全球智库信息集成服务系统

• The ARI comprised 26 different activities: 17 activities focused on building capacity for principals and teachers, and nine specifically targeted student learning.
• The ARI created numerous structures to communicate about activities to districts, schools, and teachers.
• Principal and teacher knowledge about ARI activities varied considerably from district to district in the fourth year of the ARI.
• For the activities where KVEC set participation goals for educators and students, those participation goals were met.
• As expected, at least some principals and teachers from each district participated in the ARI each year.
• KVEC developed a theory of action for disseminating the ARI that was broadly aimed at fostering widespread engagement and adoption among participants and nonparticipants. It does not appear that the ARI met its goal of spreading to reach all teachers and students in the participating districts.
• Staffing challenges and lack of buy-in for ARI activities may have been key reasons for the low spread of ARI-induced change in some cases.
• Across a broad set of schoolwide measures of achievement, our analysis did not detect strong signals that ARI was improving student outcomes.
• The great majority of participating principals and teachers recommended sustaining ARI activities that they knew about, although low percentages recommended that their district or school be charged with sustaining a specific activity of the ARI.

This report presents findings from RAND researchers' evaluation of the Appalachian Renaissance Initiative (ARI) in 17 districts totaling 99 kindergarten–12th grade schools within the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC). The ARI provided principals, teachers, and students in rural Eastern Kentucky with an array of opportunities and activities intended to support and improve teaching and learning through innovative, personalized learning approaches. The initiative took place from the 2014–2015 through 2017–2018 academic years. KVEC received federal funding through the Race to the Top–District (RTT-D) federal grant program; in response to RTT-D priorities, ARI activities focused on a range of areas, from personalized learning and next generation classrooms to college and career readiness and educator effectiveness. Principals, teachers, and students were able to choose the activities in which they participated. As intended by the grant program, activities evolved over time to meet the needs of schools, teachers, and students. This evaluation examines various aspects of ARI implementation through collection and analysis of documents, surveys, and interviews with those charged with leading the ARI, as well as school principals and teachers. The authors also conducted an investigation of student achievement outcomes in schools participating in the ARI relative to other schools in Kentucky. Findings from the study address implementation of the initiative and effects on student outcomes.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Methods

• Chapter Three

  What Was the ARI and How Was It Enacted?

• Chapter Four

  ARI Participation and Factors Related to Participation

• Chapter Five

  Effects of the ARI on Student Outcomes

• Chapter Six

  Sustainability

• Chapter Seven

  Conclusion

• Appendix

  Technical Details