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Responding to an Illinois law that took effect in 2010, the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), Chicago Public Schools (CPS) created and implemented the REACH (Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago's Students) educator evaluation and support system. REACH was piloted in 2012-13. It is still being implemented as of the 2019-20 school year and will continue to be implemented through June 2024, per the teachers' contract agreed upon in fall 2019. The evaluation system includes classroom observation ratings of teacher practice, as well as up to two student growth measures. This brief addresses the research question: What are teachers' and administrators' perceptions and opinions of REACH after five years of implementation? It draws from teacher and administrator survey reports of whether REACH influenced instructional change and student learning, the intended end goals of the policy. This brief is part of a series of three to extend previous research from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (UChicago Consortium) on early REACH implementation and the REACH evaluation system five years after the 2012-13 rollout. [For "Teacher Evaluation in CPS: What Makes Evaluator Feedback Useful? Research Brief," see ED608091. For "Teacher Evaluation in CPS: REACH Ratings and Teacher Mobility. Research Brief," see ED608092.]

Opened in fall 2009, YOUmedia attracts high schoolaged teens who want a safe and welcoming place to hang out and socialize, as well as those with established or nascent interests in both digital and traditional media. With the guidance of staff and the synergy of peer involvement, participants discover and pursue their interests through both collaborative and solitary activities, such as blogging, writing and sharing poetry, playing and reviewing electronic games, producing music and videos, and participating in book clubs. Special events open the door for youth to collaborate with and learn from recognized artists, authors, and experts. YOUmedia is being replicated in 30 learning laboratories across the country. This study, the first of its kind to explore teens' and adults' on-the-ground experiences in the flagship program, focuses on activities from 2010-12. It answers key questions about YOUmedia that can help inform the design of similar initiatives and more general efforts to engage students in learning through the use of technology and student-centered activities. This study: (1) Illuminates how the design of YOUmedia shapes youth participation; (2) Describes the teens that YOUmedia serves, their patterns of participation, and the activities in which they engage; (3) Provides examples of the benefits youth perceive from their participation; (4) Characterizes the roles adults play in engaging teens and the ways programmatic choices have shifted; (5) Offers suggestions for organizations intending to launch similar initiatives; and (6) Illustrates how YOUmedia instantiates elements of the emerging Connected Learning Model. Three appendixes are included: (1) Data Collection Activities and Research Methods; (2) Travel Patterns of Teens; and (3) Supplementary Tables and Graphs.

This paper provides a description and evaluation of the Ethnic Heritage Learning Resource Center, a program designed to provide a concentrated and personalized enrichment program of instruction to children showing severe reading deficiencies. Approximately 1,200 fourth and fifth graders drawn from eight schools in New York City participated. The Center used special ethnic materials, special procedures, and para-professionals. Each of the eight schools sent its own selected students to the center at least three times a week for a full day. There, the children learned about African or Hispanic culture and participated in reading related activities. Program evaluation consisted of a site visit conducted at the end of the project period, and of an examination of documents related to program implementation. Although the first evaluation objective called for a 100% sample of all 1200 children in the program, complete pre and post test scores of only 64 children were supplied from one of the eight schools involved. Findings indicate that the 64 children surveyed showed substantial reading growth over the course of the academic year. Even if the figures were more representative of the population, there is no clear proof that this growth is due to the program alone. (Author/AM)

This report provides a description and evaluation of two school programs in New York City. The programs are English as a Second language at P.S. 152, and the Early Identification Program at P.S. 139. Both were planned with the participation of the principal, the parents, and the school district staff. The first program was designed to supplement regular instruction in English and reading for children who could not speak English fluently. An ESL teacher provided instruction to these children. The teacher used the audio-lingual method 45 minutes a day in small group sessions with the students. The program at P.S. 139 was designed to prevent reading retardation by early identification of reading problems in children from grades one and two. Students in this program were selected on the basis of their reading readiness scores in grade one, or their primer or grade one reading scores in grade two. Two paraprofessionals worked with forty first and second grade students under the supervision of a regular reading teacher. A diagnosis of the reading skills needed by each student was made by the coordinating teacher. She then prescribed individual programs to be carried out by the paraprofessionals. This program supplemented regular classroom instruction in reading. Twenty seven first and second graders participated in the program. Findings indicate that all the students enrolled in the program at P.S. 152 did not show substantial gain in their ability to communicate in English as measured by the Language Assessment Battery. First grade children at P.S. 139 made substantial gains when treated on an individual basis. (Author/AM)

The Reading Improvement Through Marine Environment Exploration Project involved five classes of fifth grade students from three schools in Staten Island, New York. It was funded under the Elementary Secondary Education Act, Title I. The classes were selected by principals and teachers from the respective schools on the basis of students' educational deficiencies related to reading. A total of 105 students participated in this two month program. It involved utilization of the resources of the Gateway National Park. The rationale for the program was that content related reading skills could be improved through actual investigative manipulative activities in a natural environment. It was predicted that this kind of activity would be supportive of reading and writing exercises. The program concentrated on three selected skills for reading in the content area: (1) fact, fiction, and opinion, (2) classification, and (3) construction and interpretation of graphs. Activities designed for students included: mapping the area they were working in, collecting material from the beach, studying wild life, and planting and raising flora indigenous to the shore area. An analysis of the subtest scores for each of the three SRA Reading Diagnostic "Probe" Tests concerned with fact and opinion, classification, and graphs, indicated significant differences between pre and post measures, even within the short time span and three times a week schedule of the program. (Author/AM)