SRI and LEARN Network Senior Research Adrienne Woods joins Alida Hudson, researcher with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), to discuss PALS-RD (Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies with Reading Differentiation), an evidence-based literacy program designed to accelerate recovery in reading in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Woods and Hudson explore the program’s development, scaling journey, and impact, and discuss key takeaways for educators, researchers, and other interest holders. 

PALS-RD was created as an adaptation of the long-standing PALS model, which pairs students in structured, peer-based activities to strengthen fluency and comprehension. By integrating continuous progress monitoring and word study strategies, the PALS-RD program supports students who may have missed critical early literacy foundations during school closures. 

Early results show that students with weaker reading comprehension made measurable gains, and teachers reported that the program fit easily alongside existing curricula. With plans to expand to more districts nationwide, PALS-RD represents a promising tool for literacy recovery at scale. 

• Learn more about PALS-RD here.
• Learn more about the LEARN Network at learntoscale.org.
• Learn more about Adrienne Woods here.
• Learn more about Alida Hudson here.

Access a transcript of this episode and browse our full archive of episodes at sri.com/homeroom.

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In Episode 16 of The SRI Homeroom podcast, host Keith Heumiller joins SRI Senior Education Researcher Adrienne Woods and Julie Kelleher, founder of the Kelleher Consulting Group, to explore the critical role of marketing in bringing educational innovations to scale.

As researchers and developers work to support student success and address long-standing challenges in the K-12 classrooms, Woods and Kelleher highlight why simply creating effective, evidence-based solutions isn't enough—successful scaling demands a strategic, market-first mindset from the very beginning.

Drawing on real-world examples and lessons learned from their work with the LEARN Network - a national initiative working to support the creation, testing, and scaling of effective, evidence-based interventions - they offer a roadmap for researchers and developers to navigate a crowded marketplace and position their innovations for maximum impact.

They also share a broad range of free resources - including toolkits, playbooks, templates, and public workshops - designed to help education innovators move from idea to widespread adoption. Listen to the episode, download a transcript, and read more at https://learntoscale.org/

Interested in creating and scaling an educational innovation? Attend the free LEARN to Scale Virtual Workshop on May 1, 2025, from 3 to 4pm ET.

Access a transcript for this episode and learn more in this LEARN Network blog.

Browse all episodes of The SRI Homeroom visiting SRI.com/Homeroom.

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Over the past two decades, the number of STEM graduates has doubled. Yet diversity in STEM remains a challenge, with underrepresented students facing barriers to entry and advancement.

Today, host Jenna Nguyen talks with education researchers Andrea Beesley and Carol Tate from SRI about the work being done to foster diversity and inclusion in postsecondary STEM education.  

Beesley and Tate discuss the ongoing efforts and findings from the STEM Core Expansion Alliance, a project funded by the National Science Foundation’s Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES National Network. The initiative is aimed at supporting low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented community college students pursuing STEM careers. 

Explore how community support and equitable access to education play crucial roles in addressing challenges and driving success in STEM initiatives. 

• Learn more about how the STEM Core Expansion Alliance is advancing STEM education for underrepresented students by visiting the STEM Core Expansion Alliance website. 
• Discover how the NSF Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES National Network fosters collaboration and builds scalable, equitable STEM networks by visiting the NSF INCLUDES National Network. 

• Andrea D. Beesley is a Senior Principal Education Researcher with SRI Education. She specializes in studying math learning environments and creating supportive spaces for STEM education. Learn more about Andrea and her work here. 
• Carol E. Tate is a Senior Education Researcher with SRI Education, specializing in design, research, and evaluation projects aimed at enhancing teaching quality in STEM fields from elementary school through college. Learn more about Carol and her work here.  

Access a transcript for this episode and browse our library of podcasts by visiting SRI.com/Homeroom

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How can researchers, product developers, schools, and educators ensure that students with diverse abilities and backgrounds are meaningfully benefiting from new educational tools and technology? 

SRI Education’s Shari Gardner and Jennifer Nakamura join host Kori Hamilton Biagas to discuss several of their projects that focus on creating accessible digital platforms for students with disabilities, particularly students who are blind or low vision (BLV).  

Gardner and Nakamura share insights from their work with Alchemie Solutions, Inc. to develop Kasi – a program combining digital interactives, physical manipulatives, and computer vision technology to support BLV students in learning chemistry content. They also explore the potential for other innovative tools and technologies to create truly inclusive and engaging spaces for all students to engage with data and data visualizations.  

Shari Gardner is a Principal Education Researcher with SRI Education and the Deputy Director of Digital Learning and Technology Policy in the Center for Education Research and Innovation. Learn more about her on her SRI webpage.  

Jennifer Nakamura is a Senior Education Researcher with SRI Education. Learn more about her on her SRI webpage.  

Access a transcript of this episode and browse our entire catalog by visiting www.SRI.com/Homeroom.

Connect with SRI Education on LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

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How can we define and refine measures of instructional quality to meet the needs of today’s students? 

SRI Education’s Krystal Thomas joins host Kori Hamilton Biagas to discuss the evolving landscape of instructional quality and coaching. They explore the rubrics that have traditionally been used to measure instructional practices and advocate for a more culturally responsive approach to observation and coaching.  

Thomas also shares insights from her recent work, including collaborations with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at creating more supportive, equitable, and effective tools for educators.  

Krystal Thomas is a senior education researcher with SRI Education. Learn more about her on her SRI Education webpage.  

Connect with SRI Education on LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

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Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have defined the 21st century, driving innovation, advancement, and professional opportunities at an unprecedented scale. Yet many of those opportunities are inequitably distributed across the country.  

Today, NSF’s Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES Coordination Hub Director Andrea Venezia joins host Kori Hamilton Biagas to discuss the systems behind STEM and STEM education, and how initiatives like INCLUDES are working to improve them.  

Venezia shares her own personal and professional journeys and how she came to work with INCLUDES, a unique convergence of social science, equity-driven systems change, policy, and practice, placed within the STEM ecosystem. She also explores the challenges and opportunities that exist in a broad range of educational and professional settings, including K–-12 and higher education systems, incarcerated settings, labs, and in industry.  

Venezia and Biagas also discuss the late Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson, after whom INCLUDES is named, and her enduring contributions to STEM. 

Learn more about INCLUDES here.

Find all SRI Homeroom episodes, transcripts, and links to other resources by visiting SRI.com/education. 

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Andrea Venezia is a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Director of the Equitable College and Careers Research program at SRI Education. Learn more about Andrea and her work on her SRI webpage.  

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SRI Senior Education Researcher Adrienne Woods joins host Kori Hamilton Biagas to explore strategies for identifying points of intervention along the K–12 continuum that can be used to advance educational and societal opportunities for children with disabilities.

Woods discusses her current work on a range of projects, including the LEARN Network, and points to the potential for new technologies and innovations to address long-standing challenges and better support students. She also stresses the need for tailored approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of special education interventions for different types of students and disabilities.

Learn more about the LEARN Network here.

Access a transcript of this episode and a variety of other resources for education researchers and developers on the LEARN Network blog.

Adrienne Woods is a Senior Education Researcher with SRI Education. Learn more about Adrienne and her work here.

Connect with SRI Education on LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

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Student behavioral challenges aren’t a new phenomenon. For generations, educators and researchers have sought better approaches and interventions to support students with behavioral and socio-emotional needs. In recent years, however, those needs have grown.  

In a national survey, more than 8 in 10 public schools reported that students’ behavioral and socio-emotional development had been stunted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools and educators have also observed increases in student misbehavior, including classroom disruptions and tardiness, since the onset of the pandemic.  

These developments have shined new light on the need for effective, evidence-based supports for students dealing with behavioral challenges. 

In the latest episode of The SRI Homeroom podcast, renowned researcher Carl Sumi joins host Kori Hamilton Biagas to discuss strategies, interventions, and recommendations for educators, schools, and researchers hoping to meet that need head-on.  

Sumi also discusses effective interventions like BEST in CLASS, which are being used to enhance teachers’ use of proven practices to prevent and address behavior problems and support student learning. 

Learn more about BEST in CLASS here.

Access a transcript of this episode and a variety of other resources centered on student mental health and behavior on the Student Behavior Blog.

Carl Sumi is a Senior Principal Education Researcher with SRI Education. Learn more about Carl and his work here.

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By the middle grades, students are expected to transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." For adolescent students who read significantly below grade level, this shift can life-changing.

Today we discuss an effective, research-based intervention being used to connect with older students and accelerate the development of skills like fluency, decoding, reading stamina, and comprehension in the middle grades.

Host Kori Hamilton Biagas sits down with Margaret Troyer and Kala Jones from the Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP Institute) to discuss STARI, the Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention.

Troyer and Jones share how STARI has been implemented into classrooms and how it is working to reduce gaps and improve outcomes for struggling students.

Find a blog and a transcript for this episode here.

Learn more about STARI and download STARI's curriculum materials here.

Margaret Troyer is the director of Literacy Research and Development at the Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP Institute).

Kala Jones is the Literacy Specialist at the the Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP Institute).

Learn more about SERP here.

Connect with SRI Education through our Twitter page, our YouTube page, and our LinkedIn page.

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To be effective and to achieve scale, new educational products and practices must be designed for the specific needs and daily realities of students.

SRI Education’s Ela Joshi joins host Kori Hamilton to discuss the value of including student voice in the design, development, procurement and implementation of new innovations, and effective approaches for scaling evidence-based products across settings. Joshi discusses her ongoing work with initiatives like The LEARN Network, and how researchers and developers can better incorporate student input and feedback.  

Learn more about the LEARN Network and access a variety of free resources for education researchers and developers here.

Ela Joshi is a senior education researcher with SRI Education. Learn more about Ela and her work here.

Access a transcript of this episode and learn more about The SRI Homeroom on the SRI Education website.

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