Mosaic II: A Longitudinal Investigation of the Effects of Systemic Reform on Student Achievement

Rand Corporation, Santa Monica CA

Investigators

Abstract

9986612 KLEIN This project builds on the earlier funded Mosaic Study and proposes to maintain the focus that relates instructional practice to student achievement in mathematics and science programs, but extends the research in several ways. 1. The project will focus primarily on middle school classrooms. 2. It will follow students over a three-year period to permit longitudinal analyses of the relationships between achievement and instructional practice. 3. Measures of teaching practices will be expanded to include interviews, classroom observations, inspection of artifacts, etc. This will allow exploration of teacher content knowledge and broader aspects of the systemic initiatives that are directly related to teaching and learning. 4. The project will involve a closer examination of student achievement by exploring the degree to which selected assessment subscores are or are not sensitive to the reforms. 5. Three to five sites will be identified for participation in the study. 6. The new analytic techniques developed by this project will be useful to researchers and practitioners as they evaluate future programs.