A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Center for Research on the Education of Disadvantaged Students (CDS)

Project #8108: Effective Programs Clearinghouse

Project Description: Effective Programs Clearinghouse works with large school districts and state education agencies to incorporate their evaluation activities and expertise into the Center's programmatic evaluations. Based on evaluation reports gathered, this project has conducted a best-evidence synthesis of the effects of the IBM Writing to Read Program, a review of research on the non-graded elementary school, and contributed to a book that reviews research on a wide variety of topics.

The aim of this project is to conduct a proactive clearinghouse operation to solicit evaluations of programs for the disadvantaged from multiple sources, especially sources from which program evaluations have not been generally accessible to researchers. Working with the Council of Great City Schools and the Council of Chief State School Officers, as well as with a selection of large urban school districts, the investigators explore the types and quality of evaluation reports produced in large urban school districts and in state education agencies. These reports are catalogued, made available to other researchers, and used by Center researchers in analyses and research syntheses to identify effective programs. One of the products is a best evidence synthesis of the effects of the IBM Writing to Read Program.

This project is part of the Center's Institutional Activities Program and has been completed.

Project Director: Slavin, Robert E.

Institution: Johns Hopkins University

List of Selected Publications

Activity ID: 8108-20021

Name of Activity: Effective Programs Clearinghouse

Statement of Finding(s): Evaluations generated by large school districts and by state education agencies of programs and projects being implemented in their districts or states can contribute much worthwhile information to research syntheses of the effects of interventions in schools.

Description of Finding(s): Evaluations of non-graded school organization found consistent positive achievement effects of simple forms of non-grading (cross-grade grouping for one subject and cross-grade grouping for many subjects). But forms of non-grading that made extensive use of individualization were less consistently successful. Studies of Individually Guided Education, which used non-grading and individualization, also produced inconsistent effects. In general, non-graded organization can have a positive impact on student achievement if cross-age grouping is used to allow teachers to provide more direct instruction to students, but not if it is used as a framework for individualized instruction.

Evaluation of the IBM Writing to Read program found the program to be no more effective, but much more costly, than other reading/writing programs or traditional instruction.

Evaluations of reduction in class size found small achievement effects in the early grades which faded with time. Evaluations of the use of teacher aides in classrooms found no effects on student achievement.

Are data from the study available? Yes

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