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Rhode Island Newsletter Stories

The EdEvidence newsletter features a regular letter from REL-NEI’s director and highlights of research findings, events, and key stakeholders and personnel. Sign up today!

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	Research Support for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, U.S. Virgin Islands (November 2010) Last spring, members of the Rhode Island Superintendents’ Advance Leadership Development Seminars submitted a series of requests to REL-NEI’s Reference Desk, including one that asked for research on the connections among district grading policies, teacher practices, and student outcomes. Reference Desk researchers did not find studies directly addressing the questions, but found descriptive resources on grading policies. REL-NEI Rhode Island Liaison Maria-Paz Avery presented a summary of these resources at the May meeting of ALDS and facilitated what she described as a “spirited discussion.”
	Teacher Effectiveness a Top Topic in New England (June 2010) Teacher and leader effectiveness is central to the national conversation about turning around low-performing schools and foremost on President Obama’s education reform agenda. But what exactly makes great teachers and leaders? How can teacher and leader effectiveness be defined, measured, rewarded, and, most importantly, replicated?
	Balfanz, Rhode Island Lawmakers Meet on Dropout Policy (April 2010) On January 20th, REL-NEI brought Professor Robert Balfanz to the Rhode Island State House for a Policy Challenges discussion with lawmakers on dropout prevention. Dr. Balfanz is a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Social Organization of Schools and co-director of the Everyone Graduates Center.
	Connecting to Practice: REL-NEI Liaisons Take to the Road in 2009! (Jan/Feb 2010) In 2009, REL-NEI state liaisons and researchers participated at more than 40 education-related conferences and meetings across the Northeast and Islands Region, often staffing booths and providing overviews of REL-NEI.
	How Are States Approaching Response to Intervention? (Jan/Feb 2010) A new REL-NEI Issues & Answers Report finds that the six New England states and New York support response to intervention, or RTI, for overall school instructional improvement and for determining special-education eligibility at the local level.
	Maria-Paz Avery: Creating a ‘Culture of Inquiry’ in Rhode Island (Sep/Oct 2009) Rhode Island Liaison Maria-Paz Avery believes REL-NEI’s mission to bring research to practitioners does more than just relay information. To her, it helps develop a professional culture of inquiry, which can lead to more thoughtful work.
	RELs Examine State Policies, Classroom Strategies on Adolescent Literacy (Sep/Oct 2009) A REL-NEI and REL Central joint webinar on adolescent literacy drew 150 attendees from around the country. Among the research presented was an Issues & Answers Report that describes policy efforts in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Rhode Island to improve adolescent literacy.
	Thinking Reader Study Wraps Up in Schools; Researchers Begin Data Analysis (Jul/Aug 2009) REL-NEI’s large-scale reading study involving about 2,400 sixth-grade students wrapped up in classrooms in June, and this summer researchers began analyzing the data they collected from 32 high-need schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
	Continuing the Conversation: ELL Practice Guide Finds New Audience in Rhode Island (Jul/Aug 2009) On February 23rd, in Connecticut, Dr. Robin Scarcella presented the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide “Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades” to an audience of state-level administrators and district ELL teachers and directors.
	Child Behavior Expert Talks Evidence at Annual Parent Centers Meeting (Jul/Aug 2009) On June 16th, in Providence, Rhode Island, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) author Dr. Krista Kutash presented key recommendations from the IES Practice Guide “Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom” at the annual meeting of Region 1 Parent Centers.
	Data on the Minds of REL-NEI Governing Board Members (Jul/Aug 2009) “When I'm talking about data systems, I usually start with data-driven decision-making, which is one of those terms that we all throw around that no one has any idea what it means. But to me, the most important word in that string is ‘decision’ because data is useless if it’s not relevant to the decisions that are being made.” — Rhode Island Deputy Education Commissioner David Abbott, REL-NEI Governing Board Meeting, May 5th, 2009
	Connecting to Practice: State Supports for Low-Performing Schools and Districts (May/June 2009) A dozen state education officials from across the Northeast and Islands and as far away as Alaska were among the 50 participants to attend a March 25th webinar presenting findings from a REL-NEI Issues & Answers Report on state policies to improve low-performing schools.
	“Struggling Reader” Report Looks at Literacy Interventions in Four Urban Districts (Jul/Aug 2008) The report, titled “A Description of Foundation Skills Interventions for Struggling Middle-Grade Readers in Four Urban Northeast and Islands Region School Districts,” concluded that all four districts were in the beginning stages of both testing and providing foundation skills programs. The type of diagnostic assessment that was used in each district varied, as did the number of students that were included in each district’s intervention program. If programs existed, progress monitoring was built in.
	Policy Challenges Conference Brings Together Researchers, Stakeholders (Jul/Aug 2008) Research about high-risk student populations was the focus of REL Northeast and Islands’ second Policy Challenges Conference, held at the Providence Biltmore Hotel on March 5th and 6th. The conference was attended by over 100 educators, researchers, policy-makers, and stakeholders representing all states and jurisdictions in the REL-NEI region.