Can a school or district improve student achievement simply by switching to a higher quality textbook or curriculum? We conducted the first multi-textbook, multi-state effort to estimate textbook efficacy following widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated changes in the textbook market. Pooling textbook adoption…

This study evaluates if persistence and completion rates increased after (a) establishing a centralized advising center for entering freshmen, (b) developing a mandatory new student orientation program, and (c) revising the curriculum for the college's student success course. For this study, persistence is defined as the percentage of first-time…

Many community colleges offer a "student success" course--also known as College 101 or Introduction to College--as a means to help incoming students transition to college and become successful. The typical course is meant to provide key information and address important non-cognitive skills and behavioral expectations with the goal of…

This article presents the results of a study testing the efficacy of an instructional model that attends to the science, literacy, and language learning needs of English Learners (ELs) through a curriculum development project. The model is based on the premise that reading, writing, and discourse are better served when these important language…

This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data to compare the outcomes of students at Chabot College who participated in an accelerated, one-semester developmental English course and their peers who participated in a two-semester sequence. The sample included first-time students who entered college between summer 1999 and fall 2010; students…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested in the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) as one strategy to support teachers' and students' transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts. This report provides an early look at the implementation of LDC in sixth-grade Advanced Reading classes in a large Florida…

While much discussion about student success as it relates to access, equity, and underpreparedness at the collegiate level is taking place nationally and statewide, a strong and specific concern prompted some of the faculty at Pasadena City College (PCC), a large urban community college located northeast of downtown Los Angeles, to address the…

Successful change in schools is planned, expected and managed with the objective focused on benefiting the students, not just converting the staff. This investigation is a case study of a public school district that opted to implement curricular change following an examination of the district's performance toward adequate yearly progress. This…

Exploiting a statewide cutoff point on the placement examination used to assign students to remedial courses in Tennessee, this study employs a regression discontinuity research design to provide causal estimates of the effects on student outcomes of recently redesigned remedial courses at three Tennessee colleges. Moreover, using data on student…

The study reported in this volume adds to the growing body of evaluation studies that focus on the use of NSF-funded Standards-based high school mathematics curricula. Most previous evaluations have studied the impact of field-test versions of a curriculum. Since these innovative curricula were so new at the time of many of these studies, students…

Compares the mathematics achievement of 8th graders in Missouri adopting standards-based middle grades mathematics curriculum materials (MATH Thematics or Connected Mathematics Project). Uses the mathematics portion of the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) to measure achievement. Discusses differences in achievement between students using…

This study evaluated the efficacy of a preschool mathematics program based on a comprehensive model of developing research-based software and print curricula. Building Blocks, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a curriculum development project focused on creating research-based, technology-enhanced mathematics materials for pre-K…

A tuition-free, vocational, English as a second language (ESL) program offered at a large community college suffers from high attrition as well as student dissatisfaction with curriculum. The purpose of this quasi-experimental, longitudinal study was to assess the effectiveness of a specific ESL curriculum supplement as an intervention to…

Presents the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project's (UCMSP) Every Day Mathematics Program as one current reform-based elementary curriculum incorporating geometry throughout the K-6 curriculum, with an emphasis on hands-on and problem-solving activities. Measures the longitudinal effects of such an approach. (Author/CCM)

The Incredible Years parent and classroom interventions were evaluated for the first time in elementary schools. Culturally diverse, socioeconomically disadvantaged schools were randomly assigned to intervention or control (CON). In intervention schools, all children received a 2-year classroom intervention beginning in kindergarten. In addition,…