Improving Reading Comprehension in Dual Language Programs

The low achievement levels and high dropout rates of English Language Learners (ELLs) continue to be a great challenge for educators. One area that can provide us with useful information on how to improve the education of ELLs is dual language programs. Research in this area indicates that native language development is important for academic success. The present study examined the cognitive reading strategies of students enrolled in a dual language program. The results indicate that both language groups of students were using successful cognitive reading strategies to comprehend text. The study also describes how the questionnaire used in the study can assist teachers in diagnosing the type(s) of cognitive reading strategies that students use

Developing and Assessing Students’ Collaboration in the IB Programme

The Education Research Center conducted a best evidence synthesis of literature on student collaboration in K-12 settings. The purpose of the synthesis was twofold: (a) to identify research-based practices of teaching with, learning through, and assessing student collaboration, and (b) to use research-based themes in an analysis of IB curriculum documents in order to assess the extent to which IB’s collaborative teaching and learning practices align with research. The study included both a meta-analysis and research synthesis of 153 studies addressing various aspects of student collaboration across K-12 educational settings in reading/writing, humanities, mathematics, and sciences. Additional study foci included culturally and linguistically diverse settings and the use of technology for collaboration. The content analysis examined 47 IB curriculum documents from general IB curriculum documents, as well as the PYP, MYP, DP, and IBCC programmes. The best evidence research synthesis revealed the following components of successful collaborative practices in K-12 settings: • Specific and focused teacher role in collaborative process • Purposeful means of grouping students based on student, task, and culturally-related factors • Targeted incorporation of technology • Roles for individual students • Tasks that are open-ended and/or multi-faceted • Specific structuring of the collaborative process • Consideration of the social complexities of the collaborative process • Sufficient time for cognitive processes involved in collaboration The primary recommendations include the following: • Adopt a clear definition of collaboration for IB stakeholders, especially curriculum writers and practitioners • Revise IB curriculum documents; where necessary, to include research-based aspects of successful collaboration most salient to particular student levels and subjects • Provide professional development and teacher follow-up within each programme area on the definition and practices of successful collaboration • Conduct further research on whether higher education collaboration assessment practices could be successfully utilized with K-12 students In conclusion, the best evidence of research on student collaboration identified collaboration as a social process of knowledge building that requires students to work as an interdependent team towards a clear objective resulting in a well-defined final product, consensus, or decision. Collaborative tasks and groups are structured so that teams of students must rely on one another to share resources (e.g., materials, knowledge, experience, insight, and skills), utilize meta-cognitive processes, and communicate with each other in order to complete a task and/or arrive at a consensus best achieved with equitable participation of all members

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)