Two-thirds of U.S. high school students today are unable to read and comprehend complex academic materials, think critically about texts, synthesize information from multiple sources, or effectively communicate what they have learned. And in response, many teachers simply stop assigning challenging texts, opting instead to "deliver…

As the Public School Forum enters its 31st year, they continue the tradition of forecasting the ten issues most likely to impact public schools across the state in "Top Ten Education Issues for 2017." As they do each year, they have included in the list issues they believe will be the top education issues for the year, as well as issues…

Proud Readers Own What's Learned (PROWL) was developed out of the need to find an engaging, creative process for readers to express what they have read and, frankly, to let teachers see that the students actually read the books. In other more prescriptive reading programs students can go through the motions and actually pass tests without having…

Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history in order to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives, according to the International Reading Association, which also notes, "Adolescents need high levels of literacy to…

Today's media specialist can and should become an integral part of the school's efforts to improve student reading and test scores. A media specialist can have an influence on student reading in many ways. One should always remember that the ultimate goal of media specialists is to develop in their students a love of reading as a pleasurable…

This article describes how Fayetteville State University's Reading Across the Curriculum (RAC) model developed for use with underprepared students can effectively improve the literacy and academic language skills of those students. The primary goals and objectives of the RAC program are to train faculty members from various disciplines to create…

This article discusses how one school system achieved districtwide technology integration through an ongoing professional development (PD) program that encouraged its teachers to learn and lead together. In an effort to prepare students of Kannapolis (North Carolina) City Schools for success in the 21st century, the author, together with three…

Describing the SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) program and its mission to promote and support the continual improvement of educational opportunities for all learners in the Southeast, this paper focuses on the importance of improving student literacy outcomes in schools due to the demands of living in a technological,…

A study described and evaluated "First Steps," an intervention program for low-reading first graders that was implemented in four rural schools in western North Carolina. First Steps borrows heavily from Reading Recovery but differs significantly in the areas of pre-post assessment, tutor training, and teaching procedures. Attention was…

Based on one school district's project for the the 1973-74 school term, this report covers the activities of 10 rural North Carolina schools involved in an Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I, reading laboratory program during its fifth year of operation. Contents of the report include an analysis of the district's needs, a sketch of…

A project designed to train paraprofessional personnel (technicians) who could materially assist elementary classroom teachers in working with atypical readers is reported in two separate sections. The first section, titled "Highlights of the Reading Teaching Technician Project," describes the background, operation, dissemination, and…