PORTFOLIO OF WORK
All of our projects share in common a clear focus on applied research and technical assistance that reflects equity and diversity issues within schools. You may choose to view our full portfolio of work alphabetically, or view a selection by topic area.
This project provides targeted support to the Rhode Island Department of Education related to the implementation of the statewide 21st CCLC program. Working in partnership with the National Community Education Association, we are providing training and support for the adoption of the Continuous Improvement Process for Afterschool (CIPAS) by twenty grant-funded project sites across the state.
The Foundation for Educational Administration (FEA) in partnership with the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of the 3 R's Educational Leadership Project.
The Adolescent Literacy Collaboratory is a year-long, job-embedded professional learning experience for middle school and high school teachers of math, science, social studies, and English/language arts. The Collaboratory combines an initial face-to-face institute with year-long online learning activities.
Web site: /Collaboratory
In collaboration with the Center for Inquiry on Secondary Education (CISE) in Maine and the Center for Resource Management (CRM), The Education Alliance produced research-based resources that provide guidelines for planning, implementing, and sustaining adolescent literacy initiatives at the secondary level, and provided professional development that applied effective secondary literacy classroom practices in the subject areas.
ARISE is a Brown University program funded by the National Institutes of Health through its Science Education Partnership Awards program. ARISE is designed to engage students in inquiry-based approaches to learning about science, bring cutting-edge research into the classroom, and improve the understanding of the relevance of science to everyday life. The Education Alliance’s evaluation design for this program includes components to examine critical outcomes of the ARISE program, which are both developmental and performance driven in nature.
The Information Technology and Society Research Group at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA contracted with The Education Alliance to evaluate its year-one implementation of the Building Information Technology Skills (bITS) program, funded by the National Science Foundation's ITEST grant. bITS shared ITEST's overall goal to increase the number of students from under-represented populations pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The Career Ladder Program has provided assistance to prospective teachers to pursue studies to become certified as teachers who are credentialed to teach English Language Learners in Rhode Island schools. The program has focused on participants from Southeast Asian and Latino communities. Participants have attended classes at RI colleges and universities, including the Community College of RI (CCRI), RI College (RIC), Providence College (PC), University of RI (URI), and Brown University.
The CAMR program is part of Brown University’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and is funded under the National Science Foundation’s MRSEC grant program. CAMR has the objective of fostering inter-disciplinary research through education and outreach. In collaboration with CAMR faculty, The Education Alliance is investigating two components of the outreach activities: BrownOut and Research Experience for Teachers (RET).
The Education Alliance conducted an applied research project on the design and evaluation of online seminars to allow in-depth learning about topics in elementary mathematics education. The project targeted teachers using Investigations in Number, Data and Space, a K-12 mathematics curriculum, and focused on issues of curriculum implementation.
The Alliance provided technical assistance to the Bridgeport Public Schools to develop and pilot a Classical Studies Academy. The program included a study of the arts and classics in a setting that is conducive to mastery of literacy and numeracy, and it served as a model to provide innovative learning opportunities for elementary students in low-performing schools.
The Education Alliance has convened a group of deans, superintendents, and principals to address the low rate of minority participation in the teaching profession. This consortium of six leading colleges and universities that prepare teachers in the Northeast, plus 3 principals and 3 superintendents, has created an innovative program aimed at lowering the barriers to entry by individuals of color into the education profession. This consortium is called the Collaborative Alliance Network (CAN).
With support from a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, The Education Alliance developed a research-based set of supports, strategies and processes to build and support collective leadership capacity, sponsor and foster cross-stakeholder problem-solving, and mobilize and facilitate collaborative learning. Known as the CSR Support and Capacity Building Program, the primary mission of our work was to support State Education Agencies and Districts in their efforts to significantly impact district and school improvement. With this as our mission, we engaged in a multitude of activities with several states and districts along the Eastern Seaboard.
Web site: /projects/csrqi
The departments of education in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut and New York City contracted individually with The Education Alliance to conduct evaluations of the implementation of each state's Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program.
The Development and Dissemination Schools Initiative was a five-year project of the New York City Board of Education's Office of English Language Learners and The Education Alliance at Brown University. Its goal was to help New York's English language learners (ELLs) acquire both English language and other skills and knowledge they needed to meet the New Standards that the Chancellor had established for all students in New York City.
The Education Alliance, in collaboration with New York City's Council of School Administrators (CSA) developed a model for mentoring new urban school principals utilizing specially-trained retired urban mentor principals. The program presented new perspectives on the role of the principal as leader through current research and literature, as well as through practical strategies and applications that foster and promote improved student learning.
As part of our work helping schools and districts review and improve their programs for ELLs, The Education Alliance offers a research-based Self-Assessment Tool. This tool allows school and district leaders to reflect on current policies, practices, areas of need, and future goals for improving the education of ELLs, and helps to clarify how the work can best be done.
The Hartford Public School District contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct a formative evaluation of the district's bilingual education, English as a second language and language transition support services programs.
The East Hartford and West Hartford Public School Districts contracted individually with the Education Alliance to conduct formative evaluations of their programs for English language learners.
The Rhode Island Department of Education contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of its Graduation by Proficiency (GBP) Initiative. The GBP Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was a project dedicated to the development of a critical component of Rhode Island's diploma system.
GET City is a youth-based program implemented by Michigan State University’s Colleges of Education and Engineering. The program is funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) grant program. A two-year, year-round program, GET City supports youth in learning to use advanced information technology skills to identify, investigate, and model solutions to urban energy problems at the Lansing Boys and Girls Club. The Education Alliance is conducting an evaluation study which will examine implementation challenges and successes as an ongoing investigation of program activities.
The Education Alliance provided professional development funded by the HELP Coalition to teachers in the Providence School District in the form of coursework, training, and classroom consultation. Established in 1994 by six private, not-for-profit hospitals and four private, independent colleges and universities (including Brown) located in Providence, HELP strategically developed partnerships to enhance its member organizations’ programs focused on the well-being of children and families in Providence.
The United States Department of Education contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of the implementation of six widely used comprehensive school reform models and changes in teacher practice and student performance in 90 predominantly low-performing schools across the eastern United States.
The International Charter School (ICS) of Pawtucket, RI contracted with The Education Alliance to help the school's governors determine the feasibility of offering middle school instruction and to answer some questions related to the existing program.
Introduction to Second Language Learning and Teaching: A Massachusetts Department of Education Training Module
The Education Alliance collaborated with the Massachusetts Department of Education (MADOE) to produce a professional development curriculum, Introduction to Second Language Learning and Teaching, that builds teachers’ knowledge of second language acquisition and culture. This curriculum fulfills the first set of requirements for MADOE’s recommended professional development for teachers of ELLs, known as Category 1.
The Knowledge Loom is an award-winning collection of best practices, narratives, and resources for school improvement. The Loom addresses topics of national interest such as improving literacy across the content areas, leadership structures, high school restructuring, and effective models of using technology in education. A companion guidebook, Using the Knowledge Loom: Ideas and Tools for Collaborative Professional Development, is a how-to resource of activities that uses The Knowledge Loom Web site content and online interactive tools to guide improved teaching and learning.
Web site: http://knowledgeloom.org
The goal of this descriptive research project was to help education leaders in the Northeast at state, intermediary, district, and school levels to work together to implement evidence-based strategies that build district and school capacity, sustain high standards, and improve student achievement in low performing schools.
Our Leading with Diversity (LWD) Professional Development Curriculum explores the cultural competencies—i.e., the skills and awareness related to issues such as culture, language, race, and ethnicity—that educators need to work with students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
American Education Solutions and The Education Alliance have partnered to conduct evaluations of the quality and effectiveness of federally funded Magnet School Assistance Programs (MSAP) for over eight years. Evaluations conducted through this partnership target educational opportunities designed to benefit 45,000 minority students in multiple diverse school districts from New York to Florida.
The purpose of this project was to conduct Maine’s State CSRD Evaluation. The evaluation design involved site visits over three years to all CSRD grantee schools and intensive consultation with Maine state department of education officials involved with state implementation and support for the CSRD program.
The Education Alliance and Brown University's Department of Portuguese & Brazilian Studies jointly offered advanced degrees in English as a second language and cross-cultural studies for candidates with a Bachelor's Degree and a teaching certificate. The program incorporated second language acquisition research, culturally responsive pedagogy, and practical experiences to build the candidate's foundational knowledge.
Microsoft's Partners in Learning (PiL) contracted with The Education Alliance and a partner to conduct an evaluation of the state of information and communications technology in education in the thirteen reporting countries, and the varying prevalence of different types of PiL activities.
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has an obligation to report to the public regarding the state of educational improvement in public high schools. The Education Alliance has an interest in gathering important information about how high schools in the region are changing their pedagogy to allow all students to achieve to high standards.
The Rhode Island Writing Project, a program at Rhode Island College, contracted with The Education Alliance to evaluate the "New Approaches to Reading and Writing in the Secondary Content Areas" Project. Funded for four years by the Rhode Island Office of Higher Education, the Project engaged teachers from middle and high schools in Woonsocket, Providence, Warwick and North Providence, RI.
The New England Compact (NEC) contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct evaluations of the process and outcome components of NEC's two Enhanced Assessment Instruments (EAI) grants funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
The New England Comprehensive Center (NECC) is one of 16 regional comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support state education agencies in fulfilling the promises of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Headquartered at RMC Research Corporation of Portsmouth, NH, NECC is a partnership that has included the Alliance (2005-2010), Education Development Center, and Learning Innovations at WestEd.
Web site: http://necomprehensivecenter.org
The New England Equity Assistance Center (NEEAC) helps states, districts, and public schools plan and implement policies and practices that promote access to high-quality education for all students. One of ten regional centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, NEEAC provides training and technical assistance on educational issues related to race, gender, and national origin.
Web site: http://neeac.alliance.brown.edu
The New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC) is one of 16 regional comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support state education agencies in fulfilling the promises of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Headquartered in New York City under the leadership of RMC Research, NYCC is a partnership that has included the Alliance (2005-2010), Education Development Center, Learning Innovations at WestEd, and the United Federation of Teachers' Teacher Center. The mission of the NYCC is to develop the capacity of the New York State Education Department and its networks and agencies to assist districts and schools in improving achievement outcomes for all students.
Web site: http://nycomprehensivecenter.org
The Education Alliance served from 1995-2005 as the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory, under contract to the U.S. Department of Education. Many of the projects and publications available through this web site had their origins in work done under the two consecutive cycles of this contract.
The Northeast and the Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium (NEIRTEC) focused on helping educational leaders at the state, district, and school levels put technology to effective use in schools, placing particular emphasis on the needs of schools in underserved urban and rural communities. It was a collaboration of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), TERC, Learning Innovations at WestEd, and The Education Alliance at Brown University. It was one of the ten regional technology in education consortia funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Northeast Superintendents’ Leadership Council is a network for superintendents, driven by superintendents. The superintendent plays a key role in promoting and effecting system-wide change related to student academic achievement and instruction. The Council is comprised of leaders from New England, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, and provides a place where leaders can move beyond theory and discuss reform issues in an experiential realm.
The Education Alliance is conducting an evaluation of The Coaching Cycle: An Interactive Online Course for Mathematics Coaches, awarded to EDC through the NSF Discovery Research program for the training and support of instructional coaching in K-8 mathematics. The goal of the project is to deepen coaches’ understanding of selected mathematical topics that are frequently problematic in K-8 instruction, while providing participants an opportunity to learn and practice content-based coaching skills in a collegial online community.
New York City school districts identified for corrective action contracted with Learning Point Associates (LPA) in partnership with The Education Alliance to conduct curriculum audits in order to identify how districts have delineated, interpreted, aligned and articulated New York state standards and written district curricula in English language arts and/or math. The Education Alliance audits focused on English language learner instruction, as part of this comprehensive district audit process.
Partnerships and Research Investigations by Mathematicians and Educators to Improve Mathematics Instruction (PRIMETIME): Evaluation
The Rhode Island Department of Education contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an external evaluation of its implementation of the PRIMETIME program, which provides training, curricular support and higher education coaches to work with middle and secondary school teachers throughout the state.
PRIMES is a three-year, federally funded Math Science Partnership (MSP) program of the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE). The goals of the PRIMES program are to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science by enhancing the content knowledge and instructional skills of classroom teachers. Partnership between high-need school districts and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty in institutions of higher education are at the core of these improvement efforts. The evaluation study of PRIMES, conducted by The Education Alliance, examines the implementation and impact of the program at each of three selected school districts.
Hezel Associates subcontracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of PBS's online teacher development program, TeacherLine.
"Student-centered learning" describes a style of teaching and learning where the environment, curriculum, and instruction focus primarily on helping students achieve success. Understanding how to build and sustain student-centered learning environments at the high school level is crucial to the long-term goal of improving high schools. The purpose of the Personalized Learning Project was to capture and disseminate procedural knowledge about how schools can become student-centered, and to articulate the process required to create and sustain personalized learning as the guiding norm of high schools.
In partnership with Hezel Associates, The Education Alliance conducted primary data collection for a formative evaluation of Rhode Island’s implementation of the Physics First program. The Physics First program reorders the traditional high school science curriculum sequence to begin with the teaching of physics in the ninth grade, followed by chemistry and biology in the tenth and eleventh grades.
Portraits of Success was designed to recognize examples of outstanding bilingual education programs throughout the country. Based on criteria drawn from research in the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and school improvement, a database that identified and disseminated the characteristics and outcomes of successful bilingual programs was created. Project work has been completed and is available through the archived web site.
Web site: /pubs/pos
The Principals’ Leadership Network (PLN) was formed to conduct action research on developing solutions to the problems faced by today's K-12 principals. The network has supported collegial relationships, guided professional growth, and fostered collaboration among principals. The key benefit of the program has been the sharing of ideas and best practices through regular meetings, workshops, and forums, and linking members with similar needs.
With funding from the Carnegie Foundation to the Providence School District, The Education Alliance has worked with the Providence district administration to assist district high schools in redesigning into small learning communities. An Education Alliance facilitator/coach worked with administrators and teacher based teams at each school on developing plans for the redesign of each school into smaller learning communities (SLC).
Ready to Learn Providence (R2LP) contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of its professional development intervention.
Ready to Learn Providence (R2LP) contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an initial evaluation of R2LP's work. R2LP is an initiative to improve the early learning opportunities for all children in Providence, RI while specifically focusing on the eight linguistically and culturally diverse neighborhoods exhibiting the greatest need.
The Rhode Island Teaching and Learning Center (RITLC) contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of the center's goals and activities.
The Education Alliance is leading evaluation efforts to assess the Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Sciences (RITES) program, a major statewide initiative focused on improving middle and high school science and mathematics education. In a $12.5 million award from the National Science Foundation Math & Science Partnership, the RITES program builds on extant initiatives across the state focused on inquiry-based science through a rollout of professional development, online resources, research-based content and partnered support. The evaluation design for the RITES program includes quasi-experimental approaches as well as qualitative data collection to continuously inform program staff on all aspects of program implementation and improvement efforts.
The Massachusetts Safe Schools Initiative (SSI) was a project sponsored by former Attorney General Tom Reilly from June 2005 to January 2007. The SSI was an innovative, statewide collaboration of over 50 organizational and individual partners (including the New England Equity Assistance Center at The Education Alliance) committed to providing tools, such as comprehensive policies, technical assistance to district leadership teams, and professional development to school staff on issues surrounding safe school climates.
With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Education Alliance worked with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to enhance the statewide assessment system with a process for high school students to demonstrate proficiently what they know and can do. It seeks to ensure that every student leaving RI public schools be prepared for college and work.
Web site: http://www.ride.ri.gov/HighSchoolReform/DSLAT
The Education Alliance has provided technical assistance in implementing the recommendations of the Breaking Ranks process to transform high schools. Through site-based coaches, this project has provided professional development to staff of high-poverty, low-performing secondary schools. The aim has been to support schools in changing their structures, cultures, and instructional content to increase student academic achievement, attendance, and high school graduation rates.
The Pemberton Township High School (Pemberton, NJ), Newton North and South High Schools (Newton, MA), Peabody Veterans Memorial High School (Peabody, MA), Uniondale High School (Uniondale, NY) and the Clear Creek Independent School District (League City, TX) contracted individually with The Education Alliance to conduct external program evaluations of the impact and implementations of their Smaller Learning Communities initiatives (SLC), funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Education Alliance, with the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) program of the U. S. Department of Education, works to implement small school strategies in large high schools and within school districts. This is part of a federal initiative focused on personalizing high schools.
This project was a multi-site research project aimed at understanding how teachers who belong to study groups use on-line information and communication to build knowledge and support each other's work, improve instruction for diverse learners, and sustain the group for continued professional growth. This project built on findings from a previous research project on implementing standards in culturally diverse schools, and it used products developed by that project.
The Springfield and Chicopee, MA school districts contracted with The Education Alliance to assess the impact on student achievement of the U.S. Department of Education's Striving Readers program, using a randomized control trial in five high schools. The objective is to test the effectiveness of Read 180 developed by Scholastic, Inc. and Xtreme Reading, part of the Content Literacy Continuum developed by the University of Kansas for high school students who are reading at least two years below grade level.
This study systematically investigated the process and effects of high school restructuring in low-performing high schools that are implementing three central elements of systemic reform: high standards for all students, smaller and more personalized learning environments, and effective use of data to support continuous improvement.
Support for Professional Learning focuses on developing tools and strategies for professional learning and addressing regional issues related to the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. Our development work aims to provide high-quality opportunities for professional development in key content areas, such as adolescent literacy, elementary mathematics, and early foreign language study, with a focus on creating effective technology-based environments to support professional learning.
The Teacher’s Guide to Diversity Workshops present a professional development curriculum designed to build knowledge and skills that will enable teachers to respond constructively to the diversity in our schools and society. The curriculum is based on current research from several disciplines and engages participants with activities and opportunities for reflection to deepen their understanding of diversity issues in education.
School districts in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York along with the Southeastern Massachusetts Teaching American History Consortium, contracted individually with The Education Alliance to conduct evaluations of their Teaching American History programs.
The Education Alliance develops and identifies research-based practices at both the classroom and systemic level that promote high achievement for linguistically and culturally diverse students. We assist in preparing high-quality teachers who are responsive to the needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) in order to achieve No Child Left Behind's goal of having ELLs meet the same challenging standards required of all students, These research reviews were created as one component of our national leadership focus as the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory (2000-2005).
The "Teaching Diverse Learners" Web site is a resource for teachers working with culturally diverse populations, especially English language learners (ELLs). Sections on teaching and learning strategies, assessment, policy, families and communities, and grant opportunities provide information and guidelines for advancing the education of all students. This site was developed as one component of our national leadership focus as the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory (2000-2005).
Web site: /tdl
The Education Alliance and the Bridgeport (CT) public schools worked together to develop a blueprint for planning and implementing school leadership teams that would work to improve student performance at the school level. The initiative reflected a shift from a rigid, top-down bureaucratic structure to a strong, school-based governance model. School leadership teams (SLTs) made up of the principal, teachers, families, community representatives, and students (where appropriate) were empowered to develop, implement and monitor school improvement plans to drive education reform in each school.
The Holyoke Public School District (Holyoke, MA) contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of the Transient Opportunity Program, focusing on its first year of operation dedicated to providing services for highly mobile middle school students.
Through funding from the National Science Foundation, Brown University has established research fellowships for six undergraduates to conduct summer research beginning in 2008. The award is part of an ongoing effort to train undergraduate students in modern research techniques at the intersection of mathematics and the life sciences. UMB faculty and The Education Alliance have designed an evaluation to provide formative program feedback to ensure the success of students in the fellowship program.
Voices from the Field was an online periodical produced from the Fall of 1999 through the Spring of 2002. The purpose of this free publication was to present issues from the perspectives of teachers experiencing change, challenges, and growth as education reform took shape. It was fully written and edited by public school teachers in the region.
Web site: /pubs/voices
Johns Hopkins University contracted with The Education Alliance to evaluate the implementation and impact of the "What is Engineering?" course in two sites associated with the MESA (Math, Engineering and Science Achievement) program.
- All Projects
- Assessment & Standards
- Community & Family
- Curriculum & Instruction
- Equity & Diversity
- Leadership
- Literacy
- Professional Development
- Rural Schools
- School Reform
- STEM*
- Technology
- Urban Schools
*Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics
