In this presentation discussed in this brief abstracted report, the author presents about an ongoing partnership with the Philadelphia School District (PSD) to implement and research the Ongoing Assessment Project (OGAP). OGAP is a systematic, intentional and iterative formative assessment system grounded in the research on how students learn…

The need for fidelity of implementation (FOI) measurements and assessments during efficacy and effectiveness studies is becoming evident in the requirements of many educational research funding organizations. The purpose of this study was to determine teachers' levels of FOI when implementing a reading curricular intervention and to investigate…

Research on social and emotional learning (SEL) has largely focused on classroom interventions and student-­ and classroom­-level outcomes. Few studies have examined whole­-school and district-­level SEL implementations, or how to ensure that SEL programs are implemented effectively and sustained over time. This study examines both process…

This study is part of the core research agenda of the five-year, Goal 3 grant funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, U. S. Department of Education "Improving the Teaching and Learning of English Language Learners: The Instructional Conversation Model." In video review of teaching, bias in evaluation or rating is evident in many…

Previous research has linked inquiry-based science instruction (i.e., science instruction that engages students in doing science rather than just learning about science) with greater gains in student learning than text-book based methods (Vanosdall, Klentschy, Hedges & Weisbaum, 2007; Banilower, 2007; Ferguson 2009; Bredderman, 1983;…

A variety of research has pointed to the interdependent linkage among vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, and level of literacy. With this point in mind, the present study addressed the question of whether student vocabulary acquisition could be accelerated by using a multi-part, semantic word-family-oriented learning strategy to…

"Success for All" (SFA) is one of the best known and thoroughly evaluated school reform models. Further evaluation of the initiative is especially important for two reasons. First, the program model has continued to evolve over time, with a greater emphasis placed on the use of engaging technology in the classroom and on the deployment…

Improving teacher effectiveness is a key strategy to ensure student readiness for college and careers and to address achievement gaps and persistent low performance. In response to the new Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) the National Writing Project (NWP) created a professional development (PD) program to support…

This study was designed to establish the efficacy of Teaching SMART (Teaching Science, Mathematics and Relevant Technologies); a science professional development program for teachers with students in grades 3 through 5. Teaching SMART promotes scientific inquiry and emphasizes the importance of equity, empowerment, exploration, and fun in the…