This article tells the story of a group of seventh grade teachers and administrators in one Los Angeles middle school who have grappled for years with the poor reading skills of their middle school students. Discouraged by the reading scores on standardized tests and frustrated with the limits of their readers, this group struggled to improve…

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of a literacy intervention program on student achievement and behavior at two urban high schools. Two groups were identified and the sample was a convenience sample for this study. One group of students is not enrolled in the intervention program, while the other group of students is enrolled in…

This Research Connections column describes the background to and the research base for the San Diego Unified School Districts' federally funded Striving Readers Project. The curriculum for the project was developed out of a longitudinal study into the literacy experiences of secondary students in New Zealand and from exploratory work in San Diego…

In a series of reforms started in 1998 and formalized with the 2000 introduction of the Blueprint for Student Success, the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) implemented a wide-ranging series of reforms designed to boost the literacy skills of students. This article provides an overview of the reforms, assesses the contributions made by the…

As with many districtwide reform efforts, the San Diego reform sought to improve classroom instruction by focusing on building the capacity of teachers. This article examines practices of teacher professional development in the district and their impact on literacy instruction. Through examination of the literature on effective professional…

Describes 10 "literacy day" activities that one California elementary school has used successfully schoolwide, typically one such day per month, to make reading fun and purposeful, while developing a sense of community. Includes: spread-a-quilt day; teacher exchange day; turn off the TV; Dr. Seuss day; community readers; schoolwide…

This scholarly journal, an official publication of the Reading Recovery Council of North America, was established to provide an interdisciplinary forum on issues related to the acquisition of language, literacy development, and instructional theory and practice. Articles in Volume 5, Number 1 are: "Affinities and Contradictions: The Dynamics…

This scholarly journal, an official publication of the Reading Recovery Council of North America, provides an interdisciplinary forum on issues related to the acquisition of language, literacy development, and instructional theory and practice. Articles in Volume 7, Numbers 1 and 2 (comprising volume 7) are: "The Why? What? When? And How? of…

For the past five years, colleagues in the Strategic Literacy Initiative at WestEd have been designing and implementing a professional development program focused on enabling teachers to build their understanding of the complexities of reading. In developing this program, centered around what they call a "Reading Apprenticeship"…

This scholarly journal, an official publication of the Reading Recovery Council of North America, was established to provide an interdisciplinary forum on issues related to the acquisition of language, literacy development, and instructional theory and practice. Articles in Volume 6, Number 1 are: "Documenting and Developing Literacy in Deaf…

This publication offers the 56th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (NRC). This Yearbook begins with a preface and presents profiles of three awardees, Michael C. McKenna, Douglas K. Hartman, and Michael Kamil. Included in this Yearbook are the following papers: (1) What's It All About? Literacy Research and Civic Responsibility (Victoria…