UC Irvine School of Education Professor Emerita Carol Booth Olson and research team honored with P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award
The Scholarly Influence Award was given by the Literacy Research Association in recognition of the impact of the team’s research on literacy practices and policies.
|
By Marc-Anthony Rosas
January 22, 2024 The Literacy Research Association has awarded the P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award to University of California, Irvine School of Education Professor Emerita Carol Booth Olson and her fellow research team for the article titled "Reducing Achievement Gaps in Academic Writing for Latinos and English Learners in Grades 7-12.” Named after the distinguished literacy researcher and former Dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education, the accolade recognizes the impact of the team’s research on literacy practices and policies. The award-winning article, published in the Journal of Educational Psychology in 2017, resulted from a comprehensive study on the Pathway Project intervention in the Anaheim Union High School District. Alongside Olson, the research team included UC Irvine School of Education Distinguished Professor Emeritus George Farkas, Tina Matuchniak, Huy Chung, and Rachel Stumpf. |
Award winners Carol Booth Olson, (left) Tina Matuchniak (second from right) and Huy Chung (right)
|
“We are so honored to receive this award. The UCI School of Education’s mission includes creating research-practice partnerships with schools in the local community. The research is focused on improving student writing outcomes. It also involves teachers as professionals who help to co-create the curriculum. Our research not only has immediate positive impacts on students, but helps to strengthen the bonds between the university and the local schools too,” Olson said.
The study involved 95 teachers across 16 secondary schools and demonstrated significant, positive effects on student writing outcomes. In the first year, the intervention achieved an effect size of .48, rising to .60 in the second year, which is equivalent to an improvement of half a letter grade. Notably, Latinx students surpassed their white peers in the control group, and 10th-grade English learners exhibited a remarkable 20% higher pass rate on the California High School Exit Exam than the state average.
“We demonstrated that Latinx students were able to outscore their white peers in the control condition on a posttest writing assessment and were just a half a point behind their white peers in the treatment condition. This shows that with highly trained teachers and solid instructional strategies, all students are capable of becoming proficient academic writers,” Olson said.
The findings from the study led to an $11 million Education Innovation and Research validation grant to four sites in California, and $15 million expansion to eight sites across the nation. In total, the project served 500 teachers and approximately 16,000 students.
Olson and her team’s research areas align with the School of Education's commitment to evidence-based interventions for narrowing achievement gaps. The recognition by the Literacy Research Association underlines the scholarly impact of the team’s work and contributes to the broader discourse in literacy education.
The study involved 95 teachers across 16 secondary schools and demonstrated significant, positive effects on student writing outcomes. In the first year, the intervention achieved an effect size of .48, rising to .60 in the second year, which is equivalent to an improvement of half a letter grade. Notably, Latinx students surpassed their white peers in the control group, and 10th-grade English learners exhibited a remarkable 20% higher pass rate on the California High School Exit Exam than the state average.
“We demonstrated that Latinx students were able to outscore their white peers in the control condition on a posttest writing assessment and were just a half a point behind their white peers in the treatment condition. This shows that with highly trained teachers and solid instructional strategies, all students are capable of becoming proficient academic writers,” Olson said.
The findings from the study led to an $11 million Education Innovation and Research validation grant to four sites in California, and $15 million expansion to eight sites across the nation. In total, the project served 500 teachers and approximately 16,000 students.
Olson and her team’s research areas align with the School of Education's commitment to evidence-based interventions for narrowing achievement gaps. The recognition by the Literacy Research Association underlines the scholarly impact of the team’s work and contributes to the broader discourse in literacy education.
