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School Design Research Studies

School Design Research Studies

ExCEL (Excellence in Character Education) Research Study

The Excellence in Character Education (ExCEL) addresses the following questions: What does it take to help students become ethical people? Do EL Education students have more opportunities to develop as ethical people? Do they develop stronger ethical character? New research finds EL Education students experience more care and purpose.

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Mathematica School Design Study

In 2013, independent research firm Mathematica Policy Research found that after three years, EL Education middle school students perform ten months better in math and seven months better in reading than their counterparts in other schools.


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UMDI Study: School Design Impact in Rochester, NY

An independent analysis performed by the UMASS Donahue Institute (UMDI) in 2011 found that EL Education schools “are making significant, substantial and sustained progress toward closing city-wide achievement gaps” for populations of underserved students.

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UMDI Study: School Design Model Closes Achievement Gaps

An independent analysis performed by the UMASS Donahue Institute (UMDI) in 2011 found that EL Education schools “are making significant, substantial and sustained progress toward closing city-wide achievement gaps” for populations of underserved students.

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Curriculum Connections Cohort

22 Colorado schools partnered with EL Education to implement, expand and innovate on EL Education’s K-5 Language Arts Curriculum. With support from the Bloomberg Foundation, schools engaged in four regional cohorts to implement the ELA curriculum, and translate curriculum modules into authentic, locally relevant expeditions through an improvement science approach.

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Building Equitable Learning Environments Project - Equity through Crew

Six EL Education network schools engaged in a 3-year action research project examining how crew can be an engine for equity. This project, funded by the Raikes Foundation, employed a mixed methods continuous improvement approach to identifying how and under what conditions crew best supports all students’ sense of belonging in school, identity formation, and habits of character.

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