While policymakers have demonstrated considerable enthusiasm for "science of reading" initiatives, the evidence on the impact of related reforms when implemented at scale is limited. In this pre-registered, quasi-experimental study, we examine California's recent initiative to improve early literacy across the state's lowest-performing…

While community college instructors are experts in their academic or technical fields, most do not have training to help adults build postsecondary literacy skills. Researchers with WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) sought to change that. Building on SLI's popular and proven Reading Apprenticeship model for middle and high school…

In school districts across the nation, diverse student groups have been experiencing significant gains in reading performance after using READ 180. This compendium of READ 180 research contains 40 studies. The studies take place in a variety of settings in school districts across the country from 1999 to 2012. Summarized are correlational and…

In school districts across the nation, diverse student groups, including English Learners and students with disabilities, have been experiencing significant gains in reading performance after using READ 180. This compendium of READ 180 research contains results of 40 studies conducted in a variety of settings, in school districts across the…

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…

The San Diego Unified School District, the nation's eighth-largest, launched an ambitious program of literacy reforms in 2000 aimed at narrowing reading achievement gaps. Known as the Blueprint for Student Success, the program ran through 2005. The reforms succeeded in boosting the reading achievement of students who had been identified as lagging…

Two pressing education reforms entail improving students' reading skills and improving high schools in the United States. In this article, the authors focus on both of these issues by adding the voices of students in an underperforming high school to the discussion about reading reform. We present the results of a larger study pertaining…

The California Right to Read program is for schools interested in changing or revising their reading programs. Right to Read offers services and materials designed to guide schools through program planning. This approach is based on the philosophy that California Right to Read can most effectively serve a school by working with its staff to plan…

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 study aimed to investigate the potential of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program to positively impact student scores on the English-Language Arts California Standards Test (CST). The degree of attention placed on student reading achievement and improvement in high-stakes student standardized test scores in the state of California, as well as…

The definitions in this document are organized in four sections in order to facilitate their use with the Program Planning Manual and Needs Assessment Tables. "Teacher/Student Organization" defines the classroom teacher, reading teacher, team of teachers, aide (working for salary), volunteer aide, cross-age teaching, peer tutoring,…

The language in recent education policy equates academic achievement with reading proficiency for English language learners (ELLs). In response to federal and state accountability efforts focused on reading, California high schools began to substitute reading intervention programs for English language development (ELD) curricula and instruction.…

This study compares average SAT 9 reading scores of second through fifth grade English-only children in schools using "Open Court" (a program for teaching young children to read) with the scores of comparable schools using non-scripted programs in one very large urban school district in California. Findings show that schools using…

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT UPON WORD RECOGNITION AND READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF FOUR READING PROGRAMS. THESE PROGRAMS VARIED IN (1) THE DEGREE OF REGULARITY OF GRAPHEME-PHONEME CORRESPONDENCES PROGRAMED INTO THE VOCABULARY PRESENTED AND (2) THE EMPHASIS ON LANGUAGE STRUCTURE AS RELATED TO MEANING. FOUR…

Special centers established to improve the performance of disadvantaged students in reading and mathematics, emphasizing individual attention and close relation between student and teacher, and setting achievable goals, are proving effective. (JD)