Effects of 3 Interventions on Student Achievement

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) recently reviewed the research on three interventions designed to improve student academic achievement. Two interventions—Web-Based Intelligent Tutoring for the Structure Strategy and Word Generation—aim to improve literacy skills by providing supplemental instruction and practice. The third, the eMINTS Comprehensive Program, aims to improve student achievement by helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. The results are summarized in three intervention reports. Web-Based Intelligent Tutoring for the Structure Strategy (ITSS) ITSS is a supplemental web-based program for students in kindergarten to grade 8. It is designed to develop literacy skills needed to understand factual texts encountered in school and everyday life. The program teaches students how to follow the logical structure of factual text and to use text structure to improve understanding and recall. Students use the program twice a week for about 30 minutes per session for up to one year. Students typically use ITSSduring class to supplement the English language arts curriculum. The WWC found that implementing ITSS is likely to increase reading comprehension in grades 4 to 7. The WWC based its conclusion on its review of two studies of the effectiveness of ITSS that met WWC group design standards. The studies included over 3,000 students and examined the effects of ITSS in suburban and rural school districts. The ITSS report is available here. Word Generation Word Generation is a supplemental program that aims to improve reading comprehension by building vocabulary, academic language, and perspective-taking skills through classroom discussion and debate. The intervention consists of a series of interdisciplinary units with daily lessons focused on high-interest topics to increase student engagement. Each unit emphasizes a small number of academic vocabulary words that are integrated into texts, activities, writing tasks, debates, and discussions across content areas. Different versions of Word Generation are available for use in English language arts, math, science, and social studies in grades 4 to 8. The WWC’s review of the research on Word Generation focused only on its effects for English learners. The WWC found that implementing Word Generation may result in little or no change in the reading comprehension and English language proficiency of English learners in grades 4 to 7. One study of the effectiveness of Word Generation for English learners met WWC group design standards. The study examined the effects of Word Generation for 241 English learners in urban, suburban, and small-town school districts. The Word Generation report is available here. The eMINTS Comprehensive Program The eMINTS Comprehensive Program aims to help teachers improve their practice and student outcomes by offering two years of structured professional development, coaching, and support for integrating technology into the classroom. The program’s goals include supporting teachers in using classroom technology to implement high-quality, inquiry-based learning, in which students develop understanding and knowledge of content matter by engaging in meaningful investigations that require reasoning, judgement, and decision making. The intervention can provide support to teachers in any subject area, including math, literacy, and science. The WWC found that implementing eMINTS may increase math achievement in grades 4 to 8 and may result in little or no change in literacy achievement in grades 4 to 8. The WWC based this conclusion on its review of two studies of the effectiveness of eMINTS that met WWC group design standards. The studies examined the effects of eMINTS for more than 3,000 students in one state and included schools in rural areas. The eMINTS report is available here. To see other WWC reports, visit whatworks.ed.gov and check your inbox for more updates and new releases throughout the year. For the latest WWC news, follow the WWC on Twitterand Facebook