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Reading and literacy education
Towards a Developmental Model of Democratic Family Rights Policy Regimes: Tracing Federal Literacy Policy, 1968-1990
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceTags: Culturally responsive schooling, Race, ethnicity, and education, Reading and literacy educationBy excavating submerged dynamics underlying literacy accountability policy, this historical case study conceptualizes its institutional logic and political drivers. Bridging and extending theorization in American political development and racial political behavior, I contribute an original… more →
Mapping the Mechanisms of Interdisciplinary Learning Transfer from Reading to Math Achievement: Evidence from a Large-Scale Randomized Controlled Trial
Topics: Student LearningFar transfer---the application of learning across distant domains---remains elusive in intervention research, and even when it is found, its mechanisms remain unclear or unexplored. This study analyzes data from the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE), a sustained content literacy intervention… more →
Does State-Mandated Third-Grade Reading Retention Policy Improve Achievement? Evidence from a Staggered-Adoption Difference-in-Differences Design
Topics: Student LearningThis paper investigates whether the state-mandated third-grade reading retention policy autonomously enhances student achievement or depends on broader literacy reforms. Using district-level data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (2010–2019), I employ a staggered-adoption Difference-in-… more →
Beyond the Classroom: Impact of a High-Dosage Tutoring Program on Student Literacy Achievement
Topics: Student LearningThis study examines the impact of a high-dosage tutoring program, characterized by low tutor-to-student-ratio, on the literacy achievement of students in grades two through five in a midsized suburban school district in the southeastern United States. Using a student-level randomized controlled… more →
Creating Coherence: Does Instructional Alignment Affect the Impact of Tutoring?
Topics: Student LearningThis study examines the impact of using instructionally aligned literacy tutoring with students in kindergarten through third grade under a Response to Intervention framework. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact on literacy assessment scores for 296 students in four… more →
Beyond the One-Teacher Model: Experimental Evidence on Using Embedded Paraprofessionals as Personalized Instructors
Topics: Student LearningUsing embedded paraprofessionals to provide personalized instruction is a promising model for differentiating instruction within the classroom. This study examines two randomized controlled trials of paraprofessional-led tutoring in early-grade math and literacy. However, intent-to-treat (ITT)… more →
Off to a Great Start: The Potential for Tutoring Paired with the Off2Class Foundational Literacy Curriculum to Boost English Proficiency Gains for Adolescent Newcomer English Learners
Topics: Student LearningAdolescent English learners with low literacy strive to learn a new language with minimal or no reading skills. Their efforts are often complicated by having special learning needs or limited experiences with formal education. Meanwhile, they need English literacy in middle and high school,… more →
When interventions don’t move the needle: Insights from null results in education research
Topics: Student LearningAs school districts focus on improving learning, they can learn not only from when and where interventions work—but also from why they sometimes do not. Policymakers widely embraced high-impact tutoring as an evidence-supported strategy to address learning delays from the COVID-19 pandemic.… more →
The Power of Personalized Attention: Comparing Pedagogical Approaches in Small Group and One-on-One Early Literacy Tutoring
Topics: Student LearningTutoring has played a significant role in pandemic-related learning recovery, supporting student learning and engagement. A recent randomized controlled trial estimated that one-on-one virtual early literacy tutoring was nearly twice as effective as two-on-one tutoring for improving student… more →
Measuring Elementary School Teachers' Knowledge of Teaching Vocabulary
Topics: Teacher and Leader DevelopmentTeacher Knowledge in the field of literacy has become a priority across the United States, with many states passing legislation requiring that all teachers receive adequate training on the Science of Reading. One essential component of literacy development and text comprehension is vocabulary… more →
The effects of third-grade retention on multilingual students: A gateway or a gatekeeper?
Topics: Student LearningThis paper estimates the effect of test-based grade retention on multilingual students classified as English Learners (ML-ELs). This policy could provide an opportunity for ML-ELs to develop English language proficiency and master academic content or put them at increased risk of worse academic… more →
School-based language, math, and reading interventions for executive functions in children and adolescents: A systematic review
Jens Dietrichson, Julie Kaas Seerup, Sofie Elgaard Iisager Jensen, Johan Klejs, Elizabeth Bengtsen, Martin Williams Strandby, Morten Kjær Thomsen.Topics: Student LearningExecutive functions are a set of cognitive skills and processes used when directing behaviour towards the attainment of a certain goal. A large literature has documented positive associations between executive functions and a variety of desirable outcomes throughout life, including academic… more →
Separation of Church and State Curricula? Examining Public and Religious Private School Textbooks
Tags: Belonging, Culturally responsive schooling, Curriculum, Elementary schools, Human capital, Instructional design, Instructional practices, Instructional technology, Race, ethnicity, and education, Reading and literacy education, Science education, Social studies educationCurricula impart knowledge, instill values, and shape collective memory. Despite growing public funding for religious schools through U.S. school choice programs, little is known about what they teach. We examine textbooks from public schools, religious private schools, and home schools,… more →
From Sentence-Corrections to Deeper Dialogue: Qualitative Insights from LLM and Teacher Feedback on Student Writing
Topics: MethodsEffective writing feedback is a powerful tool for enhancing student learning, encouraging revision, and increasing motivation and agency. Yet, teachers face many challenges that prevent them from consistently providing effective writing feedback. Recent advances in generative artificial… more →
The Impacts of Grade Retention Policy With Minimal Retention
Topics: Student LearningState laws that mandate in-grade retention for struggling readers are widespread in the U.S., covering 34% of public-school third graders in 2023-24. This study investigates the impacts of Michigan’s third-grade reading law on subsequent test scores and school progress outcomes for the 2020-21… more →
Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Tutoring Format and Tutors: Findings from an Early Literacy Tutoring Program
Topics: Student LearningThis study presents the first within-program, within-tutor experimental evidence comparing the impact of in-person versus remote tutoring. Based on results from an early literacy tutoring initiative delivered by university students over Summer 2023, we find no statistically significant… more →
Closing the Gender Gap in STEM: Role of Performance Feedback and Advice
The gender gap in STEM careers is shaped in part by educational choices. This study investigates two interventions—absolute performance feedback and personalized advice— aiming at narrowing the gender disparities in investments in math skills. Using an online lab experiment, participants chose… more →
SEEDS of Early Learning: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Early Literacy Teacher Professional Development Program
Topics: Teacher and Leader DevelopmentNORC at the University of Chicago designed and implemented an impact evaluation of the SEEDS of Learning (SEEDS) professional development (PD) program on behalf of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, in collaboration with Kidango. SEEDS of Learning is an evidence-based PD program that prepares early… more →
The Peer Effects of Grade Retention
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceWe study the peer effects of grade retention in the context of Indiana’s statewide third-grade retention policy. When a retention occurs, it changes the peer group for two cohorts: rising fourth graders who lose a peer and rising third graders who gain a peer. We identify peer effects in both… more →
Combining Early Grade Assessments to Study Literacy Skills: Addressing the Variability in Tests Taken across Schools and Students
Topics: MethodsThere is considerable variability in the literacy assessments taken in Kindergarten through second grade, across schools and between multilingual learners and other students, and within students over time. This makes it difficult to study changes in students’ acquisition of ELA skills in these… more →