Explore · I4I

Rural Math Innovation Network (RMIN)

2020

Rural Math Innovation Network (RMIN) is a professional development intervention for Pre-Algebra and Algebra I teachers in rural Virginia school districts. The program uses a networked improvement community (NIC) model where teachers collaborate to incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL) factors—specifically academic self-efficacy and growth mindset—into lesson plans for teaching career-readiness math competencies. Teachers participate in the NIC to innovate and implement SEL-integrated math lessons. The intervention was implemented over multiple years (2017-2019) with cohorts of middle and high school math teachers across rural school divisions in southwest and southside Virginia. Teachers received supports to develop SEL math lessons and establish technology capacity for lesson development and implementation.

8th Grade 9th Grade

Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC)

2019

Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) is a professional development program that supports teachers in implementing Common Core State Standards by integrating literacy skill development throughout content areas. The program focuses on developing teacher competencies through job-embedded professional development and professional learning communities (PLCs). Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their existing curricula across all content areas. The intervention targets K-12 teachers and students, with implementation occurring through regular PLC meetings (typically weekly or biweekly for 45-60 minutes), where teachers learn to create and adapt LDC modules—instructional units that include a culminating writing assignment. Teachers access online resources through the CoreTools platform, receive virtual coaching support via Zoom meetings and written feedback, and participate in in-person professional development sessions. The program expects teachers to adapt two existing modules and create one module from scratch during the school year, then implement at least two modules in their classrooms.

Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade

Growing, Learning, and Living With Autism (GoriLLA) Group

2019

The Growing, Learning, and Living With Autism (GoriLLA) Group is a parent-assisted intervention that blends Structured TEACCHing and Social Thinking components to teach social communication and self-regulation skills to first and second grade students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are included 80-100% of the time in regular education classrooms and read on grade level or above. The program consists of 12 weekly 90-minute sessions with parent-child large and small group activities, plus 20-30 minute parent breakout sessions. Sessions teach concepts including the Zones of Regulation for emotion identification, Social Thinking vocabulary (Expected vs. Unexpected Behaviors, The Group Plan, Thinking With Your Eyes, Body in the Group, Whole Body Listening), self-regulation strategies (deep breathing, chair yoga, stress balls, progressive relaxation), and social communication skills (SENSE: Space, Eye contact, Nodding, Statements, Expressions). Parents actively participate in sessions and complete weekly homework activities with their children. The intervention uses visual supports, environmental structure, and incorporates children's special interests. Two trained clinicians with master's degrees deliver the program, assisted by a clinical psychology doctoral student or postdoctoral fellow.

1st Grade 2nd Grade

Alaska Statewide Mentor Project Urban Growth Opportunity (ASMP UGO)

2017

The Alaska Statewide Mentor Project Urban Growth Opportunity (ASMP UGO) is a mentoring program designed to support early career teachers (ECTs) in their first two years of teaching in five urban Alaska school districts (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Mat-Su, and Sitka). The program provides ECTs with fully released, highly trained mentors who have at least eight years of teaching experience in Alaska. Mentors maintain weekly contact with ECTs and meet face-to-face at least monthly (totaling at least 3.5 hours per month). Each full-time mentor has a caseload of no more than 15 ECTs. Mentors participate in extensive professional development including orientation, four weeklong Academy trainings per year for their first two years, ASMP training sessions, biweekly Friday Forums, and ongoing coaching. Mentors use formative assessment tools to collect classroom data, document conversations through Collaborative Assessment Logs, and support reflective practice through Individual Learning Plans, Mid-Year Reviews, and Professional Growth Reflections. All work is connected to Standards for Alaska Teachers, Alaska Cultural Standards, and the Continuum of Teacher Development. Before implementation, mentors complete required training on the New Teacher Center model and ASMP-specific approaches.

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

Enhanced Positive School Climate Model

2020

The Enhanced Positive School Climate Model (Enhanced PSCM) is a schoolwide intervention designed to improve school climate, student-adult relationships, social-emotional learning, and provide students with the structure to access challenging curriculum for elementary students in grades K-8. The model builds on existing Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and Restorative Practice (RP) systems by providing additional support through School Climate Liaisons (SCLs). SCLs visit each treatment school one day per week to provide coaching to school staff on PBIS implementation, RP strategies, and behavioral interventions; facilitate parent trainings on PBIS, RP tools, and behavioral interventions; conduct home visits; and connect families to community resources. The intervention was implemented over two school years (2017-18 and 2018-19). SCLs received multi-day training on RP (2-day training), PBIS framework (Tier 1: 6 hours, Tier 2 Part A: 6 hours, Tier 2 Part B: 2 hours, Tier 3: 2 days), and Cognitive Coaching.

4th Grade 5th Grade

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST)

2018

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) is a program operating at Washington State community and technical colleges designed to provide occupational training and basic skills instruction in a structured career pathway for students whose basic skills levels are too low to enter college-level courses directly. The program serves students in various occupational areas including automotive, electrical, nursing assistant, precision machining, welding, and office skills. I-BEST's signature feature is team teaching, pairing a basic skills instructor with an occupational instructor for at least 50 percent of occupational training class time. The I-BEST programs evaluated in PACE also included two enhancements funded by the Open Society Foundations: dedicated advisors (navigators) to provide guidance on academic issues, navigating college procedures, and career planning; and fill-the-gap financial support for tuition and course-associated materials not covered by other sources. Most I-BEST programs range from one to two quarters in length and result in workforce credentials, with defined pathways for continued education and training.

Adult Basic Education Adult English as a Second Language

Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC)

2020

Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) is a professional development program created in 2009 to support teachers in implementing Common Core State Standards by integrating literacy skill development throughout content areas. The program uses a teacher-designed framework with online tools and resources for creating literacy-rich assignments and courses across content areas. Implementation involves teachers participating in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that meet regularly with coach support, where they engage with online course content (LEARN modules), create or adapt LDC modules (standards-embedded performance tasks with instructional plans), and implement these modules in their classrooms. Teachers receive both synchronous support through PLC meetings and asynchronous support through written feedback on their work in the CoreTools platform. The program requires substantial time commitment including weekly PLC meetings typically lasting 45-60 minutes, engagement with online professional development content, module creation/adaptation, and classroom implementation of modules. School administrators and teacher leaders also participate in quarterly in-person meetings and monthly planning calls with coaches.

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

Get the Picture?! Guiding and Engaging Exceptional Teens

2020

Get the Picture?! is a multi-layered initiative designed to build capacity in both adults and students within schools to increase college and career readiness for students with disabilities. Each student with disabilities in treatment schools receives one-on-one support through a school-based Career Strategist, meeting at least weekly to monitor the student's Individual Learning Plan, which focuses on college and/or career readiness with realistic goals and action steps for life after high school. The Career Strategist works with the student to ensure the student's aspirations and aptitudes inform their personalized career pathways, and that coursework supports and aligns to their career plan. Each treatment school also has a school-based Support Team—including College/Career Readiness (CCR) Coaches, Lead Career Strategist, Career Strategist, special education teachers, and counselors—that coordinates and monitors one-on-one work and student-to-strategist matches. The school-based Support Team meets at least four times per academic year to make data-driven decisions to support college and career readiness for all students with disabilities. CCR Coaches provide CCR-focused instruction to students while supporting strategists and other educators, working directly in participating schools providing ongoing, embedded support and modeling.

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

Making Sense of SCIENCE

2020

Making Sense of SCIENCE is a professional learning model for elementary school teachers (grades 4-5) aimed at raising students' science achievement in Earth and space science and physical science through improving science instruction. The model focuses on connections between science understanding, classroom practice, and literacy integration to support implementation of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The professional learning consists of six components delivered over two years: site coordinator professional learning, Leadership Cadre professional learning, administrator professional learning, and teacher professional learning (including 35-hour summer courses each year and 12 hours of school-year Professional Learning Community meetings each year). Teachers participate in courses focused on Dynamic Earth (Year 1) and Planet Earth (Year 2), which emphasize three-dimensional learning (Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts) aligned with NGSS. The model requires building leadership capacity at school and district levels, with site coordinators, Leadership Cadre members (including teacher leaders and district staff), and administrators receiving targeted professional development to support teachers and implementation.

4th Grade 5th Grade

Collaborative Regional Education (CORE) i3 Validation Study

2020

The CORE model is a comprehensive, systems-based approach consisting of seven components designed to build school capacity to better prepare students for college and career by enhancing their 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, technology skills, collaboration skills, and creativity. The CORE model integrates technology and active learning modules in schools by providing multi-disciplinary teams of teachers and administrators with professional development and support to improve college and career readiness and noncognitive skills outcomes among grade 10-12 students in primarily high need and rural high schools. Over the course of two school years, all CORE schools participate in seven Key Components: (1) CORE principals engage in professional learning with school teams, (2) School teams participate in online learning communities, (3) Schools receive CORE resources, (4) School teams participate in CORE instructional professional development services, (5) School teams present during CORE professional development workshops, (6) Schools participate in change-management support through CORE partnership resources, and (7) School teams provide students with college readiness advisement and support through use of EdReady™ tool. Building relationships with school administrators was vital to the success of this project. Classroom funding for hardware and classroom support and technology were provided to treatment schools to procure items based on their school plan. In conjunction with the school-level resources provided, principals and CORE team teachers participated in an online professional learning experience. After completing the 2gno.me skills assessment, teachers were granted access to the CORE Learning Management System course catalog in SmarterU. Over 86 SmarterU micro-courses were developed by JSU to be aligned with the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Education Leaders to promote student engagement through active learning-based teaching and differentiation of instruction. Based on the individual 2gno.me (To Know Me) skills assessment results, learning plans were generated for each team teacher and administrator. Administrators participated in a series of leadership modules and were required to support team teachers in implementation through observations and debriefs upon completion of course modules. Teachers completed a minimum of 11 micro-courses per school year with ongoing support from the JSU CORE instructional staff, school team administrator, and their RUP liaison. Change-management support, via CDI and results reports, was provided to CORE schools to support the shift to new modes of instruction. EdReady™ was used to test students on math and ELA skills, identifying areas for improvement, and bridging the gap for remediation for grade 10-12 students.

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