Multiyear Studies

REL-NEI currently is engaged in two long-term randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigate the causal impact of programs and products on student achievement in areas identified as high priority in our region.

To browse or search other RCTs funded by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education, visit the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Registry of Randomized Controlled Trials. This online database gives educators, researchers, and evaluators one-stop access to information about ongoing and completed RCTs. Visitors can browse by evaluation title, sponsor organization, status, and target population, and view detailed study information, including principal investigators, related publications, characteristics of participants, and outcomes.

Pathways to Math Achievement Study

The goal of the Pathways to Math Achievement Study is to examine how improving access to Algebra I for eighth-graders benefits student math achievement. In the study, an online Algebra I course is being offered to eighth-graders whose teachers have identified them as “algebra-ready.” Researchers won’t just be looking at students taking the online class but at how the presence of such a course impacts the achievement of all eighth-graders in the study.

Student achievement will be measured by standardized tests at the end of eighth grade and in 10th grade, as well as through course-taking patterns and success in advanced mathematics courses during high school. Data collection for the study will run through fall 2010. A total of 70 schools serving more than 2,000 eighth-graders in Maine and Vermont are participating in the study. These schools all will receive the online Algebra I course at no cost for two consecutive years. Treatment schools received the course in fall 2008 and again in the 2009–10 academic year. Control schools will receive the course in the 2009–10 and 2010–11 academic years.

Visit virtualalgebrastudy.org or email info@mathpathways.org.

Thinking Reader Study

The Thinking Reader Study examines the impact of an interactive computer-based program on reading achievement. The goal of the program is to help advance literacy development, especially comprehension and vocabulary skills, among middle-grades students. The software uses digital versions of nine popular, multicultural, award-winning novels read online in an interactive environment.

During the Thinking Reader Study, the program was used by sixth-grade teachers and their students as a supplement to their regular English language arts curriculum. A study team collect data on how it is used and its impact on student achievement.

The study took place place during the 2008–2009 school year in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island public schools. Publication of the findings is anticipated in 2010.

Visit literacyintervention.org or email info@literacyintervention.org.