The What Works Clearinghouse has released a new report about phonological awareness training. Although I’d prefer that they use the narrower term phonemic awareness because the forms of phonological awareness that really matter for developing early literacy (segmenting and blending) should be mastered at the phoneme level, the WWC has the right idea in identifying evidence-based practices.
The studies on which the W-W-C bases its findings are mostly from the team of Randi O’Connor, Tim Slocum, and Joe Jenkins. These are wonderfully credible studies and they work together as a good set.
Continue reading ‘Effective PA’
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The What Works Clearinghouse has released additional reviews of reports summarizing the research on various interventions.
What Works Clearinghouse Releases 10 New Reports: Beginning Reading, Early Childhood Education, Character Education, English Language Learning, and Elementary School Mathematics
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, announces 10 new intervention reports highlighting available research on Beginning Reading, Early Childhood Education, Character Education, English Language Learning, and Elementary School Mathematics. New WWC Reports include:
Beginning Reading:
More information about the Beginning Reading review is available at http://whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=01&ReturnPage=default.asp.
Early Childhood Education:
More information about the Early Childhood review is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=13&ReturnPage=default.asp.
Character Education:
More information about the Character Education review is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=12&ReturnPage=default.asp.
English Language Learning:
More information regarding the English Language Learning review is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=10&ReturnPage=default.asp.
Elementary School Mathematics:
More information regarding the Elementary School Mathematics review is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=04&ReturnPage=default.asp.
The WWC is releasing an ongoing series of reports over the next few months covering these topics, as well as releasing reports for Dropout Prevention and Middle School Mathematics. Approximately 30 additional reports will be released by the end of the year. Weekly updates will be sent to the WWC subscribers notifying them of the latest available findings.
See earlier posts on Teach Effectively! regarding reports from the W-W-C.
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The US What Works Clearinghouse announced the release of seven new reports examining the benefits of various interventions. The reports cover methods related to character education, English language learning, and elementary school math. Here’s a clip from an announcement:
- Character Education: Character education looks at how families, schools, and related social institutions support the positive character development of children and adults. This review focuses on programs designed for use in elementary, middle, or high schools with attention to student outcomes related to positive character development, prosocial behavior, and academic performance. More information about the Character Education topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=12&ReturnPage=default.asp.
- English Language Learning: English language learners are among the most academically at-risk groups in our schools today, and their numbers will rise steadily in the near future. This review focuses on interventions designed to improve the English language literacy or academic achievement of elementary school students who are English language learners. More information about the English Language Learning topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=10&ReturnPage=default.asp.
- Elementary School Math: Curriculum-based interventions outline the fundamentals of mathematics that students should know and be able to do, instructional programs and materials that organize the mathematical content, and assessments. This review focuses on curriculum-based math interventions that specify clear learning goals for students and assess student outcomes related to mathematics achievement. More information about the Elementary School Math topic is available at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/Topic.asp?tid=04&ReturnPage=default.asp.
For previous Teach Effectively coverage of the W-W-C, look here.
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I know that I should have a schedule for reviewing the products of the U.S. government’s What Works Clearinghouse, but I don’t. I have previous posts here (24 Mar 2005) and here (7 Jan 05) but my calendar is irregular. Still, I thought it was a good time to check in on the goings on again.
What did I find? There are new materials in the second-level analyses—studies on a topics but not full-blown reviews by the WWClearingHouse that are worth reviewing: Cognitive Tutor; Connected Mathematics Project (CMP); The Expert Mathematician. Nothing stunning….
I’d really like to provide a set of links to what the WWC has accomplished, but the technical folks, those who run the Web site, are so wedded to the technology of one particular commercial company that it’s very difficult to refer to their links. I really wish they would get a clue that not all of us want to be beholden to one company’s technology.
More importantly, I’m still waiting to get to the heavy stuff. I know it takes time, but y’all got the resources. Giddy-ap!
Link to the general site (given their adoption of M$ technology, you’ll have to explore on your own.)
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The What Works Clearninghouse is a potentially wonderful resource for those of us who care about communicating about those methods that produce benefits for learners. In its overview, the WWC says,
The WWC promotes informed education decision making through a set of easily accessible databases and user-friendly reports that provide education consumers with ongoing, high-quality reviews of the effectiveness of replicable educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies) that intend to improve student outcomes. To do this, the WWC uses standards for reviewing and synthesizing research. The WWC is currently conducting systematic reviews of existing research, and producing study, intervention, and topic reports.
Established in 2002, it has issued one report after spending most of its first years organizing and planning. That report is about middle school math curricula. I’ve got to wonder about the choice of middle school math as the first topic, but I’m glad the clearinghouse is there. What would be your first choice of topics? Other topics–beginning reading and character education, for example–are listed as up-coming foci.
The WWC will deserve attention over the next few years. Teach Effectively will be attending!
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