New study finds technology improves grammar learning

New study finds technology improves grammar learning Hand-held technology can help to improve elementary students' learning of grammar, according to a new study by researchers at the Institute for Effective Education (IEE). A randomized evaluation of the use of Questions for Learning (QfL), a technology-enhanced, self-paced learning tool, was conducted in more than 40 elementary schools. In QfL, each student responds to progressively more difficult questions that are presented on wireless hand-held devices at the rate that the student answers them. This allows both more advanced and weaker students to answer in a private way at a pace appropriate to them. Students in classes who used QfL showed significant gains in grammar compared with students in the control group. This improvement was greater in schools that used QfL at least three days each week and for low- and average-achieving students. If these results held over a school year, these students would make between three and four months of additional progress. Both teachers and students enjoyed using the strategy for formative assessment, believed it improved student achievement in grammar, and would recommend its use for other students and for other subjects.

What works and what doesn't for boys vs. girls Child Trends has completed two new research briefs that examine programs and strategies that work, as well as don't work, for each gender:  What Works for Female Children and Adolescents: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions What Works for Male Children and Adolescents: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions Each brief synthesizes findings from rigorously evaluated social interventions for youth. The outcome areas explored include academic achievement, delinquency, mental health, reproductive health, and social skills. One key finding for both boys and girls was that including parents in interventions in some way led to desirable impacts for mental health outcomes. On the other hand, for reproductive health, one-on-one interventions led to positive impacts for females, but experiential learning activities that included group activities were often effective for boys. In addition, while social skills training interventions were not successful for female children and adolescents in reducing externalizing behaviors (e.g., aggression), in many cases for males, these types of interventions were successful.

Controversy about New York voucher study In a previous issue of Best Evidence in Brief, we reported on a longitudinal, randomized evaluation of a voucher program in New York by Chingos and Peterson. A Best Evidence in Brief reader informed us about a criticism of this study by Sara Goldrick-Rab. The original study reported a positive effect of receiving vouchers to attend private schools on college attendance for African American students but not for Hispanic students, and there were no effects of vouchers overall. Goldrick-Rab notes that the African-American-Hispanic differences in treatment effects were not significant, and there was a serious problem among the African-American subsample: Students in the voucher group, despite random assignment, had parents who were significantly more likely to have gone to college themselves. Goldrick-Rab's conclusion is that the study should be reported as "Vouchers Don't Work," while Chingos and Peterson conclude "Yes they do, if only for African Americans." There is support for both positions, but clearly, replication is needed.

Effects of Reading Recovery last through the end of elementary school The Reading Recovery annual report for the UK shows that 11-year-old children who received Reading Recovery at age six matched their classmate's progress for the following six years, through the end of elementary school. Reading Recovery, which is also available in the U.S., is designed to help low-achieving first graders improve to age-expected levels. The report shows that in 2011-12 - the first year that enough Reading Recovery children had reached the end of elementary school and completed the UK's Key Stage 2 national assessments  - 78 percent of children who had completed the program achieved Level 4 or above in their reading assessment, and 67 percent achieved the same in writing (by age 11, the national expectation for most children is to achieve Level 4). Nearly all children achieved Level 3 or above, with 95 percent achieving this level in their reading assessment and 98 percent in writing.

Education Nation follow-up Robert Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education, recently took part in NBC's 2012 "Education Nation" summit in New York City. During the event, Slavin participated in an interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about turning around low-performing schools. They discussed whole-school reform and Success for All, a program Slavin co-founded. NBC featured Success for All and its partnership with Wells Academy in Steubenville, Ohio as one of ten Education Nation case studies. In addressing the success at Wells Academy, Duncan said of Success for All's i3 Scale Up award, "We've invested $50 million in helping Success for All expand. Why? It's not a gift. It's an investment because they have good results." Slavin was also featured in an MSNBC interview with Thomas Roberts: Poorest children among highest performers at Ohio school. To read more about Slavin's experience at Education Nation, visit his blog post Yikes and 'Aww' at Education Nation.