All Publications
Links to my publications are available via my CV.
I've also featured a few of my most recent journal articles and policy briefs below.
I've also featured a few of my most recent journal articles and policy briefs below.
Featured Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Unpacking the Relationship Between Classroom Teacher Characteristics and Time to English Learner Reclassification
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American Educational Research Journal (2023)
Ela Joshi Reclassification is a crucial outcome for English Learner (EL) students’ academic progress. Though ELs spend a large portion of their academic time with general education teachers, we know little about the role general education teachers play in developing ELs’ English language proficiency. Drawing from a longitudinal administrative dataset from Tennessee, this study uses discrete-time survival analysis to estimate the relationship between ELs’ likelihood of reclassification and characteristics of their general education English Language Arts (ELA) teachers in grades 3-8. The study finds that several measures of teacher effectiveness consistently predict EL reclassification. Sensitivity and robustness checks substantiate these relationships. Findings have important policy implications for the identification and assignment of ELs to effective general education ELA teachers. |
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American Journal of Education (2021)
Ela Joshi, Christopher Redding, and Marisa Cannata Networked improvement communities (NICs) mark a promising approach to address the challenges of sustaining school reform. Whereas NICs are intended to help scale and sustain reforms, there is little evidence on how this works, as few NICs have existed long enough to be described over time. This study uses social network theory to understand what happened after the removal of external supports for a NIC regarding the sustainability of the improvement efforts as well as the NIC itself. We use social network data and interviews conducted with about 70 school and district leaders within the NIC to examine changes in the organizational infrastructure that maintained or changed network features. Our findings indicate that, upon the withdrawal of external supports, the network constricted, though core network features were maintained. However, changes to the infrastructure, such as a reliance on teacher-leaders and a focus on school-level empowerment, present challenges to the long-term sustainability of the NIC. |
Policy Briefs
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SRI International (2022)
Rebecca Griffiths, Ela Joshi, Emma Pellerin, and Audra Wingard While prior work has documented the cost-saving benefits of open educational resources (OER), proponents of open education increasingly argue that the greatest potential of OER is the opportunity to use innovative instructional strategies, otherwise known as open educational practices (OEP) and to integrate social justice and/or culturally responsive educational (CRE) practices. However, little empirical research has been conducted on the implementation and impact of such OER-enabled instructional changes. In this study, we investigate how a sample of advanced practitioners in community colleges use the affordances of OER to implement more equitable, innovative, and student-centered practices. Using interviews with 77 scholars, administrators, faculty, and students, our study puts forth a framework operationalizing dimensions of open and culturally responsive educational practices across course components and examines the extent to and ways in which instructors enact these practices. |
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SRI International (2021)
Lauren Cassidy, Ela Joshi, Julia Yankelowitz, Kaily Yee, and Kyra Caspary In 2017, the Barr Foundation launched Engage New England (ENE), an initiative that provides local education agencies and nonprofit organizations a unique opportunity to plan for and develop innovative schools to serve students who are off track to graduate from high school. In summer 2020, Springpoint, the school design partner, introduced academic case conferencing as one of the core functions of a primary person model in which each student has one adult they trust whom they can consistently go to for academic and social-emotional support. This support was particularly critical with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. SRI Education captured the schools' experiences with academic case conferences through interviews of school leaders and staff members, student focus groups, staff surveys, and a pilot of academic case conferencing observations. This brief describes the approaches schools used to support academic case conferencing and their implementation of key practices. |
