Russell Gersten - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Russell Gersten

SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks, May 18, 2012

Teacher Education and Special Education, Oct 1, 2001

EJ639120 - Reflections on the Research to Practice Gap.

The contents of this document were developed under cooperative agreement S283B050034 with the U.S... more The contents of this document were developed under cooperative agreement S283B050034 with the U.S. Department of Education. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Editorial, design, and production services provides by RMC Research Corporation.

Exceptional Children, May 24, 2021

Using a randomized controlled trial, we examined the effect of a fractions intervention for stude... more Using a randomized controlled trial, we examined the effect of a fractions intervention for students experiencing mathematical difficulties in Grade 5. Students who were eligible for the study ( n = 205) were randomly assigned to intervention and comparison conditions, blocked by teacher. The intervention used systematic, explicit instruction and relied on linear representations (e.g., Cuisenaire Rods and number lines) to demonstrate key fractions concepts. Enhancing students’ mathematical explanations was also a focus. Results indicated that intervention students significantly outperformed students from the comparison condition on measures of fractions proficiency and understanding ( g = 0.66–0.78), number line estimation ( g = 0.80–1.08), fractions procedures ( g = 1.07), and explanation tasks ( g = 0.68–1.23). Findings suggest that interventions designed to include explicit instruction, along with consistent use of the number line and opportunities to explain reasoning, can promote students’ proficiency and understanding of fractions.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Aug 12, 2016

Magnitude understanding is critical for students to develop a deep understanding of fractions and... more Magnitude understanding is critical for students to develop a deep understanding of fractions and more advanced mathematics curriculum. The research reports in this special issue underscore magnitude understanding for fractions and emphasize number lines as both an assessment and an instructional tool. In this commentary, we discuss how number lines broaden the concept of fractions for students who are tied to the more general part-whole representations of area models. We also discuss how number lines, compared to other representations, are a superior and more mathematically correct way to explain fraction concepts.

Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, Nov 1, 2004

This study examined literacy instruction in 14 first-grade classrooms of English learners (ELs) i... more This study examined literacy instruction in 14 first-grade classrooms of English learners (ELs) in three schools in a large urban school district in southern California over a two-year period. Pre-and posttest measures of oral-reading fluency for 186 first graders, representing 11 native languages, were the outcome data. Reading-fluency data were examined in reference to ratings of literacy practices using the English Learners Classroom Observation Instrument (ELCOI). Results indicated a moderately strong correlation (r = 0.65) between ELCOI rating and gain in oral-reading fluency at the end of first grade. We report patterns of ELs who read below the oral-reading fluency benchmark thresholds and patterns of students who were ultimately labeled with learning disabilities. Instructional practices of teachers rated "high" and "low" are discussed. Educational implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Recommendation 3. Instruction during the intervention should be explicit and systematic. This inc... more Recommendation 3. Instruction during the intervention should be explicit and systematic. This includes providing models of proficient problem solving, verbalization of thought processes, guided practice, corrective feedback, and frequent cumulative review. 21 Recommendation 4. Interventions should include instruction on solving word problems that is based on common underlying structures. 26 Recommendation 5. Intervention materials should include opportunities for students to work with visual representations of mathematical ideas and interventionists should be proficient in the use of visual representations of mathematical ideas. Recommendation 6. Interventions at all grade levels should devote about 10 minutes in each session to building fluent retrieval of basic arithmetic facts. 37 Recommendation 7. Monitor the progress of students receiving supplemental instruction and other students who are at risk. Recommendation 8. Include motivational strategies in tier 2 and tier 3 interventions.

Remedial and Special Education, 2004

This article explores factors influencing the sustained use of Peer Assisted Learning Strategies ... more This article explores factors influencing the sustained use of Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) in math in one elementary school. General education teachers participating in research studies implemented PALS twice a week to the full class, including students both with and without disabilities. The authors examined whether teachers maintained their use of PALS after the research studies ended. They also studied how PALS was used in each classroom and assessed teachers' perceptions of its utility, their understanding of its underlying principles, and their reasons for continuing use. The continued use and fidelity of implementation remained extremely high several years after the original research projects ended. Factors influencing continued use include the high quality of professional development and support provided during the research project, the solid alignment of PALS with district and state mandates, the autonomy in teaching math that PALS allowed teachers on the days they were not using PALS, and the fact that the computer-based system for monitoring student progress allowed teachers to easily see improvement in their students' math proficiency.

Reading Research Quarterly, Oct 12, 2000

S tart Making a Reader Today (SMART) is a volun- teer tutoring program in Oregon to help kinder- ... more S tart Making a Reader Today (SMART) is a volun- teer tutoring program in Oregon to help kinder- garten through second grade students learn to read (www.mytownnet.com/projects/OR/smart/ smart.htm; Oregon Children’s ...

Exceptional Children, Oct 1, 2000

This article summarizes the critical findings of recent research syntheses funded by the Office o... more This article summarizes the critical findings of recent research syntheses funded by the Office of Special Education Programs and the National Center for Learning Disabilities. The syntheses examined research on higher-order processing and problem-solving, reading comprehension, written expression, and grouping practices associated with improved outcomes in reading for students with learning disabilities. Common principles of instruction are identified across the syntheses. These principles are summarized and illustrated with research-based exemplars of best practice.

Ericis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. C... more Ericis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. CI Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.

The Reading Teacher, 1994

Learning Disability Quarterly, Aug 1, 1986

Elementary School Journal, 1995

This article describes a longitudinal evaluation of 2 approaches to the education of language-min... more This article describes a longitudinal evaluation of 2 approaches to the education of language-minority students-transitional bilingual education and a new approach, bilingual immersion-in El Paso, Texas. Rationales for both programs are provided along with a brief description of the factors that led to the development of the bilingual immersion approach. Students' (N = 228) achievement on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills was traced from grades 4 through 7. Results indicated significant effects favoring bilingual immersion in language and reading in grades 4-6, but not in the seventh grade. Students taught with bilingual immersion entered the mainstream more rapidly, as designed. Questionnaire responses (N = 307) also indicated that teachers appeared to be much more satisfied with the rapid but systematic introduction of English in the bilingual immersion program than the relatively slow introduction in the transitional program. 60 students' reactions to the 2 programs in interviews were not significantly different on any variable. The current wave of immigrants to the United States, the largest in history (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1990), has had a profound effect on elementary education. The range of cultures and native languages represented among these immigrants poses major challenges to bilingual education programs across the country. Some of the recent immigrants-be they from Mexico, Central America, Cambodia, or other parts of Southeast Asia-have had little formal schooling (Foster, 1980; Kleinman & Daniel, 1981; Maingot, 1981; Marx, 1981). Teachers are thus often confronted with students not only new to English but with limited exposure to print materials at home (Teale, 1986). This limited exposure is likely to lead to subsequent academic problems unless instruction in the elementary grades is recon-224 THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL ceptualized (Goldenberg & Gallimore, 1991; Teale, 1986). Over the past 15 years, the field of bilingual education has grappled with the problem of how and when to introduce English-language instruction in school. Many early English as a Second Language (ESL) programs stressed grammar and usage in a decontextualized fashion. Over the past 10 years, ESL programs have emphasized more natural, conversational instructional methods (McLaughlin, 1985). Recently, ESL programs have begun to emphasize merging second-language instruction with reading, language arts, and content-area instruction. This has been stimulated by insights from research by Allen (1989), Au (1992), Barrera (1984), Chamot and O'Malley (1989), Elley and Mangubhai (1983), and Flores (1982). Many of these researchers have utilized contemporary approaches to literacy instruction as a basis for enhancing English language development. When researchers have integrated English-language instruction with contentarea instruction in subjects such as mathematics, science, and social studies, results have also been promising (Chamot & O'Malley, 1989). This emerging body of research has had a profound effect on the manner in which English is introduced to limited-English-proficient students. As much as the thinking in the field has advanced, evaluation of bilingual education programs continues to produce considerable debate and uncertainty (Lam, 1992; Meyer & Fienburg, 1992). There is still a good deal of argument, for example, about the other central question in bilingual education-when to introduce students to intensive English-language academic instruction (Crawford, 1989; McLaughlin, 1985). Some educators hoped that a recent federally supported, large-scale evaluation study of numerous school districts throughout the country conducted by Ramirez (1992) would resolve this issue. Unfortunately, the results were inconclusive. Ramirez (1992) attempted to determine the best time to move students into classes taught only in English. In some programs, virtually all instruction from first grade on was in English. In others, English-language instruction in academic subjects did not begin until the fourth or fifth grade. A third approach involved giving students almost all instruction in Spanish 1 year and all instruction in English the following year. These researchers' 5-year longitudinal evaluation involved a rich range of measures, including academic assessments in both English and Spanish and classroom observations documenting the language used for instruction. Among the three approaches evaluated, the only clear finding was that academic performance was significantly worse in the school district where students spent 1 year in the program that was virtually all Spanish and the next year received all instruction in English. The researchers concluded that this type of drastic transition from one language to another is likely to be highly problematic for students. Regrettably, we have found that this rapid transition occurs often in large urban districts (Gersten & Woodward, 1994). Discouraging and confusing as the lack of significant differences among programs may appear, such results have forced researchers to redefine research topics as well as to constrain and more clearly delineate the scope of bilingual investigation. In a recent, comprehensive review of bilingual research, Cziko (1992) noted that large-scale evaluations of bilingual education models will yield results of only limited interest. Even within a given model (e.g., transitional bilingual education, structured immersion), one is likely to find diverse instructional practices, especially in evaluations that encompass several school districts (Lam, 1992; Tikunoff, 1985). Still, a good deal could be learned from exploratory longitudinal research conducted within one district in which different instructional models and underlying philosophies are reasonably well defined. Al-JANUARY 1995 Rosslyn, VA: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. U.S. Department of Commerce. (1990). U.S. Census. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Wong-Fillmore, L., & Valadez, C. (1986). Teaching bilingual learners. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp.

Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, Feb 1, 2002

A solid, emerging research base exists to inform how we provide meaningful access to the general ... more A solid, emerging research base exists to inform how we provide meaningful access to the general education curriculum for students with learning disabilities (LD). For example, the presentation of challenging content to academically diverse learners can be demystified using content enhancement techniques. Additionally, a range of strategies can be taught to enhance reading comprehension and expressive writing abilities. Examples from several lines of research in comprehension and writing are used to highlight the underlying features of these empirically based approaches and to introduce the reader to the history of this expanding body of research.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Mar 1, 2003

This article presents research-based examples of effective instructional approaches for improving... more This article presents research-based examples of effective instructional approaches for improving the quality of the content of stories and essays written by students with learning disabilities. We also describe recent research on handwriting and spelling (transcription skills) and show how instruction in these areas affects overall writing quality. Examples of instructional approaches that improve writing quality are taken from experimental studies included in a recent meta-analysis by Gersten and Baker (2001) conducted on writing intervention research. A common goal in these studies was to teach students with learning disabilities how to organize writing tasks, generate ideas about the writing topics, and produce final written products that were coherent and organized. In this article, our goal is to illustrate how findings from these studies can be implemented in both general and special education settings. .. Links: Check Columbia Libraries for fulltext, ..

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Sep 1, 2000

EJ614660 - Factors Enhancing Sustained Use of Research-based Instructional Practices.

Elementary School Journal, 2001

The Elementary School Journal Volume 101, Number 3 ? 2001 by The University of Chicago. All right... more The Elementary School Journal Volume 101, Number 3 ? 2001 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0013-5984/2001 /10103-0001$02.00 A single, well-designed study is the hallmark of research in education. It can provide useful and important evidence to assist educators in decision making. However, over the past 40 years, a plethora of studies on selected topics (e.g., reading disabilities) has accumulated, often with what appear to be conflicting findings, so that many educators and scholars struggle to sort out essential conclusions. The individual educator is overwhelmed with scien-

Page 45. Chapter 2 The Professional Knowledge Base on Instructional Practices That Support Cognit... more Page 45. Chapter 2 The Professional Knowledge Base on Instructional Practices That Support Cognitive Growth for English-Language Learners Russell Gersten Scott Baker Eugene Research Institute In decrying the high levels ...