Asserts that student misbehavior is linked to poor reading and writing skills. Suggests ways to improve reading and writing literacy based on experience with a literacy program in the Orange County (FL) Public Schools. Three-year study of the program found significant improvement in reading comprehension, student self-esteem, and classroom…

Describes how Florida's reading professionals entered the legislative halls and prevailed, and provides a list of problems that other reading professionals might avoid in their political efforts to influence legislation. (RB)

Although literacy skills needed to engage in the economy and public life have grown, the literacy skills of many adolescents remain low. One popular approach to improving student literacy is using school-based reading coaches; however, there is little empirical evidence regarding the nature of coaching and its effectiveness in changing teacher…

Despite recent progress in reading achievement among children in primary grades, many children are not moving beyond basic decoding skills to fluency and comprehension as they go on to higher grades. To address this problem, many policymakers suggest that reading coaches -- master teachers who offer ongoing on-site instructional support for…

Given the increasing pressures of high-stakes accountability associated with state mandates and No Child Left Behind (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), linking teacher preparation within professional development schools to the goal of school improvement has become essential. This article illustrates the University of Florida's efforts to…

In this article, the authors describe the balanced literacy pilot program at Monroe Middle School in Tampa, Florida. Monroe implemented the program as part of a districtwide effort to improve student literacy. It uses a four-pronged approach to improve literacy: (1) read-alouds; (2) independent reading; (3) shared reading; and (4) guided reading.…

Visual Phonics is an instructional program to provide print awareness, alphabet knowledge, and sound-letter correspondence for children with hearing loss who experience difficulty developing a foundation of phonemic awareness skills. Its purpose is "to clarify the sound symbol relationship between spoken English and print" (Waddy-Smith…

Too many middle school students struggle to comprehend their textbooks in science and other content areas. Thus, many adolescent learners lag behind in developing scientific literacy, which the National Research Council has defined as sufficient understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making,…

The State of Florida and local mandates require that a diagnostic/prescriptive systems approach to reading and mathematics instruction be available to all students at grade levels K-6. It has been demonstrated that the Dade County Systems approaches are viable alternatives to non-systems approaches to reading and/or mathematics instruction.…

Outlines a successful reading program developed in Wakulla County, Florida, schools where the adult illiteracy rate was seriously high. The success of this program emphasizes three points: begin with detailed needs assessment, establish clear program goals, and provide continuous evaluation.(MD)

This publication tells the stories of eight schools from around the nation that have used the Open Court Reading program, describing the history of the schools, the challenges they faced, and their attempts to meet those challenges. The schools are located in California, Florida, Texas, and New York. Each of the school stories includes a focus on…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if there were commonalities in the approaches of 10 elementary school principals in the state of Florida identified as "success stories" in leading reading improvement in their schools in 2002, shortly after enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act at the national level and the Just…

This comprehensive collection of information about software programs is intended to help secondary language arts teachers choose software to supplement their instruction of mildly handicapped students. The first section is a correlations matrix, which lists all software programs abstracted, indicates computer compatibility, and correlates each…

As a means of improving the reading program at Barry College, Miami Shores, the writer investigated the perceptions of experienced teachers in Dade County, a heterogeneous community whose schools provide a microcosm of national educational needs. The project was intended to determine whether teachers in public schools were aware of specific,…

Reports the results of an ESEA Title III program using a computerized Language Experience" method of teaching reading to black elementary school students in Florida. (JM)