REL-NEI in the News

New Five-Year Contracts for Regional Educational Laboratories Began on January 3

January 4, 2012
www.ies.ed.gov
The New Year marked the start of ten new five-year contracts for the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs). The mission of the REL program is to help states and school districts systematically use research and data to answer important issues of policy and practice with the goal of improving student outcomes. Read more.

Online Algebra I Class Can Boost Rural Students’ Access, Skills

December 13, 2011
www.edweek.org
With Algebra I often seen as a gateway course, online algebra classes can bridge the gap for rural students who are ready for advanced math but whose schools lack the resources for a formal class, according to the first federal longitudinal study of online algebra instruction. Read more.

Making Data-Driven Decisions in Rural Schools

September 14, 2011
www.edweek.org

Using student achievement data to guide instructional decisions is nothing new for educators, but that information also is being used in a different way—to ensure the continuous improvement of all students. Read more.

No ‘Right Test’ For Identifying ELLs With Disabilities

June 21, 2010
www.edweek.org

Identifying English language learners who have disabilities is not just about giving students the right test, said a keynote speaker recently at a conference in New York state for educators interested in improving how their school districts determine if ELLs need special education services.“We don’t have the right test,” she said, according to EdEvidence, a newsletter published by the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands. Read more.

Study Explores How Best to Identify ELLs With Disabilities

February 17, 2010
www.edweek.org

School district officials think teachers tend to be too quick to refer English-language learners to special education, while teachers think school district officials tend to wait too long to make a referral, according to a federal study of special-education referral practices in three New York suburban school districts. Read more.

The Education Investigators: Guiding Teachers, Students to Rigorous Research and Practices that Work

January 29, 2010
www.edc.org

A middle school student sits at a classroom computer and slides on a set of headphones. She logs in and chooses a novel, Bridge to Terabithia. A virtual coach appears on the screen and introduces himself as “Justin.” The student begins to read. A few pages in, she stumbles over a paragraph. Click—Justin clarifies the excerpt. She doesn’t recognize a word and click—an illustrated dictionary pops up on the screen. She submits an online journal entry reflecting on the chapters she’s read, and finally, it’s quiz time. Justin gives hints, feedback. Read more.

Mass. Study Examines Hispanic Diversity

June 3, 2009
www.edweek.org

A study of how Hispanic 10th-graders are performing on mathematics and English language arts tests in Massachusetts compares the test scores of various subgroups of Hispanic students. It also compares Hispanic students in general with non-Hispanic students. Overall, Hispanic 10th-graders’ scores are significantly lower than those of non-Hispanic students in the state, but the average scores for Hispanic students did increase by a statistically significant amount, which has helped to narrow the achievement gap. Read more.

What’s an English-Proficiency Score Good For?

February 27, 2009
www.edweek.org

How students score in reading and writing on an English-language-proficiency test is a good indicator of how they will score on their state’s tests for reading, writing, and mathematics that are given to all students. That’s what a study of fifth- and eighth-graders who took the English-proficiency test developed by the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment consortium, or WIDA, concluded. Researchers for the study, which was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, found that students’ scores in the domains of reading and writing on the test were stronger predictors in how they did on regular academic tests than their scores in speaking and listening on the test. Read more.

Algebra Access to Eighth-Graders Being Studied in Maine

January 24, 2009
www.bangordailynews.com

Fifty mostly rural schools in Maine are participating in a three-year, federally funded research study to examine whether improving access to Algebra for eighth-graders through the use of an online course benefits student math achievement. Launched last September, the Pathways to Math Achievement Study provides an online Algebra I course to schools that currently do not offer algebra to their eighth-grade students. Read more.

New Research Examines Elementary Math Outcomes and Education Practices for Students with Disabilities

December 15, 2008
www.edc.org

In past decades, students with disabilities were quietly excluded from rigorous coursework and standardized testing. But with the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Acts of 1997 and 2004 and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, academic expectations have changed dramatically, and educators have become accountable for the achievement of these students. Schools now devote significant effort to making sure that students with disabilities participate in the general curriculum and show progress in core subjects such as English and math. But while there are established interventions and supports to help schools boost achievement in English-language arts, there are few such resources available to help improve student performance in math. EDC researcher Amy Brodesky and a team of researchers at the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI), which is housed at EDC, recently released three reports that examine the challenge of improving math outcomes for students with disabilities. Read more.

Online Course Gives Eighth Graders Access to Studying Algebra

September 25, 2008
www.edc.org

As schools open across the nation this fall, most ninth-graders, as well as some eighth-graders, will be taking Algebra I. But in this era, when the nationwide focus is on improving achievement in math and science, many are asking if even more eighth-graders should enroll in Algebra I. Pathways to Math Achievement is a new EDC study that will examine the impact on the mathematics achievement of students taking Algebra I in the eighth grade. The study will offer an Algebra I course in an online format to schools in Maine and Vermont. Researchers will track and measure students’ mathematics achievement through 10th grade. They will compare the achievement and course-taking patterns of the eighth-graders who are offered the course with those who are not. Read more.