Teach Effectively!

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences that is currently under contract to American Institutes of Research, released several sets of new reports. The reports cover topics in (a) beginning reading, (b) drop-out prevention, (c) early childhood education, (d) elementary school math, (e) English lanaguage learning, and (f) middle school. Here’s a clipping from the release notice.

Beginning Reading:

ClassWide Peer Tutoring is a peer-assisted instructional strategy designed to be integrated with most existing reading curricula.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on general reading achievement.

Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition® (CIRC) is a comprehensive reading and writing program for students in grades two through eight.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on comprehension.

Corrective Reading is a program designed to promote reading accuracy (decoding), fluency, and comprehension skills of students in third grade or higher who are reading below their grade level.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics and fluency and no discernible effects on comprehension.

Failure Free Reading is a language development program designed to improve vocabulary, fluency, word recognition, and reading comprehension for kindergarten through grade 12 students who score in the bottom 15% on standardized tests and who have not responded to conventional beginning reading instruction.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on alphabetics and fluency and potentially positive effects on comprehension.

Fast ForWord® is a family of computer-based products designed to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning.

The WWC review found the program to have positive effects on alphabetics and mixed effects on comprehension.

Fluency Formula™ is a supplemental curriculum designed to promote reading fluency for first- through sixth-grade students.

The WWC review found the curriculum to have potentially positive effects on fluency and potentially negative effects on comprehension.

Kaplan SpellRead is a literacy program for struggling readers in grades two or above, including special education students, English language learners, and student more than two years below grade level in reading.

The WWC review found the program to have positive effects on alphabetics and potentially positive effects on fluency and comprehension.

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) is a peer-tutoring program, typically implemented three times a week for 30 to 35 minutes, in which students partner with peers, alternating the role of tutor while reading aloud, listening, and providing feedback in various structured activities.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension.

Read Naturally is designed to improve reading fluency using a combination of books, audiotapes, and computer software.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on fluency and reading comprehension.

Start Making a Reader Today® (SMART®) is a volunteer tutoring program widely implemented in Oregon for students in grades K-2 who are at risk of reading failure.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics, fluency, and comprehension.

Stepping Stones to Literacy is a supplemental curriculum for kindergarten and older preschool students who are underachieving readers, designed to promote listening, print conventions, phonological awareness, and serial processing/rapid naming.

The WWC review found the curriculum to have positive effects on alphabetics.

Waterford Early Reading Program™ is a software-based curriculum for students in kindergarten through second grade.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics and no discernible effects on comprehension.

Wilson Reading System® is a supplemental reading and writing curriculum designed to promote reading accuracy (decoding) and spelling (encoding) skills for students with word-level deficits.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics and no discernible effects on fluency and comprehension.

To view these reports, visit the WWC’s Beginning Reading web page.

Dropout Prevention:

The WWC released the Dropout Prevention topic report in which 59 studies of 16 dropout prevention programs were identified.

Project “Graduation Really Achieves Dreams” (Project GRAD) is an initiative for students in economically disadvantaged communities that aims to reduce dropping out and increase rates of college enrollment and graduation by increasing reading and math skills, improving behavior in school, and providing a service safety net.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on progressing in school or on completing school.

Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP) is an intensive and comprehensive program for high school-aged youth that offers case management, mentoring, tutoring, and other education and support services.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on progressing in school or completing school.

Talent Development High Schools is a school reform model for restructuring large high schools with persistent attendance and discipline problems, poor student achievement, and high dropout rates.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on progressing in school.

To view these reports, visit the WWC’s Dropout Prevention web page.

Early Childhood Education:

Doors to Discovery™ is an early childhood curriculum that uses thematic units to engage young children and support them as they build an understanding of their world.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on oral language, print knowledge, and phonological processing.

Let’s Begin with the Letter People® is an early education curriculum that uses thematic units to develop children’s language and literacy skills.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on oral language and potentially positive effects on print knowledge and phonological processing.

Literacy Express is a comprehensive preschool curriculum designed for three-to five-year old children.

The WWC review found the program to have positive effects on print knowledge and phonological processing, potentially positive effects on oral language and math, and no discernible effects on cognition.

Pre-K Mathematics is a supplemental curriculum designed to develop informal mathematical knowledge and skills in preschool children.

The WWC review found the program combined with DLM Early Childhood Express software to have positive effects on mathematics achievement.

Ready, Set, Leap! ® is a comprehensive preschool curriculum that focuses on early reading skills such as phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, and letter-sound correspondence using multi-sensory technology that incorporates touch, sight, and sound.

The WWC review found the curriculum to have no discernible effects on oral language, print knowledge, phonological processing, and early reading/writing skills.

SRA Real Math Building Blocks PreK (also referred to as Building Blocks for Math) is a supplemental mathematics curriculum designed to develop preschool children’s early mathematical knowledge through various individual and small-and large-group activities.

The WWC review found the program to have positive effects on mathematics achievement.

Waterford Early Reading Level One™ is an emergent literacy curriculum that uses computer-based technology to prepare children for reading.

The WWC review found the program to have no discernible effects on oral language or on print knowledge.

To view these reports, visit the WWC’s Early Childhood Education web page.

Elementary School Math:

The WWC released the Elementary School Math topic report in which 237 studies of 73 curricula were identified.

English Language Learners:

The WWC released the English Language Learners topic report in which 69 studies of 32 programs and practices were identified.

Peer Tutoring and Response Groups are strategies designed to improve the language and achievement of English language learners by pairing or grouping students to work on a task.

The WWC review found the strategies to have positive effects on English language development.

Success for All is a comprehensive reading, writing, and oral language development program for students in Pre-K through eighth grade.

The WWC review found the program to have potentially positive effects on reading achievement.

To view these reports, visit the WWC’s English Language Learners web page.

Middle School Math:

The WWC released an updated version of the Middle School Math topic report in which 158 empirical studies on 34 middle school math programs were identified.