Evaluation of the REL West
Supporting Early Reading Comprehension through Teacher Study Groups
Toolkit
No
material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved
collection
No
Regular
11/21/2024
Requested
Previously Approved
06/30/2026
06/30/2026
6,012
6,012
1,255
1,255
0
0
The current authorization for the
Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) program is under the
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Part D, Section 174, (20
U.S.C. 9564), administered by the Department of Education,
Institute of Education Sciences (IES), National Center for
Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE). The central
mission and primary function of the RELs is to support applied
research and provide technical assistance to state and local
education agencies within their region (ESRA, Part D, section
174[f]). The REL program's goal is to partner with educators and
policymakers to conduct work that is change-oriented and supports
meaningful local, regional, or state decisions about education
policies, programs, and practices to improve outcomes for students.
Elementary-grade students in U.S. public schools continue to
struggle with reading comprehension, with only 35 percent of
4th-grade students performing at or above proficient on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores in
reading (Hussar et al., 2020). To address this problem in earlier
grades, when schools begin reading comprehension instruction, REL
West is developing a toolkit to support teachers in implementing
evidence-based instructional strategies to improve reading
comprehension among students in grades K–3. The toolkit is based on
the Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd
Grade IES practice guide (Shanahan et al., 2010) and is being
developed in collaboration with state and district partners in
Arizona. The toolkit contains the following three parts: 1) Initial
Diagnostic and On-going Monitoring Instruments, 2) Professional
Development Resources, and 3) Steps for Institutionalizing Supports
for Evidence-Based Practice. This study is designed to measure the
efficacy and implementation of the REL West-developed toolkit
designed to improve reading comprehension among students in grades
K–3. The toolkit evaluation team plans to conduct an independent
evaluation using a school-level, cluster randomized controlled
trial design to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the
school-based professional development resources included in the
toolkit. The evaluation will take place in 70 schools across six
districts in Arizona and focus on K–3 reading comprehension for all
students. The evaluation will also assess how teachers and
facilitators implement the toolkit to provide context for the
efficacy findings and guidance to improve the toolkit and its
future use. The toolkit evaluation will produce a report for
district and school leaders who are considering strategies to
improve reading comprehension in kindergarten through 3rd grade.
The report will be designed to help district and school leaders
decide whether and how to use the toolkit to help them implement
the practice guide recommendations.
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