Explore · I4I

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS)

2019

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS) is a school-based, multi-tiered prevention framework implemented at the universal (tier 1) level across elementary, middle, and high schools. SW-PBIS targets all school staff and students schoolwide, focusing on shifting staff toward a proactive and positive approach to behavior management with consistent implementation across all school settings (classroom and non-classroom). Through SW-PBIS training, school staff learn to set and teach clear behavioral expectations, implement a system to respond to the meeting of behavioral expectations (to proactively encourage desired and prevent undesired behaviors), and create and implement a consistent response system to behavioral infractions for all students across all school settings. Schools must gain 80% staff buy-in to implement SW-PBIS, make a three-year commitment to implementing, and identify a 4-6 person team including an administrator and coach who attend two-day initial trainings. The state provides annual two-day trainings for new and returning teams, quarterly full-day state leadership meetings for district contacts, and quarterly full-day coaches trainings throughout each school year. School-based coaches and district leaders provide ongoing professional development support through monthly or quarterly coaches' meetings.

Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade 9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade

Learning by Making (LbyM)

2018

Learning by Making (LbyM) is an integrated high school STEM curriculum that uses computational thinking and scientific and engineering design practices to teach Disciplinary Core Ideas in Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The curriculum uses Logo programming language and electronic sensors to enable students to conduct student-designed investigations, create simulations, and explore models while integrating mathematics with science content. Students work in classroom groups (typically 9th-12th grade) and write Logo code to read sensors, obtain data, perform experiments, and analyze results. Teachers receive ongoing professional development including a Summer Institute and follow-up training sessions throughout the school year to learn STEM concepts, technology and engineering skills (computer coding and circuitry), and instructional approaches centered on student inquiry, data collection, and experimental design. The curriculum consists of six units delivered over an academic year.

9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade

Drive to Write

2019

Drive to Write is a professional development and coaching program for ninth-grade Global History teachers designed by New Visions for Public Schools. The program helps teachers improve student writing instruction by using Google Suite tools (including Google Classroom, Google Docs, Doctopus, and Goobric) to manage assignments, provide actionable feedback, and use data to differentiate instruction. Teachers participate in monthly professional development sessions and receive biweekly one-on-one coaching. The program includes a writing skills syllabus with four multi-day writing workshops throughout the year, a 19-skill rubric for assessment, and technology tools to streamline workflow. The intervention targets ninth-grade students preparing for the Global History Regents Exam essay requirement, with implementation occurring during the 2017-2018 school year across 11 New York City public high schools serving low-income students with below-average English Language Arts scores.

9th Grade

Fraction Face-Off! with Integrated Fraction-Decimal Component (FM+DM) or Fraction Applications Component (FM+FAPP)

2019

Fraction Face-Off! is a 12-week (36 sessions) fourth-grade intervention focused on fraction magnitude understanding for at-risk students with poor whole-number performance. The intervention is delivered three times per week in 35-minute sessions to dyads (pairs of students). It builds fraction magnitude understanding through benchmark fractions, comparing, ordering, and placing fractions on number lines, using fraction tiles, circles, and number lines as representations. The intervention includes explicit instruction with worked examples, guided practice, fluency-building activities, and systematic cumulative review. Two variants were tested: FM+DM integrates fraction and decimal magnitude instruction (7 minutes per session starting at lesson 7), while FM+FAPP includes fraction word problem applications (7 minutes per session starting at lesson 7). Both variants include a small focus on fraction addition and subtraction (3 of 36 lessons). Tutors require 20 hours of initial training to achieve 95% implementation accuracy before working with students, plus ongoing weekly training meetings.

4th Grade

Passport Reading Journeys

2012

Passport Reading Journeys (PRJ) is a comprehensive supplemental literacy curriculum for middle and high school students reading significantly below grade level. The program uses direct, explicit instruction in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and word study with age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction texts. PRJ is delivered through 50-minute daily lessons, 5 days per week, formatted as 15 two-week reading expeditions focused on science or social studies topics. Each week includes four days of teacher-led lessons building fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, plus one day of online practice using SOLO (Strategic Online Learning Opportunities). The program includes embedded assessments for progress monitoring, a library of Lexile-leveled books and magazines, and optional reteach or writing extensions. Teachers receive professional development including launch training, online product training modules, and monthly coaching visits from Voyager implementation specialists. The Louisiana implementation targeted 6th and 7th grade students scoring Below Basic on state assessments, with classes limited to 20 students maximum.

6th Grade 7th Grade

READ 180

2012

READ 180 is a comprehensive reading intervention program developed by Scholastic for struggling readers in Grades 6-9. The program addresses individual student needs through adaptive instructional software, high-interest literature, and direct instruction in reading and writing skills. READ 180 follows a structured 90-minute instructional model delivered daily: 20 minutes of whole-group instruction on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, text comprehension, writing, and grammar; 60 minutes of three 20-minute rotations among small-group instruction, modeled and independent reading, and instructional software on computer workstations; and 10 minutes of whole-group wrap-up. Students work with the rBook interactive work text during whole-group and small-group instruction. Teachers receive professional development including READ 180 orientation trainings, Scholastic RED online courses, monthly roundtable sessions, and optional graduate-level coursework. Eight reading intervention teachers were hired to teach three 90-minute sections daily in five Milwaukee Public Schools, with class sizes limited to 25 students per section.

6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade 9th Grade

Number Line Approach Combined With Cognitive Learning Strategies

2019

This intervention uses a number line-centered approach combined with cognitive learning strategies to teach fraction concepts to sixth graders struggling with mathematics. Delivered in small groups of 3-4 students, the intervention consists of 27 lessons over 6 weeks (approximately 45 minutes per lesson, totaling about 20.25 hours). Each lesson includes warm-up practice, multiplication fact practice, counting fractions aloud, 15-20 minutes of explicit instruction focused on the number line, fast-paced card games for fraction magnitude practice, and independent cool-down worksheets. The intervention covers halves, fourths, eighths, thirds, sixths, and twelfths, teaching students to partition number lines, locate fractions, understand equivalencies, compare magnitudes, and perform basic operations. Instruction incorporates explicit teaching, representational gestures, dual coding (visual and verbal), spaced and interleaved practice, and immediate feedback. Trained research assistants deliver the intervention, requiring prior training (16+ hours) on gestures, feedback strategies, and behavior management.

6th Grade

Relational Scaffolding

2019

Relational Scaffolding is an instructional approach that enhances children's understanding of scientific models through systematic, guided comparisons between observable phenomena and corresponding modeled events. Designed for 3rd-grade students learning about the day-night cycle, the intervention uses split-screen video footage showing both Earth-based observations (e.g., sunrise, sunset) and space-based models of Earth rotation simultaneously. A trained researcher guides students through these videos, pointing at and between perspectives to clarify temporal, spatial, and causal correspondences. The intervention progresses from an embodied simulation where students physically enact Earth's rotation, to relational scaffolding using video of their embodied experience, then to a 3D physical model simulation, and finally to relational scaffolding comparing both simulations. Sessions last 20-30 minutes each, delivered one-on-one in a quiet room at the student's school during after-school hours, twice weekly for three weeks (total of 5 instructional sessions). The approach requires video recording equipment (GoPro camera, tripod, videorecorder), video editing capabilities, a computer for displaying split-screen videos, and physical materials including a 3D Earth-Sun model. One trained researcher delivers the intervention to one student at a time.

3rd Grade

Arts Access Initiative (AAI)

2019

Arts Access Initiative (AAI) is a school-community partnership program that provides substantial increases in arts educational experiences to elementary and middle school students in Houston Independent School District. The program serves students in grades 3-8, particularly those in schools with the lowest levels of arts resources. AAI provides arts experiences through teaching-artist residencies (33% of experiences), in-school professional artist performances (31%), field trips to cultural institutions (27%), and afterschool programs (9%). The arts disciplines include theatre (54% of experiences), music (18%), visual arts (16%), and dance (12%). Schools commit to a monetary match ($1-$10 per student), which is matched 1:1 by the Houston Endowment, resulting in an average annual budget of $14.67 per student. Participating schools must designate a campus arts liaison, engage in strategic arts planning, participate in teacher and principal arts-integration professional development, and attend peer-network mentoring sessions. The AAI director and staff work with principals to select diverse arts programs aligned with school goals.

3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade

Four Reading Interventions: Corrective Reading, Failure Free Reading, Spell Read P.A.T., and Wilson Reading

2006

This study evaluates four widely used remedial reading programs for struggling readers in grades 3 and 5: Corrective Reading, Failure Free Reading, Spell Read P.A.T., and Wilson Reading. The interventions were delivered as pull-out programs in small groups of three students, meeting five days per week for approximately 50-minute sessions from November 2003 through May 2004, totaling about 90 hours of instruction on average. Three interventions (Corrective Reading, Spell Read P.A.T., and Wilson Reading) focus primarily on word-level skills including phonemic awareness, phonemic decoding, and reading fluency through systematic and explicit instruction. Failure Free Reading focuses on building sight vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension through computer-based lessons, workbook exercises, and teacher-led instruction. Teachers were recruited from participating schools and received approximately 70 hours of professional development and support during the implementation year, including 30 hours of initial intensive training, 24 hours during a practice period, and 14 hours of supervision during the intervention phase.

3rd Grade 5th Grade