New regional education research laboratory to help improve learning

New regional education research laboratory to help improve learning

University Park, Pa. -- School teachers, principals, superintendents, parents and state education agencies in the Mid-Atlantic will be able to quickly take advantage of the latest research in education and find solutions to their questions about learning, thanks to a new partnership of public universities and private businesses funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

The five core partners are Penn State University, led by its College of Education; Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, led by its Graduate School of Education; Caliber Associates, a DC consulting firm experienced in supporting large government initiatives; the Metiri Group, a California-based consulting group expert in the evaluation of technology-based educational innovations; and Analytica, a consulting group that designs and conducts large-scale research studies. Synergy Enterprises Inc. and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development will assist in dissemination efforts.

The five-year contract of more than $29 million, engages the team to serve as a Regional Education Laboratory for Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. There are 10 such federally funded laboratories in the United States.

"We will help educators answer their very real questions about how to improve student learning by locating relevant research that already exists, and by conducting experimental research to answer important questions for which the research does not exist," says Kyle Peck, the lab's director and associate dean in Penn State's College of Education. "The needs felt in schools will drive our research, and we'll focus on providing quick, high-quality responses, when the questions can be answered through existing research."

"There is an urgency we share with school communities in our region," explains Dr. Richard De Lisi, dean of the Graduate School Of Education at Rutgers. "We are committed to this new partnership to identify, investigate, and disseminate effective strategies and practices that will ultimately give all students the opportunity to succeed and achieve at higher levels in the classroom."

Dr. David Monk, dean of the College of Education at Penn State, notes, "Penn State and Rutgers both have long, very successful histories of effective outreach to the schools. This contract will take advantage of our connections and experience, and allow us to extend our service to educators. It will also allow us to use new technologies in innovative ways, drawing on the great strength of Penn State's video and audio production studios, as we produce new products such as "podcasts," "video briefs," and other forms of media that can be used by teachers and principals in meetings, or even while driving to and from work."

The plan calls for a team of "laboratory extension specialists" living throughout the region to gather questions directly from teachers and administrators and relay their priorities and needs to the researchers. State coordinators will also work with state education officials to ensure that schools can implement new curriculum guidelines or standards easily. Lab personnel will coordinate their efforts with the regional comprehensive centers already established by the U.S. Department of Education to assist individual school districts.

An understanding of rural communities and schools is a key component of the Lab's plan. More than 603,000 students, nearly 15 percent of the total in the Mid-Atlantic region, attend rural public schools. In Pennsylvania, the figure comprises 25 percent of all students. Penn State and Rutgers both have experts and experience in serving rural schools, and this project will enhance the impact of their work. This partnership is also well prepared to address the issues facing urban schools, as Rutgers, Penn State, and Caliber Associates will have experienced personnel connecting the Lab to the region's metropolitan areas.

The first of the Lab's two priorities is to provide technical assistance to educators to help them improve student achievement. Lab researchers will review the existing research on a need expressed by schools in the region and give them a summary of findings fairly quickly.

For example, suppose a school district approaches the Lab about their problem developing reading skills, and explains that English is a second language for most of their students and that most students who start the school year there will be gone and replaced by other students before the year is over. Participating faculty members with expertise in relevant areas will quickly review the existing literature and will provide the teachers and principals with reports and training on approaches proven to be effective in other schools with similar problems.

Another priority will be designing and conducting large-scale research studies of learning practices with promise but little or no scientific evidence of success.

"Historically, educational research has involved small groups in one or two locations. Because our studies will involve several hundred students in perhaps dozens of schools across the region, our results will allow us to predict the effects we might expect across the diverse schools in the region. This approach is similar to a clinical trial that might be used in medical research," says Dr. Peck.

One example will be the use of authentic assignments in mathematics, science and reading comprehension at the high school level. More than a decade of work has sought ways to re-engage high school students, and the results in small studies are promising. The Lab's researchers will study teachers and students in Algebra I classes in 50 classrooms in 25 schools to determine whether teachers who develop more rigorous and real-life assignments do, in fact, successfully engage student interest and improve students' learning.

At Penn State, the project will include more than 20 faculty from the Colleges of Education and Health and Human Development, including faculty from the Beaver and Harrisburg campuses and at the Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies near Philadelphia.