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Policy Challenges Conferences

Policy Challenges Conferences: Bridging Research and Practice hosts regular events with targeted audiences around the Northeast and Islands Region to bring evidence to practitioners, from Institute of Education Sciences Practice Guides published by panels of experts to key findings from REL-NEI’s research staff. Table talks, Q&A with expert speakers, and breakout sessions all serve to advance the conversation and connect research to practice.

View the Event Archives

	Webinar: Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics in Elementary and Middle School (April 2011) This webinar co-sponsored with the Vermont Department of Education and Vermont Education Service Agency Coordinators presented research from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide: “Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RTI) for Elementary and Middle Schools.” Co-author Dr. Jon Star presented the Guide’s eight recommendations, with a particular focus on differentiating for Tier 1 in RTI. Vermont education leaders requested the event to bring research on RTI to a wider audience and to allow participants to explore some of the content and implementation strategies presented in the Practice Guide. Archive available.
	Webinar: Research-Based Strategies for Improving Schools in Vermont (January 2011) Vermont, like other states, continues to have schools that are not performing as well as expected. Consequently, many school officials are looking for evidence-based practices and strategies that can impact student performance. This interactive webinar raised awareness about research-based strategies for improving schools by introducing participants to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide: “Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools.” Co-authors Dr. Sam Redding and Dr. Marlene Darwin presented the Guide’s four recommendations, discussed potential roadblocks—and solutions—to implementation, and reviewed the research behind each recommendation. A panel of Vermont educators discussed the implications of each recommendation for Vermont schools. Archive available.
	Multiple Measures of Teacher Effectiveness (June 2010) Leaders from the six New England states are participating in a regional network—the New England Collaborative for Educator Quality and Effectiveness (NECEQE)—to review research and share state efforts to develop policies and programmatic support for the complex challenge of measuring teacher effectiveness. This daylong meeting convened leaders from the Collaborative and their invited colleagues to delve more deeply into topics central to this undertaking: (a) defining teacher effectiveness, (b) measuring and evaluating teacher effectiveness, and (c) professional development and compensation systems tied to teacher evaluation. Featured speakers included Dr. Laura Goe and Charlotte Danielson.
	Webinar: Measuring Teacher Effectiveness in New England (May 2010) In this webinar co-hosted with the New England Comprehensive Center and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Dr. Douglas Harris at the University of Wisconsin–Madison presented current research on value-added models for measuring teacher effectiveness. Among the webinar participants were representatives from the New England Collaborative for Educator Quality and Effectiveness (NECEQE), a newly formed initiative comprised of teacher-effectiveness leaders from each of the six New England states. Archive available.
	Webinar: Implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) in Mathematics: Research-Based Strategies for Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont Grades K–8 Schools (February and March 2010) During this two-part webinar, Dr. Bradley Witzel of Winthrop University assisted district leaders and other educators in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont in learning how to better implement response to intervention (RTI) in mathematics through a focus on eight research-based recommendations presented in an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide on the topic. Archive available.