students who spend time in the general classroom).

NCTQ issues report on elementary math prep for teachers

The National Council on Teacher Quality has issued a new report which reports the results of their study of elementary math teacher education programs. According to the July 3 Inside Higher Ed, "A report released Friday by the National Council on Teacher Quality looked at 77 elementary education programs from all states but Alaska, examining the math courses elementary teacher candidates had to take. The report looked at three factors: “relevance,” the extent to which courses were relevant to what candidates would be teaching in the field; “breadth,” the degree to which “essential” topics are covered; and “depth,” if enough time was given to these topics.

Only 10 of the 77 programs scored adequately on all three criteria, according to the report,"No Common Denominator: The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America's Education Schools."

Several appendices in the report offer rubrics for evaluating elementary mathematics textbooks, sample math course syllabi and sample practice teaching assignments.

New IES Report: Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs

The evaluation reports on the impacts on student achievement of two academic programs, one for reading and one for mathematics in grades 2-5. Compared to students attending regular after-school program activities, the students selected for the after-school math program received, on average, an additional 49 hours of instruction; students selected for the reading program received 48 hours of additional instruction, on average. The evaluation found a statistically significant difference in student math achievement favoring students in the math after-school program compared with those in the regular after-school activities. There was no statistically significant difference in reading achievement between students in the reading after-school program and those in the regular after-school activities.
Go to http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20084021.asp to view, print, and download the report.