Design, Sites, and Data Sources
The randomized controlled trial will take place in a subset of 24 New York City district-run high schools serving low-income students that work with New Visions for Public Schools. (New Visions supports schools through professional development, coaching, technology assistance, curriculum guides, and other tools.) The study team will analyze data on teacher technology use and response to coaching, as well as student assignment completion and writing scores on the state history exam.
The sample of schools have in common previous use of the New Visions Global History curriculum with a focus on use of primary sources, foundational sentence-level and composition-level writing strategies, and access to Google Apps for Education (GAFE) tools. The schools assigned to receive the digital writing program (the program group) will receive intensive professional development and coaching in using GAFE tools, including Doctopus, Classroom, and Goobric, as well as pedagogical training in technology to support the personalization of assignments and regular use of digital tools in classroom instruction. The schools assigned to the control group will continue with instruction as usual.