Teacher Change Following a Professional Development Experience in Integrating Computational Thinking into Elementary Science

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Computer science and computer science education are marked by gender and racial disparities. To increase the number and diversity of students engaging...     

Examining the Effects and Feasibility of a Teacher-Implemented Tier 1 and Tier 2 Intervention in Word Reading,Fluency, and Comprehension

This study investigates the effects and feasibility of an intervention for first-grade students at risk for reading difficulties or disabilities (RD). The intervention was provided by general education classroom teachers and consisted of 15 min whole-class comprehension lessons (Tier 1) and 30 min Tier 2 intervention sessions in word reading, comprehension, and text reading. First-grade teachers (n = 21), with 4–5 students at risk for reading difficulties and potential reading disability were randomly assigned to treatment or typical practice comparison conditions. Significant group differences were detected on all measures of word reading, decoding, and fluency. Effect sizes were educationally important for all measures of word reading, decoding, and reading comprehension; however, effects on standardized measures were smaller than those in prior studies with similar students in which intervention was typically provided outside the regular classroom. An exploratory analysis indicated that students at different parts of the pretest and posttest distributions responded more and less positively to the intervention, providing insights that may help guide future revisions. The study provides preliminary evidence of the intervention's promise for positively impacting student outcomes.     

Web-Based Professional Development Model to Enhance Teaching of Strategies for Online Academic Research in Middle School

High-quality professional development is needed to prepare teachers to help students learn how to conduct online academic research and meet Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. This study created and evaluated a Web-based professional development program with five instructional modules designed to prepare middle-school teachers to teach their students nine strategies for conducting academic research online. The online professional development program was specifically created to help teachers implement the previously developed online SOAR Student Toolkit curriculum with all students in inclusive classrooms. Results of a 2015–2016 pilot study conducted with 13 teachers and 477 students in sixth to eighth grades indicated that most teachers perceived the professional development program to be of high quality and relevant in helping them teach online research skills to their students. Students significantly improved online research skills after learning from trained teachers (27 percentage points improvement, from 18% at pretest to 45% at posttest).     

Substantial Integration of Typical Educational Games Into Extended Curricula

Much research focuses on what might be possible with digital games in the classroom. This study focuses on what is currently probable and typical. It uses a controlled quasi-experimental design to compare outcomes for students of 13 teachers in 10 diverse urban, suburban, and rural schools. The teachers integrated a set of 55 typical educational games into their curricula on Jacksonian democracy. Teachers reported strong engagement benefits for the game condition and a strong interest in using games of this type in the future in their surveys and interviews. Each teacher taught at least one classroom with the games and at least one classroom without the games. When the one teacher who reported a failed implementation was dropped from the analysis, the results showed significantly higher gains for the game condition in terms of multiple-choice factual outcomes, open-response factual outcomes, evidentiary depth, and student engagement outcomes. When the failed implementation was included, the game condition demonstrated improved scores for all outcomes, but only student engagement and evidentiary depth remained significant. Moderator analyses highlighted the role of teacher experience and student engagement in the efficacy of the game condition, indicating that game instruction was particularly beneficial for special education students.     

Effects of implementation support on children's reading outcomes following an online early reading programme: A cluster-randomised controlled trial

Well-designed computer or app-based instruction has a number of potential benefits (eg increasing accessibility and feasibility of high-quality instruction, reducing time and resources required for training expert delivery, saving instructional time). However, variation in implementation can still affect outcomes when using educational technology. Research generally suggests that without follow-up support after training, implementation of educational interventions is often poor and outcomes reduced. However, the extent to which this is the case when the core element of an intervention is computer or app-delivered is not yet clear. This study investigated the effects of providing ongoing implementation support for Headsprout Early Reading (HER, an early reading programme accessible via a computer or an app), to determine whether such support leads to better outcomes. Twenty-two primary schools (269 learners) participated in a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Eleven schools received initial training followed by ongoing support across the school year, whereas the other 11 schools received initial training and technical support only. Pre- and post-measures of reading skills were conducted using the York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension. We found no effect of implementation support on outcomes, and no effect of implementation support on delivery of the core element of HER. However, there were some effects of implementation support on the implementation of other HER elements relating to the responsiveness of educators to learners' learning within HER. These findings have implications for providing access to high quality online instruction in early reading skills at scale, with minimal training. More broadly, the current study suggests that well-designed computer or app-based instruction can yield positive outcomes with minimal implementation support and training. However, further research is required to ensure the interplay between learners' app-based learning and teacher intervention functions as intended to provide additional support for those who need it.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Well-designed computer or app-based instruction has a number of potential benefits (eg increasing accessibility and feasibility of high-quality instruction, reducing time and resources required for training expert delivery, saving instructional time).
• Implementation can still affect outcomes when using educational technology, and without follow-up support after training, implementation of educational interventions is often poor and outcomes reduced.
• The extent to which this is the case when the core element of an intervention is computer or app-delivered is not yet clear.

What this paper adds

• We found that providing implementation support for teachers and teaching assistants delivering Headsprout Early Reading (HER; an early reading programme accessible via a computer or an app) did not affect the reading outcomes of learners.
• We also found the implementation support did not affect delivery of the core, app-delivered element of the programme.
• However, there were notable differences in implementation of other aspects of the programme, particularly in relation to the role of the teacher or educational practitioner in managing the interplay between the app-based learning and teacher intervention for learners who require further support.

Implications for practice and policy

• These findings have implications for providing access to high quality instruction in early reading skills at scale, with minimal training.
• More broadly, the current study suggests that well-designed computer or app-based instruction can yield positive outcomes with minimal implementation support and training.
• However, the findings of this study identify some potential risk of an over-reliance on technology to facilitate the learning of all learners accessing the programme.
• Further research is required to ensure the interplay between learners' app-based learning and teacher intervention functions as intended to provide additional support for those who need it.