Explore · I4I

Supporting Teacher Enactment of the Probability and Statistics Standards (STEPSS)

2021

The Supporting Teacher Enactment of the Probability and Statistics Standards (STEPSS) program is a curriculum and professional development intervention designed for grade 7 mathematics students to improve understanding of probability and statistics. The program uses a 20-day curriculum unit published by the American Statistical Association that addresses all probability and statistics standards in the grade 7 course description. The curriculum employs an inquiry-oriented instructional design model involving four phases of statistical investigation: formulating questions answerable by data, designing and implementing data collection plans, analyzing data using graphical and numerical methods, and interpreting analyses in context. Teachers attend four days of professional development workshops (two days in summer, two during the school year) before implementing the unit. In the first three workshop days, teachers learn statistics content by participating as students in the same lessons they will teach. In the fourth workshop, teachers practice delivering lessons to peers and reflect on implementation. The unit can be implemented at any point during the school year and requires approximately four weeks (20 days) of instruction time.

7th Grade

TransMath Fractions Intervention

2018

TransMath Fractions Intervention is a Tier 2 small-group intervention designed for fifth-grade students performing between the 15th and 37th percentile in fractions. The intervention consists of 52 modified lessons (35 minutes each) delivered 3-4 times per week in small groups of 4-5 students. Lessons cover fourth- and fifth-grade fractions content including foundational concepts (equivalence, magnitude, ordering), operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), and mixed numbers. The curriculum emphasizes consistent use of number lines as the primary visual representation, supplemented by Cuisenaire Rods and area models. Each lesson includes four structured segments: review (5 minutes), strategic explicit instruction (10 minutes), guided practice (10 minutes), and student explanations (10 minutes). Students are supported in providing mathematically correct explanations through multi-step prompt cards and vocabulary cards. Tutors hired by the research team received a two-day training and ongoing coaching throughout implementation.

5th Grade

Citizen Schools Apprenticeships

2018

Citizen Schools Apprenticeships are 10-week, project-based learning experiences for middle school students delivered through extended learning time (ELT). Apprenticeships are co-taught by community volunteers (Citizen Teachers) with STEM-related backgrounds and AmeriCorps members (Teaching Fellows). Students participate in hands-on learning across diverse topics including STEM subjects like robotics, mock trials, poetry, dance, and documentary film-making. Students take four apprenticeships per year (two per semester), selecting from options presented at an Apprenticeship Fair. Each apprenticeship consists of approximately 10 90-minute sessions and culminates in a WOW! showcase where students demonstrate their learning. The program targets middle school students in schools with below-average academic achievement, providing exposure to STEM content and professional role models to increase student engagement and interest in STEM subjects.

6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade

Children's Literacy Initiative (CLI)

2020

Children's Literacy Initiative (CLI) is a 3-year literacy intervention for K-3 teachers and students. The intervention provides teachers with training seminars (56 hours total across 3 years), individual coaching (105 hours total), and facilitated grade-level meetings (24 meetings total). In Year 1, CLI provides classrooms with books and materials aligned with the intervention model. CLI selects K-3 teachers from each school to serve as Instructional Lead Teachers (ILTs) who receive additional coaching (25 hours total) and seminars (6 total) to mentor fellow teachers and develop model classrooms. CLI also holds school-level leadership team meetings and district-level meetings with principals and administrators to track literacy progress. The intervention uses the Teacher's Effective Literacy Practice (TELP) framework to guide training and coaching scope and sequence.

Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade

Physical Science and Engineering Invention Kit Curriculum

2019

The Physical Science and Engineering Invention Kit Curriculum is a project-based engineering curriculum for middle school students (Grades 7 or 8) that teaches key science and engineering principles through constructing modern interpretations of 19th-century inventions. Students build three invention kits sequentially in their engineering elective courses: the Solenoid, the Linear Motor, and the Linear Generator. Each kit includes make activities (building components like continuity testers and solenoids), lab activities (demonstrating principles with step-by-step guides and guiding questions), and design challenges (open-ended exercises to create functioning objects). The kits incorporate 2D and 3D fabrication technology (laser cutters, 3D printers) and electronic CAD files. Teachers access kit materials online, including teacher guides with standards alignment, materials lists, and assessment suggestions. Students also take physical science courses concurrently. The curriculum aims to build understanding of magnetism, electricity, and electromagnetism, along with skills in computer-aided design, manufacturing, soldering, and scientific observation.

7th Grade 8th Grade

Word Knowledge Instruction

2021

Word Knowledge Instruction (WKI) is a classroom instructional program designed to enhance the word knowledge of grade 5 students by teaching morphological awareness—knowledge of Greek and Latin roots, base words, prefixes, and suffixes—to help students infer the meaning of new words and expand their vocabulary. WKI consists of 15-minute lessons taught 4 days a week for 20 weeks to the entire English language arts (ELA) class in high-poverty, low-performing elementary schools. Each week of WKI lessons focuses on a single affix (prefix or suffix), covering 20 affixes in all. WKI lessons explicitly teach morphological awareness by deconstructing and constructing words; composing sentences; discussing the meaning of words presented in connected text; defining words, pairing them with synonyms, and linking them to existing knowledge; contrasting base words with new words derived by adding affixes; and creating family trees by adding affixes to base and root words. WKI developers trained teachers over two and a half days in summer 2018 and provided ongoing support throughout the 20 weeks of implementation.

5th Grade

Collaboration and Reflection to Enhance Atlanta Teacher Effectiveness (CREATE) Teacher Residency Program

2021

CREATE is a three-year teacher residency program for preservice teachers completing their credential at Georgia State University College of Education and Human Development (GSU CEHD). The program targets teachers who will work in high-needs schools in Atlanta Public Schools. During Year 1 (preservice teaching year), residents complete their student-teaching practicum with a Cooperating Teacher in local schools. In Year 2 (first year as teacher of record), most residents are paired with another CREATE teacher in a single classroom. In Year 3 (second year as teacher of record), residents become the sole teacher of record in their own classroom. Throughout all three years, residents receive support through Together Time meetings focused on Critical Friendship and Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT), access to mentor teachers, and the CREATE program team. Between Years 1 and 2, residents participate in the Summer Resident Academy (SRA) to develop social emotional competencies, pedagogical skills, content knowledge, and confidence. CREATE has evolved to incorporate equity-centered practices to develop critically-conscious, compassionate, and skilled educators committed to teaching practices that prioritize racial justice and interrupt inequities.

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

Putting Fractions Together

2021

Putting Fractions Together (PFT) is a computer-based educational game intervention designed to improve understanding of individual fractions and fraction addition for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. The intervention emphasizes that both individual fractions and sums of fractions are composed of unit fractions and can be represented by concatenating them (putting them together). Students use fraction strips to create visual representations of fractions and fraction sums on a 0-1 number line, estimating their magnitudes by placing marks on the line. The game progresses through three phases using a "concreteness fading" approach: Phase 1 allows students to select and move fraction strips onto the number line; Phase 2 makes strips immovable, encouraging mental visualization; Phase 3 hides strips entirely, requiring mental representation. Students receive feedback showing correct fraction strip representations after each response. The intervention is delivered one-on-one by an experimenter and includes a tutorial followed by gameplay lasting approximately 15-21 minutes total across one or two parts.

4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade

System for Educator Effectiveness Development (SEED)

2020

SEED is a professional development system designed to provide geographically isolated educators in rural areas with evidence-based training to improve teacher effectiveness. The program serves K-12 teachers, principals, and assistant principals across 21 schools in seven rural school districts. SEED creates evidence-based PD driven by teacher needs, delivers PD through online and blended learning formats (including Teacher Learning Communities, Professional Practice Studies, independent studies, and book studies), and provides a repository of online resources (SEED PAK) aligned with Educator Effectiveness standards. Innovation Coaches work with Content Development Teams to design courses incorporating key features of effective PD. The program requires principals and teachers to engage in identifying appropriate PD resources based on teacher evaluation results. Implementation occurs over multiple years with courses ranging from 7.5 to 15+ contact hours delivered in various formats to accommodate teacher schedules and learning preferences.

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

Career and Technical Education (CTE) Concentrator Programs

2021

Career and Technical Education (CTE) concentrator programs are sequences of high school courses aligned to specific career fields (such as manufacturing, education and training, finance, health sciences, etc.) that provide students with academic and technical skills to succeed in college or the workforce. A CTE concentrator is a student who completes a sequence of courses aligned to a specific career cluster—in Nebraska, three or more credits in a single career cluster; in South Dakota, at least two credits in a state-approved sequence within a single career cluster. The programs are delivered through regular high school coursework over multiple years, typically spanning grades 9-12. Students select from 16 career clusters in the National Career Clusters Framework. The intervention requires existing school infrastructure and teaching staff already in place for CTE programming.

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