data.ed.gov

"The DSTP is a partnership between the Bay State Reading Institute(BSRI) and 12 high-needs low-performing Massachusetts elementary schools. The DSTP will implement whole-school transformation that improves student gains through the assessment, analysis and use of student achievement data. In addition, the DSTP will conduct a rigorous controlled study which examines the relationship between student achievement, the implementation of data-driven continuous improvement strategies, and the interventions used by BSRI Turnaround Coaches to help schools transform their practice. This experimental study will make explicit for purposes of replication and scaling the competencies required of successful data-driven literacy-centered turnaround coaches and the organizations that support them.

Students in the twelve DSTP schools are 63% low-income, 49% non-white, and 25% ELL. 55% of the third grade students in these schools scored below proficient on the 2009 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) English Language Arts test; 12 percentage points below the MA state average of 57%. Early reading difficulty is a strong predictor of poor academic achievement in later grades, as well as behavior and emotional problems, referrals to special education, lower high school graduation rates, higher incarceration rates, and a limited ability to contribute to the 21st century economy.

Through the DSTP, more than 6,800 students will improve their literacy by 20% each year as measured by a net percent at benchmark on DIBELS assessments. 12 schools will transform into data-driven continuous improvement schools and BSRI will be poised to scale up to serve ever-greater numbers of schools seeking effective turnaround partnership."

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