Tag Archive for 'efficacy'

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SREE call for papers pending

Published on 12 July 2010 in News, Policy, Research and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

The Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) will soon open a Web page where one can respond to it’s call for proposals for the spring 2011 conference. Launched in 2008, the conference series continues to offer direct access to studies of education practices that effectively change students’ outcomes. Not every session will focus on matters reflected in this blog, but many will.

The theme for the 2011 annual research conference, “Building an Education Science: Investigating Mechanisms,” focuses attention on the need to advance beyond primarily pragmatic education research in order to build an evidence-based science made up of explanatory theories of educational mechanisms. Symposium and paper presentations that address issues of process and mechanism within the context of rigorous experimental or quasi-experimental designs and that advance our understanding of the effectiveness of educational practices and policies, will offer the best fit for the 2011 conference. Topics of particular interest include studies that: (a) test hypotheses regarding the mechanisms through which educational practices and policies affect student outcomes or differentially impact individuals or groups, (b) investigate interactions among emotional, behavioral, cognitive and social processes and outcomes, or (c) develop new methods and research designs to enhance rigor in the evaluation of educational processes and mechanisms.

Link to the call for papers. Visit SREE. See the published materials from the 2010 conference.

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Going to Hong Kong

Published on 29 April 2010 in News, Policy, Research and Teacher education. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .
HKIE Poster
Click for really big version

I am scheduled to be in Hong Kong as a guest of the Hong Kong Institute of Education in late May of 2010 where I shall speak about the importance of educators employing evidence-based procedures in collaborative teaching procedures. I am very honored that F. C. Ho has invited me to talk about this topic. As regular readers know, it’s a foundational concept for me.

Learn more about special education and counselling at HKIE. Also, see my note from our 2006 stop to visit with FC and colleagues.

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Children of the Code posts Engelmann 2

Published on 13 April 2010 in Arithmetic and mathematics, Behavior Management, Content learning, Elementary, News, Policy, Primary, Reading, Research, Secondary, Spelling, Teacher education, The press and Written Expression. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Over on Children of the Code, David Boulton and colleagues affiliated with Learning Stewards, a non-profit organization, posted the second segment of an extended video interview entitled “Professor Siegfried Engelmann Part 2: Improving the Quality of Learning.” Here’s a snippet from the the announcement:

Siegfried “Zig” Engelmann is Professor of Education at the University of Oregon, the Director of the National Institute for Direct Instruction, and President of Engelmann-Becker Corporation, which develops instructional materials and provides educational services for students with various educational needs. The creator of “Direct Instruction”, Professor Engelmann is also the author or co-author of more than 100 articles and chapters of professional books, and more than a dozen professional books and monographs.

“It doesn’t matter what your theory of learning is, all you need to do is look at the facts of what you did and the facts of what the kids are doing.”

I like that quote. It captures the raw empiricism that undergirds Professor Engelmann’s approach to teaching and instructional design.

Siegfried Engelmann 2: Improving the Quality of Learning
Read an earlier entry from Teach Effectively that links to the first part of the interview: “Engelmann interview on instructional design.”

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Sorta building a better teacher, maybe

Published on 4 March 2010 in Administration, Musings, News, Research, Teacher education and The press. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

In “Building A Better Teacher,” Elizabeth Green presents cases personifying two perspectives on teaching effectively—one we often hear referred to as “classroom management” and the other regularly called “good content.” She uses Doug Lemov and Deborah Ball, respectively, as her exemplars of the cases.

Professor Ball, dean of the University of Michigan’s school of education, is widely noted for her studies of teachers’ content knowledge in mathematics. Mr. Lemov, a consultant and promoter of charter schools, has a forth-coming book documenting concepts about teaching practices that span content areas.
Continue reading ‘Sorta building a better teacher, maybe’

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Evidence-based education in Head Start?

Published on 2 March 2010 in Administration, News, Policy, Primary, Research and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Isabel Sawhill and Jon Baron published an editorial in Education Week calling for a new approach to the venerable Head Start program, one founded on evidence about effectiveness. They argue that in the wake of the discouraging Head Start Impact Study reported by US Department of Health & Human Services, it’s time to bring research into the nation’s play pre-schools.

A new approach is needed. One that has been suggested—defunding these programs—would amount to giving up the fight against major social problems such as educational failure and poverty that damage millions of American lives. A far better alternative is to use rigorous evidence about “what works” to evolve Head Start and other federal efforts into truly effective programs over time, and to use sophisticated models to trace their longer-term effects on children’s life prospects.

Continue reading ‘Evidence-based education in Head Start?’

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Rating LEAs’ teaching?

Published on 17 February 2010 in Administration, Musings, Policy and Standards. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Today in Washington (DC, US) the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute launch a public service Web site that allows visitors to learn about the healthiness of localities on a county-by-county basis across the US. The news got me thinking—Danger!—about the possibility of creating a similar resource for consumers of education: Providing a scientifically credible metric for the quality of teaching in each local education agency around a country.
Continue reading ‘Rating LEAs’ teaching?’

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Go for DI and SFA

Published on 21 December 2009 in Administration, Elementary, News, Primary, Reading, Research, Teacher education and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Robert Slavin and colleagues reported that reading programs that provide extensive professional development on instructional strategies which promote student participation, strengthen phonics competence, and explicitly teach comprehension strategies are the best bets for improving reading achievement. The clearest examples of the programs that led to the highest achievement were Direct Instruction and Success for All.

Writing in the December 2009 issue of the Review of Educational Research, Professor Slavin and colleagues reported the results of their examination of 142 studies. They wanted to determine whether curricula, technology, instructional processes, or combinations of curricula and processes produce greater reading achievement. The curriculum group included core reading programs, such as Reading Street and Open Court Reading. The technology group included programs that employ computers or similar methods such as computer-assisted instruction, multimedia (e.g., Reading Reels, or Writing to Read). The instructional process group included approaches that provide teachers effective strategies for teaching reading, such as Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) and Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC). The combined curriculum-and-instructional-process group included programs that function as core curricula and also provide detailed professional development about using instructional strategies, such as Direct Instruction and Success for All. The researchers separated the studies into two groups: those with outcomes at the (a) beginning reading level vs. upper elementary level.
Continue reading ‘Go for DI and SFA’

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Misleading evidence

Published on 7 December 2009 in Administration, Musings, News and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Although it’s a tad off point for Teach Effectively, I call readers’ attention (both of you!) to one of a set of articles that appeared in the Los Angeles Times as part of an examination of bogus therapies for Autism. In this article, “Autism therapies can get undeserved credit,” investigative journalists Trine Tsouderos and Patricia Callahan examine the tension between heart-felt testimonials and cold, hard scientific evidence. It’s worth a read, as are several other articles about Autism therapies that they’ve written since May of 2009.

Usually, the people who are mislead by the therapies discussed by Ms. Tsouderos and Ms. Callahan are parents. However, educators can be mislead similarly and the therapies about which they are misled do not have to be medical or specific to Autism. All one needs is a glittery idea that connects just a tad with science and personal experience and is supported by testimonials from people who seem to have authentic credentials….

Link to read “Autism therapies can get undeserved credit.” For more about the stories by Ms. Tsouderos and Ms. Callahan, see entries on EBD Blog for 23 May 2009, 21 November 2009, and 7 December 2009

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