Evaluating Project VITAL

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To submit the form electronically, click on the top button. Click on the bottom button to download a hard copy of the form.
Hard copy:
Fax to: 315.422.3513
Mail to:
Hezel Associates 1201 E.Fayette St. Syracuse, NY 13210 Attn: WNET Partipation Agreement
Email to: Bryan@hezel.com
Read about NYSED's support of VITAL's impact study (PDF)
Read WNET/Thirteen's press release of VITAL (PDF)

What is VITAL?

VITAL, which stands for ‘video in teaching and learning’, offers teachers in New York State video-based instructional materials that align with the State’s standards and core curricula to target students’ particular learning needs in Math and ELA, whether remediation or enrichment. Funded through the US Department of Education's Ready to Teach program, PBS Channel Thirteen/WNET will deliver VITAL to public school teachers by embedding the instructional resources in a State supported and endorsed reporting tool, the Grow Reports. When used together, Grow with VITAL has the potential to help teachers monitor and adjust their instruction to reflect the specific learning needs of each student as identified by state assessments.

How does the study work?

The goal of the research is to determine whether and how instructional practice and student achievement are impacted by teachers’ use of the VITAL materials. This study will test the efficacy of VITAL before the resources become available to all teachers in New York State during the 2007-2008 school year.

Approximately 200 teachers of grades 4 and 5 across New York State will participate in the study and receive a random assignment to one of two groups. Teachers in Group 1 (treatment group) will receive electronic access to the online Grow reports with the embedded VITAL instructional materials and corresponding professional development. Teachers in Group II (comparison group) will receive access only to the Grow reports. In addition to the treatment or comparison condition, all teachers will be assigned to use materials for either Math or ELA.

What will the participants be asked to do?

Data collection will take place between September 2006 and May 2007, and will include:

Teacher surveys,
Electronically tracked patterns in teachers’ usage of various project-related websites,
Web-based logs of one lesson submitted by teachers once a month (for a total of 9 lesson logs),
One monthly response to at least one lesson log completed by another teacher in the study (for a total of 9 responses), and
Anonymously reported student performance on state Math and ELA tests.

Additionally, teachers in the treatment group will be expected to regularly use the VITAL resources in their instruction.

Hezel Associates will work with district and school administrators when necessary to ensure that teachers can meet each of these requirements.

How much time will be required?

Over the course of the 2006-2007 school year, all teachers in both groups will spend about 3-4 hours completing surveys and approximately 15-20 hours completing web-based lesson logs. Teachers in Group I (treatment condition) will also attend 4-6 hours of training offered at the local PBS station during the fall of 2006.

What other requirements are there?

Each school with teachers involved in the study will need to have the technological capacity to allow multiple simultaneous users of streaming video. In addition, each teacher must have easy access to a computer with the Internet in his/her classroom.

Honorarium

All teachers will receive a generous cash honorarium for their time and commitment to the study. Teachers that are randomly assigned to Group I (treatment) will receive $500 for their participation, while Group II (comparison) teachers will receive $300. Only participants who commit to the full study and complete all requirements will receive compensation.

What is the next step?

Any teacher interested in learning more about participating in next year’s study should contact Bryan Ford at bryan@hezel.com or 315-422-3512.

If you are ready to commit to the study, please complete the participation agreement and return it by: (a) email to bryan@hezel.com, (b) fax to Hezel Associates at 315-422-3513, or (c) mail: Hezel Associates, 1201 E. Fayette St., Syracuse, NY 13210 - Attn: WNET Participation Agreement.

About Hezel Associates

Hezel Associates has worked with local, state and national clients in 30 states across the nation, providing services including education research, benchmark studies, strategic plans, evaluations and state educational technology assessments for nearly two decades. For more information, go to www.hezel.com.

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