Marc L. Stein

Scaling Up an Early Reading Program: Relationships Among Teacher Support, Fidelity of Implementation, and Student Performance Across Different Sites and Years

Successful implementation of evidence-based educational practices at scale is of great importance but has presented significant challenges. In this article, the authors address the following questions: How does the level of on-site technical assistance affect student outcomes? Do teachers’ fidelity of treatment implementation and their perceptions of school climate mediate effects on student performance? Using a randomized control trial at scale, the authors examine Kindergarten Peer Assisted Learning Strategies, which previously has been shown to be effective in increasing student reading achievement. Analyzing data from 2 years and three sites, the analyses show that the level of on-site technical support has significant effects on reading achievement gains, are robust across multiple sites, and are mediated by fidelity of implementation within teachers’ classrooms.

Instructional Conditions in Charter Schools and Students' Mathematics Achievement Gains.

Since charter school research on student achievement is mixed, many researchers and policy makers advocate looking inside the “black box” of schools to better understand the conditions under which schools of choice may be effective. We begin to address this issue with data from charter schools and a comparison group of traditional public schools. We also conduct propensity score matching at the student level to further understand achievement gains. In our analyses of these data, we find no charter school effects on students’ achievement gains. Instructional conditions, such as teachers’ focus on academic achievement, are related to mathematics gains. However, we find that our innovation measure is negatively associated with gains (when other conditions are controlled for), which suggests that innovation for innovation’s sake should not be the sole focus of schools, whether charter or not.

Factors Contributing to Teachers’ Sustained Use of Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies

Abstract Factors were explored that predicted whether teachers sustained the use of a validated reading intervention. Seventy-three teachers from 37 schools in 3 states were asked in interviews whether they continued to use Kindergarten Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (KPALS) 1 year after their involvement in the program. A logistic regression model was created with teachers’ yes/no responses as the dependent variable and with predictors identified as important to sustainability. Findings were consonant with current theoretical models of sustainability. The logistic regression model captured many key elements of teachers’ decisions to sustain. Strongest predictors were teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of KPALS and degree of external technical support given them.

Accessing Choice A Mixed-Methods Examination of How Latino Parents Engage in the Educational Marketplace

School choice has become a cornerstone of education reform plans across the nation especially in urban settings where immigrant populations often settle. Latino enrollment in charter schools has increased accordingly. Yet, little is known about how Latino parents, who arguably face significant linguistic, cultural, and economic barriers, engage in the choice process. This study examines what motivates Latino and non-Latino parents to consider a charter school and what informs their decision to enroll their children. By comparing these groups, we seek to better understand how parents, particularly those who face layers of disadvantage like Latinos, interact with the educational marketplace.

Public School Choice and Racial Sorting: An Examination of Charter Schools in Indianapolis

There has been a long-standing concern among education researchers and policy makers that public school choice may lead to increased racial isolation. Improving on aggregate comparisons, I examine the sorting of students into charter schools by tracking individual students from their charter school of enrollment back to the school they were enrolled in immediately prior to the switch to a charter school, allowing for a direct comparison of school racial demographics between the two sectors. I find evidence that the process of charter school choice in Indianapolis leads to higher degrees of racial isolation and less diversity within schools than is present in the underlying process of student school transfers in the public school district from which a majority of these students came.

Measuring Accessibility of Written Communication for Parents of Students With Disabilities: Reviewing 30 Years of Readability Research

Effective communication is essential for successful school–family partnerships. Written communication is most common due to the efficiency of written documents, but challenges include assuring the information disseminated to parents is accessible based on readability, clarity, complexity, and structure particularly for parents of students with disabilities and parents with low levels of literacy. The purpose of this review was to understand to what extent written communications intended to inform parents, particularly parents of students with disabilities, were accessible given recommendations regarding appropriate readability levels and document structure. Results from eight studies, published over 30 years, evaluated 461 documents and showed divergent trends in recommended and actual reading levels where written communication became less accessible over time. Recommended readability levels ranged from 5th to below 9th grade, yet actual readability levels were almost 11th grade on average. Implications specific to the readability and accessibility of written communication are discussed.

Mechanisms for Teacher Outreach to Parents in Charter and Traditional Public Schools.

Parent involvement is greatly influenced by the extent to which schools and teachers reach out to parents. Charter schools may be uniquely situated vis-à-vis traditional public schools to create the school organization and policies that can encourage teachers to reach out more. The authors examined the extent to which organizational and teacher-level characteristics account for cross-sector variation in teacher outreach using a matched sample of charter and traditional schools. Teacher efficacy, parent empowerment in classrooms, and home-school contracts accounted for some, but not all, of the higher levels of teacher outreach in the sample charter schools. Specific factors promoting teacher outreach were not limited to the charter sector.

The Readability and Complexity of District-Provided School-Choice Information

Public school choice has become a common feature in American school districts. Any potential benefits that could be derived from these policies depend heavily on the ability of parents and students to make informed and educated decisions about their school options. We examined the readability and complexity of school-choice guides across a sample of large urban districts. These guides are intended to assist parents in learning about their childs options and to help them make informed decisions about schools. We found that none of the guides examined were written within the range considered appropriate for all adults to comprehend. In large urban districts where there are a large proportion of parents that have low levels of literacy, it is likely that many parents will have difficulty comprehending the information presented in the choice guides. We provide some simple steps that could be taken to improve readability of these guides.

Supporting the Summer Reading of Urban Youth An Evaluation of the Baltimore SummerREADS Program

This article presents an evaluation of the first 2 years of a research-based summer learning program that provided self-selected and developmentally appropriate books to students in low-income and low-resource elementary schools by a local philanthropic organization in a large urban district. The evaluation found evidence of a positive effect of participation in the program on the state year-end standardized reading assessment but found no statistically significant effects on the proximal measures of reading achievement in the fall after summer vacation. The article also provides an analysis of implementation of the program and lessons learned that could be useful to other organizations that are interested in implementing similar programs.