Dr. Temple Lovelace, executive director of Assessment for Good, a program with the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund, and Dr. Susan Lyons, co-founder and executive director of Women in Measurement join The Future of Smart podcast. They are colleagues and leaders in the field of educational measurement, challenging fundamental assumptions that underpin how our dominant education system values, designs and uses assessments. Listen in for a conversation in which we explore why thinking differently about what and how we measure is critical to building human-centered systems of learning and education.
We continue our call to education practitioners, researchers, tech developers, and other changemakers immersed in education R&D to add their work to the ever growing map!
As research and development (R&D) in other sectors has produced improvements in our daily lives, most notably the development of COVID vaccines, an increasingly frequent question has been raised: what are we doing to develop similar capabilities within our Pre-K12 education system to ensure each student is on a path to fulfilling their greatest potential? We are still coming into our own as an education R&D field. One of the ways we can strengthen cohesion is by having greater visibility into what’s happening in the field.
This year, AERDF teamed up with a group of PreK-12 field leaders as advisors and The Starfish Institute to launch a participatory mapping process to develop a free, publicly accessible tool that will make it easier to find collaborators, avoid duplicative efforts, and bridge gaps across the field. But just like the field, it is still emerging.
If you are seeking to understand what works for groups of students and under what conditions, and working to build scalable solutions propelled by that learning – we want to hear from you!
Insights for the Education R&D Field
Embarking on this project included a discovery phase (consisting of interviews, a listening session, and a literature scan), launch of a survey inviting respondents to add themselves to the map, virtual convenings with our Ecosystem Mapping Council, creation of a draft map, and some sense-making and adjustments, all to get us to the map available today. Below are a few insights we want to share with the field:
- Involving educators, K-12 schools, and other practitioners will accelerate our progress, address a mismatch between research and classroom needs, and build trust. There are in many cases a disconnect between the problems researchers are trying to solve and the challenges facing students and teachers in classrooms. Not only is the research being conducted often not relevant, but findings are also not reaching schools in the time or format needed. Several map collaborators made an argument for bolstering ”demand” as a way to course correct incentives. Demand from teachers, caregivers, schools, and leaders at all levels for R&D that is relevant, timely, actionable, and context-specific is an important lever for shifting how the ecosystem operates. In future iterations of the ecosystem map, we want to expand the number of education practitioners who participate and see themselves as part of this community.
“There is a moment, speaking from personal experience, when you realize that all of these things – the whole R&D world – is something that you knew nothing about. That feeling may be the apex of distrust. Realizing that all of these things have been happening for so long and you didn’t know and you weren’t involved.” –Mapping collaborator
- We are at a unique moment of opportunity to develop a more cohesive ecosystem for the field of education R&D at a time of greater investments proposed and pushes for new innovations fueled by rigorous evidence and educator perspectives. The momentum for greater federal investment in education R&D (currently ~0.5% of total K-12 dollars) builds from efforts dating back more than ten years to scale advanced R&D as a way to set and reach “moonshot” ambitions. Historic federal investments are being made in our education systems looking to rebound from a COVID-19 pandemic that further widened existing opportunity and expectation gaps that disproportionately impact Black and Latino students, and students of all races experiencing poverty. Our education systems would be served well by accelerating the powerful capabilities of R&D in education as an engine of innovation to pursue our biggest ambitions while staying committed to equity and justice.
- Rather than a singular “quarterback” organization, the education R&D field needs a whole squad of organizations each with different expertise and responsibility moving in the same direction to address fragmentation in the field. Researchers, developers, and educators each operate in their own silos and lack a common language. In particular, we heard about the mismatch between who has data and who is best-positioned and trained to assess those data, which often results in inadequate tools or research lacking sufficient data sets. Another is the disagreement around what counts as “evidence-based” and the lack of consensus about outcomes for education R&D. The field would benefit from organizations that can facilitate peer org learning and matchmaking (a need expressed through the mapping process), resource-sharing, shared taxonomy, among other needs. Additionally, boundary agents or “people who help converge or unite divergent thinking and language of those on both sides of a boundary” would support breaking down silos and facilitating communication across different parts of the ecosystem.
This education R&D map gives us insight into where the field is working but also is a useful convening tool. The map shows us areas of overlap or “clusters” that we might not have been aware of and can be used to find and bring together potential collaborators. For example, if you are hosting a convening on Design Methods then you likely know the players in that space who should attend. Looking at the “Research, Design Methods, Data and Analytics” cluster, however, you may discover additional players who you would not have thought to invite who are working on Research and/or Data and Analytics and who would make valuable contributions to the convening.
What’s Next and How You Can Get Involved
We believe deeply in the power of collaboration and community to share and draw out new ideas. Here are some ways you can join us.
- Explore the map! If you’re eager to dig into more of our approach, have ideas to share, or are even working on another mapping of the education R&D ecosystem, we’d love to hear from you!
- Get on the map! To co-create our future even more robust iterations of the ecosystem map, we want to invite everyone working within education R&D to complete the survey. AERDF plans to analyze new responses and release an updated map in the future.
About AERDF:
Launched in 2021, AERDF is a national nonprofit research and development organization that builds ambitious, inclusive programs aimed at tackling persistent teaching and learning challenges that disproportionately affect Black and Latino students and students of all races experiencing poverty in grades Pre-K-12. AERDF currently runs three programs: EF+Math, Assessment for Good and Reading Reimagined. Each program builds on existing community-driven evidence and learning science to translate fundamental insights into more useful practices, equitable approaches and tools for educators and students.
At Reading Reimagined, we envision an American education system in which all students are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and beliefs necessary to be proficient readers, thus enabling them to advocate for themselves, their families, and their communities as they lead lives of limitless opportunity. Is it possible to eradicate illiteracy as a country? We believe we can do it by unlocking the great reader in every child.
Learning to read is a complicated undertaking, involving many different processes and skills. This includes decoding, vocabulary knowledge, inferencing, and much more. An existing research base provides important evidence for how students become strong readers, but too often that research is not translated into instructional materials. Moreover, important gaps remain in our understanding of how to best support students, especially our priority students, who have yet to achieve reading proficiency.
Despite significant effort and investment over the last decade, the American reading crisis is getting worse, not better. Currently, only one-third of American children demonstrate proficiency in reading. Our education system has fallen even further short for Black, Latino, and Native American students and students of all races experiencing poverty. It doesn’t have to be this way.
“Are we honoring student and teacher voices, honoring their perspectives, honoring the push back, honoring the expertise that they bring, in ways that are advancing and shifting a paradigm around product development?”
EF+Math Associate Director of Inclusive R&D Partnerships Adam Smith speaks with EF+Math Executive Leadership Council Member Maxim Vickerie, MS on how teams of educators, researchers, and product developers collaborate and co-design inventions that improve math learning through increasing executive functioning skills.
Both joined Megan A. Sumeracki for a conversation on equity-centered mathematics learning, executive function skills, and our Inclusive Research and Development approach during this episode of The Learning Scientist. EF+Math is one of three Inclusive R&D programs with AERDF.
Portland, Ore. — K-12 assessment and research organization NWEA released today results of a yearlong study examining the effectiveness of a reading fluency intervention targeting struggling middle school readers from historically marginalized populations or those living in poverty. The study was funded by the Reading Reimagined program of the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF, pronounced like air-diff), and provided a specific reading fluency protocol along with professional learning to sixth grade teachers in a large, urban U.S. school district in 2022-23.
The findings point to strong outcomes, including:
- Students who scored below the 50th percentile on the Capti Assess Reading Efficiency subtest demonstrated a statistically significant positive difference between the pre- and post-tests after experiencing the protocol.
- Teachers noted observing a positive impact from the protocol on students’ reading abilities, specifically for those students who previously performed below the grade-level expectations for reading.
“Reading fluency is essential for effective reading comprehension at any age, but it’s especially critical once students go from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn,” said Laura Hansen, Director of Academic Services at NWEA. “Unfortunately many students leave elementary school still not proficient in reading, and that creates a significant barrier to their ability to learn across subjects. Most middle and high school teachers are not trained in the teaching of foundational reading skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics) to address this problem.”
At the center of the study was a new, easy-to-implement protocol for secondary school teachers to use to help increase reading fluency of their students. What makes the protocol easy-to-implement is that teachers can use it with text from any subject matter and do not need any training in reading pedagogy. While the study focused on grade 6, the protocol is designed for use from grade six on. The protocol leveraged Repeated Reading, as well as language strategies at the word and sentence level, and student engagement via culturally relevant passages and goal setting. Most formal reading instruction ends once students leave elementary school, but national data show that almost 70% of eighth graders are not considered proficient in reading based on 2022 test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card. Having researched tools like the protocol featured in this study is a step forward in addressing the challenge of struggling readers past the elementary years, especially those from historically marginalized populations and/or those living in poverty.
“Reading Reimagined is urgently pursuing solutions for foundational literacy skill instruction for students in grades 3-8, who often still need, but rarely receive, ongoing direct instructional support to achieve lasting reading proficiency,” said Reading Reimagined’s Executive Director Rebecca Kockler. “NWEA’s fluency protocol is one of many tools that Reading Reimagined has already and will continue to make freely available to all educators seeking to support their students’ literacy development. We are excited to see it being used in classrooms across the country.”
Read the full report at https://www.nwea.org/resource-center/resource/increasing-fluency-in-middle-school-readers/
About NWEA
NWEA® (a division of HMH) is a mission-driven organization that supports students and educators in more than 146 countries through research, assessment solutions, policy and advocacy services, professional learning and school improvement services that fight for equity, drive classroom impact and push for systemic change in our educational communities. Visit NWEA.org to learn more about how we’re partnering with educators to help all kids learn.
About AERDF
Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (“AERDF” pronounced air-diff) is a national nonprofit R & D organization launched in 2021.
AERDF builds ambitious, inclusive three to five year programs with educators, researchers and developers, aimed at tackling major and persistent teaching and learning challenges that disproportionately affect Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty in grades PreK-12.
Each AERDF program builds on existing community-driven evidence and expertise as well as learning science to translate fundamental insights into usable knowledge, useful practices, equitable approaches and transformative tools for education practitioners and students. EF+Math was launched successfully by Dr. Melina Uncapher in 2019, and served as a demonstration program that tested the core theory of action that helped launch AERDF, which has since launched two additional programs in 2021 — Assessment for Good and Reading Reimagined. Additional programs are also under consideration, for this year and beyond.
FOR AERDF Contact: Yasmene Mumby, Communications Director, ymumby@aerdf.org
“We want innovation to happen at the edge of what’s possible…we’re aiming for not just statistically significant, but transformative outcomes.” Compelling words from our CEO Auditi Chakravarty in the EdWeek Market Brief article that includes our tri-sector R&D approach and focus on co-designing leading edge teaching and learning solutions with educators, researchers, and developers.
Read on to learn how several other education CEOs weigh in and describe their organizations’ internal and external sources of inspiration.
Oakland, CA: The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) today announced the release of an insights report from its demonstration program, EF+Math, which suggests early signs of promise to improve mathematics learning for its priority populations, Black and Latinx students, and students of all races experiencing poverty. The insights are released as school systems across the country are seeking evidence and equity-driven pathways to support all students in reaching their full potential, especially on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Launched in 2019, EF+Math aims to help every student to know their innate abilities, know how to use them to take control of their own learning, and be given every opportunity to learn rigorous mathematics. EF+Math’s portfolio of ten R&D teams were brought together through the program’s Inclusive Research and Development (R&D) model, which places an intentional focus on equity throughout the process and centers educators and students as crucial partners from the start, working alongside researchers and developers throughout cycles of design and research. EF+Math points to partnership from its district partners, education leadership council (ELC) and R&D teams as essential to the program’s maturation.
Portfolio teams are currently in the third year of a five year Inclusive R&D cycle to design, build, pilot, and evaluate mathematics learning approaches and new research tools for students in grades 3-8. In EF+Math’s process, students are advancing their conceptual understanding and multi-step problem solving skills, building their identities as mathematical thinkers, and strengthening their executive function (EF) skills. EF skills are core capacities that allow individuals to manage their attention, thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
“We’re seeing evidence that suggests our model is leading to promising, implementable math approaches and new research tools that can improve math learning and EF skills. Early findings suggest the approaches our teams have developed are also supporting students in developing their identity as individuals who are capable of learning and making sense of mathematics, as well as their sense of belonging in math classrooms,” said Aubrey Francisco, EF+Math’s Executive Director. “While we are still early in our journey, I’m proud of the progress our community has made in both creating prototypes that can have that impact on students and shift influential individuals and organizations’ behaviors and actions to be more asset-based and equity-centered.”
“The initial vision for EF+Math began with a compelling research base rooted in learning science. The research reveals that the development of EF skills could be a promising core lever that can benefit students from lower income households more than those from higher income households. In other words, it could be an untapped approach to amplify the math brilliance in students who have been least served by the system,” said Dr. Melina Uncapher, founder of EF+Math and AERDF’s Chief of Research and Development. “What was most novel in this Inclusive R&D model we were pioneering was applying rapid cycle R&D in co-leadership with the research, education and developer sectors, which have traditionally operated in silos – all to produce new solutions that could make a difference in the lives of students.”
EF+Math’s progress contributes to the development of an AERDF organization that is now a place to prototype promising research-based innovations to identify the few that will transform PreK-12. EF+Math was launched just six months into a global pandemic, which heightened a need for the program to build a foundation of deep trust, respect and support given the trauma many members within its 200+community were experiencing.
“EF+Math’s approach is helping to bridge the learning gap that has long existed. Reading EF+Math’s Insights Report further demonstrates how this innovative approach is aiding in shifting mathematical thinking from traditional to a 21st century style learning,” said Pedro Rodriguez, a middle school math teacher with the New York City Department of Education and a member of EF+Math’s Educator Leadership Council. “EF+Math has helped to cement my own core beliefs on students’ education. Through council and co-design meetings, I now feel better prepared to champion these conversations to local leaders in NYC, especially in the Harlem and Washington Heights area.”
Luis Torres, a lead math teacher from Santa Ana, California added, “EF+Math is a truly holistic and inclusive approach that positions educators and students at the center of the design process. We are taking everything into consideration to ensure all students are able to have positive mathematical identities and design equitable and rigorous math tasks to support our most vulnerable students. It has helped students with their math identity and removes additional barriers. We implement adaptable executive function skills and strategies that meet the needs of my diverse students.”
EF+Math Report Insights
After many iterations of R&D in co-leadership with educators and students, EF+Math project teams have developed novel mathematics learning approaches and begun testing their scientific hypotheses about the relationship between EF and mathematics through pilot studies in classrooms across the country. Below are insights from the work as a whole portfolio based on teams’ early results. See the full report here.
- EF+Math approaches show promise for improving student learning.
- When educators and students are involved at every stage of the R&D process, learning approaches are more relevant to the classroom.
- Student mathematics learning outcomes are improved when executive function skills are strengthened alongside positive student beliefs.
- Effectively building students’ executive function skills during mathematics learning requires new instructional strategies, tools, and assessments.
- New student-centered tools and assessments emerge when diverse teams focus on designing for equity.
- Centering equity from the beginning leads to mindset shifts and a culture of equity and inclusion throughout the process.
These insights are intended to inspire researchers, educators and developers in their own work and to consider joining EF+Math as partners in its next phase of work or as part of a larger community shifting to Inclusive R&D processes.
EF+Math will share information about a webinar it plans to host soon that will engage education researchers, math educators, product developers and others interested in learning more about the report’s findings and their application for classrooms today. Sign up here to stay informed of EF+Math updates and updates about initiatives across AERDF.
About EF+Math and the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF)
EF+Math is an advanced Inclusive R&D program that supports teams of educators, researchers, and developers to co-create rigorous math learning approaches that improve learning outcomes and affirm the brilliance of Black and Latinx students and students experiencing poverty. EF+Math was launched in 2019, and serves as a demonstration program for AERDF. AERDF is a national nonprofit R&D organization launched in 2021 that builds ambitious, inclusive three to five year programs with education practitioners, researchers and developers, aimed at tackling major and persistent teaching and learning challenges that disproportionately affect Black and Latino students and students of all races experiencing poverty in grades Pre-K-12. Each program builds on existing community-driven evidence and expertise as well as learning science to translate fundamental insights into usable knowledge, useful practices, equitable approaches and transformative tools for education practitioners and students. AERDF produced two additional programs in 2021 – Assessment for Good and Reading Reimagined. Additional programs are also under consideration, for this year and beyond.
Contact Information:
Advanced Education Research
and Development Fund (AERDF)
Marvin Smith
msmith@aerdf.org
Release Date:
March 30, 2023
Oakland, CA: The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) today announced that Auditi Chakravarty will assume the role of CEO, starting on April 3, 2023. Chakravarty succeeds founding CEO Stacey Childress, who steered the successful transition from a demonstration program at NewSchools Venture Fund in 2019 to a standalone nonprofit research and development (R&D) organization launched in July 2021.
Chakravarty joins AERDF in the midst of rising national momentum for greater adoption of education R&D as our education systems seek to make gains following the Covid-19 pandemic. A recent $40M allocation to the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and a proposal of $45M in new funds to IES contained within President Biden’s FY2024 budget are signs of increasing attention on this emerging field. Speaking to Chakravarty as a leader for this time, AERDF Board Co-chair and Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Jim Shelton said “Auditi’s deep expertise in leading ambitious education innovation will add an important perspective to the national discussion on how to utilize advanced education R&D, as other sectors have, to imagine and build expeditiously toward optimal learning experiences for our students.”
“Auditi’s leadership in the education innovation field will be pivotal in elevating our ‘inclusive R&D’ model as an engine of innovation serving our priority students,” says Dr. Melina Uncapher, chief of research and development at AERDF and founder of its demonstration program EF+Math.
As a former educator and leader who fiercely embraces academic potential in students of all identities and abilities, Chakravarty has built successful products and services that have reached classrooms across the country. From her time as a high-school English teacher to most recently as Senior Vice President of Learning and Assessment at College Board, Chakravarty knows the impact well-designed instruction and assessment can have in the classroom and on students’ lives.
She has built and launched instructional programs in senior roles at Kaplan and subsequently within College Board’s AP, Springboard, and Pre-AP programs, where her focus was driving AP access and readiness. She holds a BA in English and a master’s degree in education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
As AERDF approaches two years since its launch, Chakravarty is excited by what she sees as the organization’s unique strength – breaking down the silos between the research, education and product development sectors to identify and collectively build toward teaching and learning solutions that improve student well-being and academic outcomes. Chakravarty shared “as legions of advocates work together to shape the future of education R&D, I am excited about a role for AERDF to orchestrate stronger collaboration, efficiency and momentum, driven in part by ongoing learning within our Inclusive R&D programs.”
Chakravarty knows that education R&D, at its core, is about identifying rigorous research-based levers that show us what works for our nation’s students and from that learning, building new products and programs that meet the needs of students and educators. “Auditi has deep experience with and respect for the role of a robust research agenda within an iterative, inclusively-led and rapid cycle R&D environment like we have at AERDF,” said AERDF Board Co-chair and President of the Spencer Foundation Dr. Na’ilah Nasir. “I’m confident her leadership will help serve as a bridge for the too-often siloed communities of researchers, PreK-12 practitioners and product and program developers.”
Chakravarty is eager to step up at this moment of opportunity. Her first priorities are a listening orientation within the AERDF community, focused learning on the biggest opportunities and challenges within AERDF and across the sector, and continuing the commitment to create learning environments for all children to thrive, particularly Black and Latino students and students of all races experiencing poverty, who have been historically and systematically excluded from equal opportunity in education.
“Recruiting a long-term CEO has always been the plan, following what was a successful incubation and launch under the NewSchools umbrella,” said Founding CEO Stacey Childress, who transitioned out of AERDF in December. “I’m thrilled for what Auditi’s leadership means for the organization’s next chapter and I look forward to supporting a smooth transition.”
Chakravarty will join the AERDF team on April 3 and soon begin dialogue with organizational allies and sector leaders whose experience and perspectives are critical to AERDF’s success in the ecosystem. Join AERDF’s Community Garden to stay informed of the organization’s ongoing work and to engage with topics of interest.
About the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF): AERDF is a national nonprofit R&D organization launched in 2021 that builds ambitious, inclusive three to five year programs with education practitioners, researchers and developers, aimed at tackling major and persistent teaching and learning challenges that disproportionately affect Black and Latino students and students of all races experiencing poverty in grades Pre-K-12. Each program builds on existing community-driven evidence and expertise as well as learning science to translate fundamental insights into usable knowledge, useful practices, equitable approaches and transformative tools for education practitioners and students. EF+Math was launched successfully by Dr. Melina Uncapher in 2019, and served as a demonstration program that tested the core theory of action that helped launch AERDF, which has since produced two additional programs in 2021 – Assessment for Good and Reading Reimagined. Additional programs are also under consideration, for this year and beyond.
Often, when older elementary school students can’t read, it’s because they’re having trouble with a foundational skill, said Brandy Nelson, the academic director for the Reading Reimagined program at the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund.
“What is probably happening is the student has a decoding challenge,” she said.
Read on to learn what school systems need to do to support older students who have reading difficulties.