News & Events

The study examined the impact of Project STAR (Sit Together and Read) on literacy skills of preschool students. Project STAR is a program in which teachers read books aloud to their students and use instructional techniques designed to encourage children to pay attention to print within storybooks. The study is a randomized controlled trial that did not provide sufficient information to determine attrition or baseline equivalence of the analytic samples. A more thorough review (forthcoming) will determine whether this study may meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations.

The LeTUS program is a three-year, project-based, technology-integrated middle school science curriculum for grades 6-8. No studies of the LeTUS program identified by the WWC meet WWC evidence standards. The WWC is unable to draw any conclusions based on research about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the program on middle school students.

ARIES: Exploring Motion and Forces is a physical science curriculum for students in grades 5-8 that employs 18 inquiry-centered, hands-on lessons called "explorations." Based on its review of the research, the WWC found the program to have no discernible effects on general science achievement for middle school students.

TEEMSS is a physical science curriculum for grades 3–8 that involves the investigation of real-world phenomena. Based on its review of the research, the WWC found TEEMSS to have potentially positive effects on general science achievement for elementary school students.

The WWC's report on PALS includes reviews of 34 new studies. PALS are peer-tutoring programs that supplement the primary reading curriculum for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Based on the studies that meet WWC standards, the WWC found PALS to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics, no discernible effects on fluency, and mixed effects on comprehension for beginning readers.