School districts in Texas and Washington are partnering with Oregon Research Institute (ORI) to learn more about what middle school teachers are doing to teach English learners (EL) in the 6th and 7th grades how to speak English, and to find out what's working for their students, within the context of an evaluation of Direct Instruction Spoken English (DISE). The study is being conducted by Drs. Barbara Gunn, Erin Chaparro, Keith Smolkowski and Patricia Vadasy at Oregon Research Institute, and is funded by the United States Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Grant #R305A150325.

The four year project is now mid-way through Year 01, with 10 middle schools in Laredo Texas, and 2 middle schools in Sunnyside, Washington working with ORI researchers. The teachers who are implementing DISE are receiving training and coaching support from NIFDI. Their students were tested in the fall on English oral language skills, with follow-up testing this winter and spring. The research team is recruiting more schools to join the study in the fall of 2016. Participating districts and teachers will be provided with incentives including stipends, curriculum, and professional development. If you think your district might be interested in participating, or for more information, please contact Erin Chaparro echaparro@ori.org, or Barbara Gunn barbarag@ori.org.