R&D Centers
ED Program Office: OERI/Student Achievement Institute
Award Number: R305A6005
ED Agency Contact(s): Rita Foy
Telephone: (202) 219-2027
E-mail: Rita.Foy@ed.gov
Start Date: 3/1/96
End Date: 2/30/01-received a 2 year continuation award with a new end date of 2/28/03
Expected Total Award: $12,500,000-received an additional $2,704,000
Principal Investigators:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of English
6185 Helen White Hall
600 N.Park Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
608/263-3822 (phone)
608/263-3709 (FAX)
Abstract: The National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA) is operated by the University at Albany, State University of New York in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Over the past twelve years, CELA has become a national leader in research and policy issues related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment issues in English language arts and literacy. The Center's mission is to improve the teaching and learning of English, including students' skills with oral and written language and literature. The Center's scope and efforts include K-12 English instruction.
Since 1996, CELA has focused more of its activities on isolating features of curriculum and instruction that are most closely associated with higher literacy achievement, particularly in schools serving students from low socio-economic backgrounds. As a result, CELA has developed a large portfolio of work. Many state and local education agencies, teacher groups, as well as other professional organizations and community-based organizations have sought out the Center's expertise. CELA's research also has contributed directly to the national debate about how best to assure that students reach high standards of achievement in challenging subject matter. In fact, CELA's research has provided detailed information about how good instruction in classrooms work (Teaching Middle and High School Students to Read and Write Well and Improving Literary Understanding Through Classroom Conversation).
In its continued program of research, CELA's work focuses on the development and evaluation of a research-based instructional model program in English language arts. CELA is implementing its findings, from the previous five years of work, in a variety of schools and English classrooms to provide experimental validation of their effectiveness in improving student achievement and framing the results in sets of professional development materials. CELA has planned its program of work around one major initiative and one related project. The major initiative will involve the development and evaluation of Partnership for Literacy, a research-based instructional program focused on transforming curriculum and instruction with the traditional middle school English language arts program (reading, writing, language, and literature) to better support the development of the high literacy skills demanded in the standards and assessments. A related project, Improving English Language Arts through Technology Integration in Middle School, focuses on the uses of technology to support the development of high literacy, extending current CELA studies in order to bring the work to the point where it is ready to be incorporated into the Partnership for Literacy intervention.
For information about current Center activities and publications, please visit the Center on English Learning and Achievement Web site http://cela.Albany.edu