Roots & Wings: Effects of Whole-School Reform on Student Achievement

Abstract

Roots & Wings is a comprehensive reform model for elementary schools. It incorporates all elements of Success for All (Slavin et al., 1996), which includes programs for early childhood, Grades 1-6 reading, writing, and language arts, one-to-one tutoring for primary-grades children struggling in reading, and family support programs. To these it adds MathWings, an approach based on standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and WorldLab, a program for social studies and science emphasizing simulations and group investigations.

Research on Roots & Wings in its pilot sites, 4 schools in rural Maryland, found strong impacts on state performance measures in all subjects in Grades 3 and 5 as long as the program was being implemented. When funding cuts and a change of superintendents ended the intervention, test score gains leveled out, although scores were still ahead of baseline. A study in a Texas school found substantial gains on Texas state assessments in reading, writing, and math.