Press Releases

Regional Educational Laboratory at Education Development Center Awarded New Five-Year Contract, 2012–2017
28 December 2011
Waltham, Mass. — The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education has awarded a five-year contract for the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands to Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC).

Providing Online Algebra I to Algebra-Ready Grade 8 Students Positively Affects Achievement and Future Coursetaking
13 December 2011
Boston, Mass. — A rigorous multiyear study conducted by REL Northeast and Islands found that offering an online Algebra I course to “algebra-ready” grade 8 students without access to a formal Algebra I course positively affects achievement and high school coursetaking patterns.

Study Examines Formative Assessment Strategies in New York and Vermont
22 November 2011
Boston, Mass. — As education policymakers and practitioners increasingly consider formative assessment as a strategy to improve student learning outcomes, new research from the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) provides detailed analysis of how two states have supported its implementation in local schools.

Classroom Study of Thinking Reader™ Finds No Impact Beyond Regular Reading Curriculum; Implementation May Be a Factor
4 April 2011
Boston, Mass. — REL Northeast and Islands conducted a randomized controlled trial in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island classrooms to examine the impact of the Thinking Reader™ software program on sixth-graders’ reading achievement and motivation to read. Thinking Reader™ for grades 5–8 was designed by Tom Snyder Productions® to teach seven comprehension strategies to students as they read novels on an interactive software platform. Teacher and students then talk about the meaning of the text.

Maine Students’ Prior Test Scores and Other School and Student Factors Predict 11th-Grade Test Performance
28 February 2011
Boston, Mass. — A REL Northeast & Islands report published today by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education finds that student scores on the 8th-grade Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) and the 10th-grade Preliminary SAT (PSAT) were strong predictors of student performance on the 11th-grade Maine High School Assessment (MHSA).