Bridging Research to Practice:

Helping Students Navigate the Path to College

In Partnership with the Collaborative for Teaching and Learning (CTL)
November 14, 2012

Helping Students Navigate the Path to College Prepare Students Academically Assess and Intervene Foster College Aspirations Assist with College Entry
Students Families
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9wGhtzcgY

Event Objectives
Participants will: Understand the IES (Institute of Education Sciences) Practice Guide recommendations and how they work together to create a college-going culture in schools, with an emphasis on state-specific needs Apply research recommendations in the context of their own school environment, drawing on information presented in the Practice Guide and by the expert practitioners Formulate next steps of a college readiness action plan based on the Practice Guide and suggested recommendations

Quick Write: Who or what was the driving force that most contributed to your college readiness? What specifically did that contribution look like?

What is an IES Practice Guide?

Through the U.S. Department of Education, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) publishes a series of Practice Guides developed by a panel of education experts The Practice Guides serve the following purposes:
Provide practical and actionable recommendations for dealing with a variety of issues and initiatives in education Provide advice to educators about ways to deal with frequently encountered problems in education Bring the best available evidence and expertise to bear on systemic educational challenges that cannot be addressed by any single approach

Practice Guides also have a list of recommendations that are:

Specific and Actionable educators can implement in their classrooms and schools; Coherent not just a laundry list of ideas; recommendations fit together in a system of initiatives that reinforce each other; Evidence-based connected to the quality of the evidence supporting them

What can a Practice Guide be used for?

Organize discussions about improving education Plan and implement solutions to problems
Develop practice and policy alternatives Implementation
Strategies to carry out recommendations Examples to put recommendations in context Common problems teachers and administrators may encounter, and approached for managing them

Levels of Evidence
Organize discussions about improving education How to interpret a positive association between a recommended intervention and a good educational outcome? Criteria for categorizing evidence
Causality (internal validity)

Do results support the conclusion that an intervention causes an outcome? Problems: reverse/joint causality, unobserved factors Generality (external validity) Can results be generalized to other groups? Problems: non-representative samples, self-selection Key issue develop comparison groups that are as similar as possible to the group getting the intervention

Levels of Evidence
Organize discussions about improving education How to interpret a positive association between a recommended intervention and a good educational outcome? Criteria for categorizing evidence
Causality (internal validity)

Do results support the conclusion that an intervention causes an outcome? Problems: reverse/joint causality, unobserved factors Generality (external validity) Can results be generalized to other groups? Problems: non-representative samples, self-selection Key issue develop comparison groups that are as similar as possible to the group getting the intervention

Levels of Evidence
Strong
Evidence supports both causality and generality Types of studies
Well designed randomized control trials (RCTs) Regression discontinuity

Moderate
Evidence supports either causality or generality, but not both Types of studies
Lower quality RCTs Quasi-experimental or strong correlational studies that control for (e.g.) self-selection or reverse causality

Low
Evidence supports an association, but neither causality nor generality Expert opinion-based on direct evidence that does not meet the criteria of moderate or strong

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Available IES Practice Guide Topics

Developing Effective Fractions Instruction for K-8 Improving Reading Comprehension in K-3 Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do Structuring Out-of-School Time to Improve Academic Achievement Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/

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REL Appalachia Resources

Online Resources: Website: www.RELAppalchia.org Ask A REL: http://www.relappalachia.org/helpful-resources/ask-a-rel IES REL Website: www.ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs Quarterly newsletter: To receive the REL newsletter, email: RELAppalachia@cna.org (Subject: Subscribe)

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Frames your thinking

Specific examples

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Q&A with Dr. Neal Finkelstein

http://dww.ed.gov/Increasing-Postsecondary-Access/topic/?T_ID=32

Professional Reading
Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do
Overview (page 5) Scope of the Practice Guide (pages 7-10) Practice Guide Checklist (page 11)

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Text Coding
As you read, look for and mark:

Ideas that frame your thinking about ensuring college readiness Specific examples of practices you could implement Connections to efforts you currently have in place

Be prepared to share your thinking with peers

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Give One, Get One

Find a partner who is new to you Share a connection you made in the reading that relates to a current college readiness effort in your building or district. Explain the specifics of that effort. Find another partner Your goal is to get 3 new ideas to strengthen college-readiness work in your building.

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Table Talk

In school/district teams, share promising practices learned from your conversation with others.

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Self Assess/Share/Compare

Comprehensive Planning Template, Part I

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Getting Smarter About What Works

Identify which of the research recommendations your team needs to study more carefully Divide and conquer the section(s) of the Practice Guide that corresponds with your need to know Text code as you read so you dont lose any important ideas Discuss in your table group

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View from the Field

Dr. Neil Finkelstein, Dr. Sharon Roberts, Dr. Gary Nixon Moderator: Dr. Richard Rhoda

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Table Talk
What ideas resonated with you most?

What promising practices make sense for your school/ district? What current systems or structures might need rethinking (or replacing) to improve your college readiness efforts?
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Planning
Comprehensive Planning Template, Part II
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http://animoto.com/play/2hIDa5xIS3CvuT8uvNkPYg

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Y3W: Synthesis

What THREE words will you take from today that will significantly impact college readiness efforts in your school or district?

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Next Steps & Additional Resources

Stakeholder Feedback Survey

Practice Guide
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/practiceguide.aspx?sid=11

Doing What Works

http://dww.ed.gov/Increasing-PostsecondaryAccess/topic/?T_ID=32

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