This study examines the impacts of two AmeriCorps programs, Minnesota Reading Corps and Wisconsin Reading Corps, where AmeriCorps volunteers provide literacy tutoring to at-risk kindergarten through third-grade (K-3) students utilizing a response-to-intervention framework. This evaluation replicates a prior randomized controlled trial evaluation…

Children should develop literacy skills that progress from learning to read to reading to learn as they move from kindergarten through early elementary. These skills support reading proficiency and build knowledge in all subject areas. Students who struggle with literacy skills as early as kindergarten often continue to read below grade level…

This 22nd edition of "Quality Counts" offers a fresh take on the annual top-to-bottom ranking of the nation's school systems on a state-by-state basis published by "Education Week". The first of three "Quality Counts" reports being rolled out over the course of the year, "Grading the States" aims to…

Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) is the largest AmeriCorps State program in the country. The goal of MRC is to ensure that students become successful readers and meet reading proficiency targets by the end of the third grade. To meet this goal, the MRC program, and its host organization, ServeMinnesota Action Network, recruit, train, place and…

Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) is the largest AmeriCorps State program in the country. The goal of MRC is to ensure that students become successful readers and meet reading proficiency targets by the end of the third grade. Starting in 2011, the "Corporation for National and Community Service" (CNCS) sponsored a randomized controlled…

Previous research has provided evidence for the utility of the Minneapolis Kindergarten Assessment (MKA), which is a measure of early literacy and numeracy skills. The present research was undertaken to replicate previous factorial results and evaluate the relative strength of an alternative parameterization of the measurement model, the bifactor…

This dissertation was designed to provide a comprehensive data-driven evaluation of a Chinese language Immersion Program (CIP) for the stakeholders. CIP was implemented in 2006 with a goal for students to become proficient in the Chinese language and develop increased cultural awareness while reaching at least the same level of academic…

The study examined how the English reading performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in transitional bilingual education compared with the performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in structured English immersion. The study analyzed data on three cohorts of students in six schools in Los Angeles; Denver; Albuquerque; St.…

In this study, a school district adopted Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS), a scientifically based, class-wide peer-tutoring program for reading. Sixteen new K-PALS teachers were assigned randomly to receive ongoing support from a university expert or from experienced K-PALS teachers within the district. K-PALS teachers who…

Successful implementation of evidence-based educational practices at scale is of great importance but has presented significant challenges. In this article, the authors address the following questions: How does the level of on-site technical assistance affect student outcomes? Do teachers' fidelity of treatment implementation and their perceptions…

This study determined the effectiveness of Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS) for English Learners (ELs). We compared 20 K-PALS ELs to 20 Control ELs and to 20 K-PALS non-ELs on early reading skill acquisition, using a pretest-posttest control group design with matched samples. We also compared proportions of ELs unresponsive…

In this volume, highly regarded authors in the field of reading research share what they know about today's hottest topic in education--Response to Intervention (RTI), the key to helping struggling students "before they fall behind." More than 30 expert contributors reveal what the latest research says about RTI's Three-Tier Approach:…