This article examines the federal role in adolescent literacy from its roots in Lyndon B. Johnson's administration with the Economic Opportunity Act (1964) through the Reading for Understanding grants of 2010. The authors consider the extent to which the recent attention to and changes in the federal approach to adolescent literacy can be…

Literacy is one of the most critical components of academic success, but the majority of students are leaving high school without the reading and writing skills needed to succeed in college and a career. According to ACT, fewer than 40 percent of black and Latino students are ready for college-level reading when they graduate from high school.…

Former President George W. Bush finished his tenure without having won congressional renewal of his No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy. With President Barack Obama now at the helm, NCLB is up for debate. Brown Center Director Grover "Russ" Whitehurst examines Reading First, a key component of NCLB, that aims to ensure that all children…

This study investigated the relationship of teachers' reading knowledge with students' reading achievement using a direct teacher knowledge assessment rather than indirect proxies (e.g., certification). To address the inequitable distribution of teachers' knowledge resulting from differences in teachers' backgrounds and the disparities in how…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Global Competitiveness Report: United States's Slide Continues in Annual Ranking; Falls to Number Four; (2) New…

The current study will examine possible contextual effects relative to differences in reading comprehension performance in the state of Florida. While the Reading First (RF) Impact study examined such difference using a regression discontinuity design, the authors are primarily interested in other analytic methods that might answer different…

This case study of reading activity in third-grade bilingual classrooms at a state-sanctioned "successful" school examines the influences of the California accountability framework--Proposition 227, No Child Left Behind, and the federal Reading First program--on shifting beliefs and practices around what "counts" as reading.…

A hypothesized model of state implementation of federal policy was extracted from empirical studies to discover the strategies states can use to gain compliance more cost effectively. Sixteen factors were identified and applied to the implementation of the Scientific Based Research provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. Data collected from…

Written by leading special education researchers with the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities and the University of Kansas, this comprehensive yet accessible reference provides administrators with practical guidelines for launching RTI in their schools. Highlighting the powerful role that RTI can play in prevention, early…

In this practitioners' guide, a recognized reading expert explains how educators, parents, and concerned citizens can spot ineffective reading programs that may hide under the "scientifically-based" banner. Although the term "whole language" is not commonly used today, programs based on its premises remain popular. These…

The paper trail leading to reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, scheduled for 2007, is already clogged and will keep getting more so. One needs to select sets of recommendations carefully to avoid being awash in conflicting or redundant ideas. In this article, the author presents a critique, that calls for a major shift in…

The public is deeply concerned that students in urban settings are not achieving at high levels. Over the past twenty years, large urban districts have attempted to restructure massive school systems using educational policymaking processes that have focused on school structures, standards-driven curriculum, and test-based accountability measures.…

In this study, Reading Recovery teachers reported the program plans for students who had not successfully discontinued the Reading Recovery program. Despite the existence of policy and monitoring devices in New Jersey, a number of schools did not have plans in place to offer ongoing intensive literacy instruction for their lowest-performing…

The Reading First program was designed to help students in kindergarten through third grade develop stronger reading skills. This report examines the implementation of the Reading First program, including: (1) changes that have occurred to reading instruction; (2) criteria states have used to award sub-grants to districts, and the difficulties, if…