Year 2 Evaluation of the Los Angeles Unified School District Literacy Initiative

• In Event: 14.025 - Continuity and Success? Second- and Third-Year Findings for Three Districts' Approaches to Data-Based Literacy Instruction

Abstract

This presentation will focus on the second year evaluation of the Early Literacy Academy initiative in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). In year one, LAUSD rolled out the initiative in grades K-1. In 2013-14, LAUSD expanded to grades K-3. LAUSD theorizes that their program components will result in student achievement gains:

1.Change to school infrastructure as teachers instruct in multi-grade groupings at students’ level of instructional need, with flexibility for students to move between groupings, teachers and classrooms.

2.Response to Instruction framework as a guiding structure for meeting students’ literacy needs.

3.Implementation of Common Core State Standards

4.Professional Learning Communities guided by instructional coaches as the model for reflective practice and instructional planning.

5.In addition, the initiative uses technology (i.e., iPads) to enhance instruction and teacher networking.

While we will focus on findings from year two (see list below), we will use similar year one data as a point of comparison:

--Data Source 2013-14--
*Principal Interviews: 6 interviews, 2x year
*Project Managers Interviews: 2 interviews, 2x year
*Coaches Interviews: 5 interviews, 2x year
*Teacher Surveys: 91 and 102 surveys . 2x year
*Teacher Focus Groups: 12 groups, 1x year
*Teacher Technology Use Logs: 2 weeks, 2x year (~1170 hours)
*Coach logs: ongoing (~5900 hours)
*DIBELS Achievement Data: All K-3 students, 3x year


First, we will discuss implementation of the initiative in year two. Interview and focus group data (coded using qualitative methodologies and Nvivo software) reflect perceptions about the initiative and how components were implemented with expansion additional grade levels. Frequency data from the coach and technology logs will be presented. Second, we will discuss achievement results after the second year. Analysis involves an interrupted time series design examining findings from intervention and matched comparison schools. Year 1 achievement data showed better outcomes for intervention schools, especially for kindergarten. Year 2 findings are unavailable in July 2014 but will be included in the presentation.

This presentation will highlight important literacy instructional issues with an emphasis on LAUSD’s unique approach of changing school infrastructure and the integration of using iPads as a classroom resource (Levy, 2011). Although the technology component was created and implemented prior to the LAUSD 1:1 iPad initiative, it now operates within the broader whole district-adopted program; we will discuss how these overlapping initiatives changed technology implementation.

Preliminary implementation findings include several key points: Data showed that, like last year, new teachers were initially overwhelmed by the demands of teaching in flexible and small-grouping structure. However, over the year, especially as teachers saw student response, there was increased buy in and teachers’ proficiency in data use. In the second year, transition among administrators in some schools disrupted continuity in implementation from the first year. There are some perceptions that the initiative may be better suited for the younger grades (K-1).

Authors

• Katie V. Drummond, American Institutes for Research

• Melissa Arellanes, American Institutes for Research

• Emily Baumann, American Institutes for Research

• Feng Liu, American Institutes for Research