WestEd staff will present at the 2020 California Educational Research Association (CERA) 99th Annual Conference, held on November 17 through November 18.
The conference will focus on the work of California educators to ensure all students have the opportunity to learn and achieve at the highest level. This year, the conference highlights innovative ways California’s educators and researchers have been working together to address educational equity throughout the state.
Check out our schedule below.
Tuesday, November 17
Title: Automated Estimation of Foundational Reading Skills from Recorded Passage Read-Alouds
Authors: Jared Bernstein, Masanori Suzuki, Jian Cheng, Yang Chuming, Dennis Ciancio, Daniel Brenner
Time & Location: 2:25 pm – 3:05 pm, Virtual Session 2 – Room 5
In grades 1-3, reading level is often benchmarked in fall, winter, and spring with an oral reading fluency (ORF) assessment. Benchmark results below grade-level may be followed by additional diagnostic tests to identify foundational skill deficits. However, the students’ performances during the benchmark passage read-alouds already contain rich information from which teachers and reading specialists can often infer a profile of likely reading difficulties to guide instruction. If similar diagnostic information can be automatically extracted from the benchmark read-alouds, applications of that technology could be significant time-savers for teachers and students.
In this session, presenters will discuss an ongoing study that aims to address which reading skills can reading specialists reliably estimate from passage read-alouds; if an automated system, in turn, reliably predict the specialists’ judgments; and how well can passage-based estimates predict concurrent diagnostic reading test output. The presentation will describe the materials, methods, and human judgment results, along with initial machine-learning processes and cross-validation results.
Wednesday, November 18
Title: Instructional Materials and English Learners: Here’s What Teachers Say
Authors: Elizabeth Burr, Eric Crane, Ryan Lewis
Time & Location: 10:40 am – 11:20 am, Virtual Session 4 – Room 2
In this presentation, the presenters will share analyses of the 2019 American Instructional Resources Survey (AIRS), part of the RAND Corporation’s American Teacher Panel (ATP) survey of California teachers. The presenters will discuss the extent to which teachers believe their materials are suitable, culturally relevant, and need to be modified for their English learner students. This information can help inform the provision of targeted professional learning opportunities and differentiated supports that meet the needs of schools, teachers, and learners across the Golden State. The presentation will include information about the California Analysis for Learning and Engagement (CALE) project at WestEd, under which this work was completed.
Title: Completing Reading and Homework Outside of Class: Challenges and Opportunities in Light of COVID-19
Authors: Anne Porterfield, Norman Unrau, Anthony Fong, Lisa Benham-Lewis
Time & Location: 10:40 am – 11:20 am, Virtual Session 4 – Room 8
In the second year of a three-year Investing in Innovation (i3) Validation study, survey data from 275 11th and 12th grade English teachers revealed a common challenge: getting students to complete reading and homework outside of class. This study examines teachers’ tendencies to assign reading and homework and perceptions of why students do and do not complete work outside of class. It then builds on the current body of research regarding factors that support homework completion. This presentation will explore how often 11th and 12th grade English teachers assigned reading and homework to be completed outside of class, and reflect on and discuss challenges and opportunities related to reading and homework completion.