July-August 2021 Newsletter
2021 Hedges Lecture: Are We There Yet? Reflections on 35 Years of Statistical Journeys into the Science of Reading, Language, Learning and Education
Lecturer: David Francis, Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics, Department of Psychology, University of Houston
The SREE 2021 Hedges Lecture will be held Monday, September 27th, at 5:30pm, in Arlington, Virginia, as part of SREE’s 2021 conference. The lecture will be livestreamed for virtual conference attendees.
This talk examines the important role that statistical models have played over the last thirty-five years in advancing our understanding about the development of reading and language and the related concepts of reading and language disabilities. Advances in developmental models and more recently the integration of psychometric and statistical models and their rapid incorporation into computer software have pushed the science of reading in ways unimaginable just 35 years ago. This integration carries tremendous explanatory power for substantive, developmental sciences like reading and language, but also for the science of learning and the field of education more generally. At the same time, trends in computational science and the emergence of Data Science have begun to focus attention on machine based learning and statistical prediction and away from theoretical explanation. Whether the next thirty-five years will advance understanding of reading and language development and associated problems, or only their prediction is unclear, but perhaps no more so than the potential roles of assistive and adaptive technologies in eradicating the individual and societal problems associated with reading and language disabilities, or even the role of written language itself in the next millennium.
Learn more and register for the conference here.
Summer 2021 Fellowships are Underway
The SREE fellows are in the process of completing important research for their respective funding organizations. Final presentations will be conducted in September and executive summaries will be shared on the SREE website. There will be a fellowship session at the SREE 2021 Conference where conference attendees will have the opportunity to hear brief summaries from SREE's 2020 and 2021 fellows on their work.
The Fellowship session will take place on Tuesday, September 28th. Check the website for the time and more information as it is released.
Institutional Member Corner - RAND | American Educator Panels
Attending the SREE Conference in September? Come see us (or login) to learn more about the RAND American Educator Panels (AEP) and how the panels might help your research project.
- RAND is providing a workshop about the AEP at SREE! The workshop is on September 26, 2021, from 11:00am - 3:00pm in Arlington, VA for both remote and in-person attendees. We hope you’ll come!
Recent findings from the AEP:
- Urban and Rural Districts Showed a Strong Divide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Only 17 percent of urban districts, compared with 42 percent of rural districts, were offering fully in-person instruction to students as of February 2021. Suburban districts fell in between at 27 percent.
- Divergent and Inequitable Teaching and Learning Pathways During (and Perhaps Beyond) the Pandemic: Schools that were fully remote for most of the year tended to serve higher percentages of students of color and low-income students, as well as more students who were below grade level at the start of the year. Teachers in fully remote schools reported less instructional time and less curriculum coverage—on average—than their in-person peers. At the same time, principals and teachers in schools that have been mostly remote tended to be more open about the possibility of remote instruction in future years.
If you are interested in gathering nationally representative survey responses from K-12 public school principals, teachers, or districts, consider using the RAND American Educator Panels.
The AEP consist of three nationally representative samples of educators who provide their feedback on important issues of educational policy and practice. They are the American Teacher Panel, the American School Leader Panel, and the American School District Panel.
The Panels use high-quality probability-based methods that allow you to generalize results to the national population of educators. The American Teacher Panel also affords the opportunity to gather state-representative survey data from teachers in 28 states.
Visit the AEP website www.rand.org/aep for recent findings, access the AEP Data Portal, our informational brochures and more information on working with us. You can also contact us directly at: [email protected]
Institutional Member Corner - The American Institutes for Research
The American Institutes for Research® (AIR®) recently launched the Methods of Synthesis and Integration Center (MOSAIC). The center supports projects that synthesize evidence across multiple studies to inform stakeholders and create evidence-based solutions in education, health, international development, social welfare, and the workforce. At MOSAIC, leading experts in evidence synthesis methodology work to develop state-of-the-art synthesis tools. AIR’s Martyna Citkowicz, Laura Michaelson, David Miller, Josh Polanin, and Ryan Williams lead the center.
Earlier this year, MOSAIC researchers, “sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences,” completed the largest systematic review and meta-analysis of mathematics intervention effects to date. AIR shared the results of the project, including the underlying data, through an interactive web tool that enables users to “build their own” meta-analysis.
The tool summarizes results from more than 200 mathematics intervention studies from the last 25 years and presents the results through a host of analytics and visuals.
To learn more, visit the MOSAIC website at mosaic.air.org.
Institutional Member Corner - MDRC
 MDRC is seeking a Postsecondary Education Senior Research Associate to lead multiple interdisciplinary research teams on policy issues, including institutional reform, comprehensive student services, financial aid, and developmental education interventions. At its core, this is a position with a strong emphasis on research expertise in racial and social equity. The ideal candidate will bring experience in postsecondary education programs and research, alongside expertise in applying a racial equity lens and strong analytical, communication, management, and organizational skills. Key qualifications include 7-10 years relevant leadership and development experience in applied postsecondary education research and field-based research projects focused on racial and social equity. Ph.D. in education, economics, psychology, sociology, policy analysis, or another social science preferred.
Click the link below to see the details of the position:
https://phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=MDRC&cws=40&rid=809
Institutional Member Corner - The Wallace Foundation
Research Open Call: The Wallace Foundation’s new Five-Year, $53 Million Initiative Focused on Arts Organizations of Color
The Wallace Foundation has launched a new initiative in the arts with an open call for eligible researchers and organizations. The initiative will be an exploration of the question:
Facing strategic challenges, how do arts organizations of color leverage their experience and histories of community orientation to sustain their relevance and increase their resilience?
The Wallace Foundation will support a cohort of 10-12 arts organizations of color that, in their second decade or more of existence, are grappling with strategic challenges to their founding organizational model or context. The research will document strength-based approaches to navigating these strategic challenges and explore the ways in which community-oriented approaches contribute to relevance and resilience.
Community-Orientation Study RFP: https://t.co/XP1ZdyINdh
Letters of intent due: August 20, 2021
Full proposals due: October 4, 2021
Letters of intent should contain the email address of the lead researcher or team who want to receive subsequent information, such as FAQs, related to the call. Letters of intent are not necessary for submission of a proposal, although they are strongly encouraged to ensure communication of important follow up information.
Over the next year, Wallace will share additional research opportunities tied to the initiative, which will include:
-Ethnographies of the histories and organizational cultures to be conducted during 2022-23 by early-career Research Fellows selected and sponsored by the Social Science Research Council.
-A set of field-initiated landscape studies, documenting important aspects of the state of the field (RFP by early 2022).
-A set of research-practice partnerships between arts organizations or networks and early-career scholars of color to explore issues of mutual importance to research and practice (RFP in 2022).
-A research study relevant to a second cohort of smaller arts organizations of color, to be developed collaboratively with that cohort (RFP likely by 2023).
To receive information about future research opportunities, please email [email protected].
Thank you to our current 2021 sponsors!
PLATINUM
American Institutes of Research
Wallace Foundation
SILVER
Ascendium
William Penn Foundation
Arnold Ventures
WestEd
BRONZE
NWEA
William T. Grant Foundation
On the Job Market? Check the SREE Job Board!
New jobs have been posted. Check them out at Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Careers.
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Senior Evaluation Researcher
Center for Optimized Student Support - Boston College - Chestnut Hill, MA
Full-time
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Posted: Aug 13, 2021
Application Deadline: Sep 17, 2021
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Senior Researcher
Center for Optimized Student Support - Boston College - Chestnut Hill, MA
Full-time
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Posted: Aug 13, 2021
Application Deadline: Sep 17, 2021
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Learning and Impact Officer
Ascendium Education Group, Inc. - Madison, WI
Full-time
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Posted: Aug 12, 2021
Application Deadline: Oct 11, 2021
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Assistant Professor
University of Chicago - Chicago, IL
Full-time
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Posted: Jul 30, 2021
Application Deadline: N/A
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Rob Greenwald Memorial Service
Dear SREE Community,
We will be having a memorial service for Rob in Chicago on the morning of Sunday, October 10, 2021. Additional and specific details will be sent to you in the coming weeks. We hope that you will attend.
Please share your contact information via the Google Form link below. Your information will be used only for memorial-related communication.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1o9YI4X2hUdTcuJv-s7H3Vw0VWFVGCJ2_eFf2eeXVtC8/edit?ts=610ee365
Please feel free to share this "reserve the date" notice with others who may be interested in attending.
Sincerely,
Barry Greenwald
[email protected]
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