This 2-year longitudinal study examined initial evidence of progress in reading for 1,512 children with and without identified speech-language and/or learning disabilities (LD-SLD) in the context of the explicit literacy instruction provided in Michigan's Reading First (RF)schools. The findings suggested that children with LD-SLD labels…

The No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to begin testing new English Learners (EL) in English language arts within three years after they enter school and holds schools accountable for their performance on these exams. Yet very little empirical work has examined exactly how long it takes EL students to become proficient in English and how…

The authors conducted a quasi-experimental investigation of effects on achievement by grade-level teams focused on improving learning. For 2 years (Phase 1), principals-only training was provided. During the final 3 years (Phase 2), school-based training was provided for principals and teacher leaders on stabilizing team settings and using…

West outlines the scientific method as a proven problem-solving method for young children across the curriculum and in all areas of life and learning. She emphasizes that doing, thinking, and talking with peers when problem solving are as important as writing conclusions. The article walks readers through a second grade class's experiment in…

Gaps in academic achievement between students from various racial and ethnic groups and from low-income families are a cause for national concern. The advent of high stakes testing and the increased awareness of high dropout rates have rekindled the search for ways to help all children succeed in school. Many strategies to address lagging…

Renewed interest in the education of young adolescents has given credence to the "elemiddle" school approach to teaching and learning, which was first documented 15 years ago when David Hough coined the term. Yet much bias, misunderstanding and misinterpretation accompanies the most recent phenomenon compelling schools nationwide to…

This document provides an executive summary of "Reading First Impact Study. Final Report. NCEE 2009-4038." The final report presents findings from the third and final year of the Reading First Impact Study (RFIS), a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government's initiative to help all children read at or above grade…

The purpose of the study is to examine teachers' perceptions of the Open Court language program. Open Court is published by McGraw Hill and has been approved by the "No Child Left Behind Act" as an appropriate research-based reading program. The Open Court program was adopted as part of the efforts to provide all elementary school…

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act mandates the performance of functional assessment for students with severe behavior problems. A functional analysis can be one part of this process but its use has been minimal. This study evaluates whether a paraprofessional could (a) be trained to correctly perform 3 conditions of a functional…

Public school educators in the United States are coping with the immigration of families from non-English speaking countries. Teachers are pressed by federal mandates to meet the challenges of increased cultural diversity and language deficiencies of students with new skills. This study explored the effectiveness of journaling between bilingual…

Even after acting on the best available information to make a grantmaking decision, a grantmaker should seek to learn from grantees, remain adaptable to new ideas and open to unexpected learning, and willing to admit when grants do not turn out as expected. To this end, Grantmakers for Education's Principles for Effective Education Grantmaking…

This report summarizes AISD's district and campus use of federal Title VI Class Size Reduction funds for school year 1999-2000.

What constitutes effective reading instruction for urban and ethnically diverse learners has been the topic of a great deal of debate. Particularly, during this time of sweeping mandates and increased calls for accountability. The response from urban schools to The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) serves as the backdrop for this paper which will…

This executive summary describes results of the "Reading First Impact Study: Interim Report." The report presents preliminary findings from the Reading First Impact Study, a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government initiative to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The No Child…

Accountability for students with disabilities who receive special education services is now a result of policy requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Together these pieces of federal legislation require that students participate in statewide…