REL Central study finds limited effects, mixed implementation of CASL

Denver —In a study released by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), researchers at the Central Region Educational Laboratory (REL Central) at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) found the Classroom Assessment for Student Learning (CASL) professional development program for teachers did not significantly increase 4th and 5th grade students’ achievement in mathematics but did have a positive, statistically significant impact on teachers’ knowledge of assessment.

CASL is a widely used professional development program in formative and classroom assessment published by the Assessment Training Institute of Pearson Education. The program is designed to be self-executing, without a coach or facilitator, and to be implemented by “teacher learning teams” which use textbooks and DVDs and meet regularly to discuss and reflect on the content of the program and share experiences.

The three-year randomized controlled trial involved 409 teachers and 9,596 students in 67 schools in 32 school districts in Colorado.

The study also found that many participating teachers did not complete the program as recommended by the developers. Most intervention teachers (67.18%) reported team experiences that met CASL developers’ criteria, such as developing operating principles and a common goal, but more than half reported not reading the CASL textbook. In addition, teachers reported spending, on average, 31.21 hours on CASL activities, as compared with the recommended 60 hours.

According to Steve Chappuis, vice president for the Pearson Assessment Training Institute, “Fidelity of implementation is critical to the success of any professional development initiative. We were disappointed by the small proportion of participating teachers who even partially read the CASL materials, as we believe this deficit significantly affected the program’s benefit to the fourth- and fifth-grade math students involved.”

Despite implementation shortfalls, Chappuis added, “We were pleased that the study revealed the positive impact on teachers’ knowledge of sound classroom assessment practice. The development of high levels of assessment literacy in this sense has always been our primary mission.”

To view the study, Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Impact on Elementary School Mathematics in the Central Region, visit http://www.ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?projectID=18.