WWC assessment of "I Can Learn Pre-Algebra and Algebra" programs

Will wonders never cease! It's SO rare that any research studies ever meet WWC evidence standards that there usually isn't much to report. Here is what they say about these programs:

"One study of I CAN Learn^®Pre-Algebra and Algebra meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards and four studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The five studies included 16,519 eighth-grade students from middle schools in California, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana.³

Based on these five studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for I CAN Learn^®Pre-Algebra and Algebra to be medium to large for math achievement."

Links to the full evaluation report are here:

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/iclprea/

Meta-analysis of Reading Recovery studies

The What Works Clearinghouse recently reviewed 28 studies utililizing the Reading Recovery program, "a short-term tutoring intervention intended to serve the lowest-achieving (bottom 20%) first-grade students," conducted since 2005.

Here are their conclusions:

"Four studies of Reading Recovery^® meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards, and one study meets WWC evidence standards with reservations. The five studies included approximately 700 first-grade students in more than 46 schools across the United States.³

Based on these five studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for Reading Recovery^® to be medium to large for alphabetics, small for fluency and comprehension, and medium to large for general reading achievement."

The overview of their review and links to the full report and appendices are here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/reading_recovery/

WWC Review of Dropout Prevention Studies

What Works Clearinghouse reviewed 84 studies--looking at 22 school and community based projects targeted to dropout prevention or recovery. Only 23 studies, looking at 16 projects, met WWC evidentiary standards. Tabular presentation indicates which studies demonstrated positive or potentially positive effects on at least one of these three outcome domains: "staying in school, progressing in school, and completing school." The overview with links to all sections of the report and appendices is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/topic/

Summary of recent WWC reports

Perhaps the What Works Clearinghouse should be called the "What Works and What Doesn't Clearinghouse." Of course it does not roll quite so trippingly off the tongue, but what distinguishes WWC from other publication & information venues is that they publish results of what was not found or supported. This is of course closely tied to whether or not you agree to their criteria for what works and what doesn't :-) Here is a rundown of recent reports:

Practice Guides!
- Dropout Prevention
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#dp_pg
- Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#adlit_pg
- Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/#turning_pg

Intervention Reports in the Following Topic Areas!

Beginning Reading:
- Reading Mastery
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/rdgmastery/
- Open Court Reading(c)
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/open_court/
- Houghton Mifflin Reading(c)
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/houghton/

Early Childhood Education:
- Breakthrough to Literacy
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/btl/

Dropout Prevention:
- Accelerated Middle Schools
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/ams/
- New Century High Schools Initiative
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/new_century/

Middle School Math:
- Mathematics in Context - http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/math_context/

Quick Reviews!
- Abstract Examples in Learning Math Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/abmath/
- Arkansas Teacher Performance-Pay Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/littlerock/
- Board Games and Numeracy Skills Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/boardgames/
- Los Angeles Charter School Performance Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/charterschool/
- Sixth Grade in Middle School Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/sixthgrademiddle/
- Student Incentives in Charter Schools Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/payforas/
- Teach For America Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/tfa/
- Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program Study
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/texasapip/