Early Literacy and Math

The National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning (Accelerate) is funding intensive small-group tutoring at several K-12 schools during the 2024-25 academic year as part of its Call To Effective Action. YPL is serving as an evaluation partner to conduct a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of two tutoring models: virtual math tutoring for students in grades 3-6, and in-person literacy tutoring for students in grades K-3. YPL will use assessment data to help tutoring providers, schools, and policy-makers understand the impact of these tutoring programs on students’...

Many states (including Michigan) have instituted laws requiring support or retention for students who do not meet grade-level expectations in reading at the end of third grade. The Youth Policy Lab received funding from the American Education Research Association to look at the effects of North Carolina’s Read to Achieve law, which has been in place for the last decade. The analysis will look at medium term academic outcomes, and will focus on effects for English Language Learners, a growing population in North Carolina and elsewhere in the...

With support from the National Science Foundation, the Youth Policy Lab is partnering with colleagues at the University of Connecticut and Michigan State University to conduct a meta-analysis of Early Science Interventions over the past twenty years. This research will provide information about the features of science interventions that are most effective at improving teacher and student learning for young...

Alignment of academic content for grades PreK-3 is considered important among practitioners, policymakers, and educational researchers alike. However, surprisingly little is known about the extent to which alignment across grades, even within schools or districts, actually exists. Using classroom observations and curriculum analysis, we examined the alignment of three widely used elementary math curricula across grades PreK-3. While we found that content is generally aligned across grades, instructional environments and pedagogical practices may not be. Kindergarten in particular, may be...

With funding from the US Department of Education and Arnold Ventures, the Youth Policy Lab is partnering with MDRC to conduct an evaluation of the Reading Partners program. The three-arm randomized control trial will compare both the Reading Partners traditional in-person tutoring program and their online tutoring program called Reading Partners Connects to a business-as-usual control group. The evaluation will look at both the immediate (one-year) and longer-term (two-to-three year) impacts of Reading Partners tutoring on student reading...

High 5s is a small-group math enrichment program, developed at the University of Michigan with the help of MDRC and leading early childhood math experts Doug Clements and Julie Sarama. Participation in the program closed almost a fifth of the achievement gap between low-income children and their peers. Working closely with teachers and schools in Taylor, MI, and New York City, NY, we hope to adapt, expand and then evaluate a more integrated and scalable version of the High 5s...