What's New for October 2021
New Study Reviews from the What Works Clearinghouse Examine the Impacts of Instructional Practices in Middle School Math (October 19, 2021)
The What Works Clearinghouse reviewed three studies of teaching practices designed to help middle school students improve their problem-solving, algebra, and mathematical reasoning skills: (1) schema-based instruction lessons on proportional relationships; (2) interleaved practice assignments for graphing and slope problems; and (3) worked examples of arithmetic problems.
School Changes in Student Achievement and Local Practice Under Georgia's District and School Flexibility Policy (October 18, 2021)
REL Southeast explored whether Georgia's flexibility policy, which grants waivers from state regulations and requires districts to meet performance targets, changed schools' academic performance and how schools prioritized local innovations in practice.
New Practice Guide on Effective Advising for Postsecondary Student (October 13, 2021)
The WWC has released a new practice guide on the design and delivery of effective advising for postsecondary students.
Predicting Early Fall Student Enrollment in the School District of Philadelphia (October 12, 2021)
REL Mid-Atlantic compared the accuracy of four statistical models for predicting fall enrollment at the school by grade level. Inaccurate predictions can disrupt learning as districts adjust to enrollment fluctuations by reshuffling teachers and students.
New Toolkit from REL Central Provides Resources for Practical and Effective Program Evaluations (October 12, 2021)
The Program Evaluation Toolkit focuses on the practical application of program evaluation for all users. The toolkit can build understanding of the evaluation process and practices. Resources in the toolkit will help users create a logic model, develop evaluation questions, identify data sources, develop data collection instruments, conduct basic analyses, and disseminate findings.
New What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Webinar on Learning from Studies that Do Not Meet WWC Standards (October 5, 2021)
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) will host a webinar on learning from studies that do not meet WWC standards on Thursday, October 21, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. (ET). The webinar will identify the most common reasons studies do not meet WWC group design standards and explain how researchers can avoid these pitfalls. Register now for the webinar at this link.