• EAST positively impacts Problems Solving Strategies including Problem Characteristics, Assessing Outcomes and Revising Strategies
• EAST positively impacts Student Motivation and Self Directed Learning Styles

Full EAST Results

Among the 16 student outcomes that were studied, analyses indicated that participation in EAST appears to have a positive, statistically reliable impact in five domains. These included three problem solving domains (defining the characteristics of a problem, assessing the outcomes of a solution, and revising strategies in response to the assessment of outcomes), one motivation domain (motivation for school derived from accomplishment), and self-directed learning style. The preponderance of evidence for program effects in the area of problem solving skills seems consistent with one of the most central goals of EAST, and may point to a particular strength of the program. Although no direct effects were found indicating an impact of the EAST program on students’ math and reading test scores, this is a notoriously difficult relationship to demonstrate. Given the myriad of other factors that influence academic achievement and the limitations of standardized testing for measuring such skills, this should be taken as a failure to find a relationship, but certainly not as evidence that none exists. However, the domains on which EAST has been shown to have an impact are widely recognized as being important for both academic and career success.

EAST classroom observations were conducted in the eight study schools in winter 2004, spring 2005, fall 2005, and spring 2006. Each facilitator was observed a total of eight times, four times in each year. Additional measures that were used to assess the program’s impact on facilitators’ fidelity to the model included the end-of-year program ratings (completed by consensus by the team of EAST, Inc. personnel at the end of each program year) and online principal and facilitator surveys. Since the end-of-year ratings aligned, for the most part, with the classroom observations, ratings from the latter instrument were used as the focus for analyses. In both years of the outcomes study, observations were consistently strong across almost all schools for physical environment; however, overall fidelity, and fidelity in educational environment and in environment of expectations—as well as in the six sub-ratings within these two environments—were much more variable.