Partnership for Literacy

Implementation Study
 

In the 1990s, researchers had learned a great deal about what works in schools that are successfully teaching English, as measured by student achievement. They also found that when certain things are not in place in the school (and/or district), even good teachers who are using effective instructional practices do not get the same results as teachers using similar practices in a supportive school environment. This is especially true for schools that serve poor, diverse student bodies.

In an effort to more fully understand how to put into place those features that research has shown to be important -- the plans, programs, and processes that make schoolwide success in English language arts possible, from 2001-3, CELA conducted an implementation study in which Center staff worked in partnership with a variety of schools in an instructional development program in English language arts. The aim was to develop instructional capacity by improving teachers' knowledge, skills, and understandings about what their students are capable of doing and providing strategies and ideas for them to be able to act on this new knowledge in their classrooms.

Research Questions and Methodology. Teams of CELA researchers assessed the effectiveness of the intervention and compared results to results in a set of similar, comparison schools. Schools in the Partnership for Literacy were divided into two cohorts, one that started in 2001, the other in 2002.

The sites, middle schools in New York and Wisconsin, included schools in a variety of communities and contexts, with an emphasis on those that serve poor, underperforming youth. The experimental design provided for participation of 18 schools, 72 teachers, 144 classrooms, and 2880 students over a two-year period. A variety of quantitative and qualitative analyses sought to answer such questions as:

• Did curriculum and instruction in the partner schools change as a result of the instructional development program?
• How did student achievement in writing, reading, literature, and English language usage change over time in the experimental and comparison classrooms?
• Did the achievement of struggling readers change as a result of the intervention?
• To what extent, if any, did school-based literacy learning carry over into students' lives outside school?
• To what extent did participation in the Partnership for Literacy change teachers' thinking and teaching - and subsequently their students' performance?
• What strategies are most effective in increasing and sustaining academic discussion in low-achieving, inner city classrooms?

Findings. For findings and discussion, see

Applebee, A., J. Langer, M. Nystrand, & A. Gamoran.   Discussion-Based Approaches to Developing Understanding: Classroom Instruction and Student Performance in Middle and High School English  (American Education Research Journal, Vol 40, No. 3, pp. 685-730, Fall 2003)

Abstract

Related Research

• Sociocognitive Perspective
• Instructional Development
• Teacher Learning

Articles

• Engaging Students in the Disciplines of English: What Are Successful Schools Doing? (Article)
• Effective Professional Development Begins in the Classroom (Article)
• Helping Lower-Achieving Students Reach High Expectations (Article)