Since the passing of No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB), teacher autonomy over curricular decisions has been restricted. As a result, state and local school districts faced increased pressures to adopt highly prescriptive and standardized literacy curricular programmes. Given this context, literacy curriculum adoption has become a widely…

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on current and past literature as it relates to family literacy. Reviews that related to models of literacy programming that include a library instruction component were considered as part of this review. Overall, researchers perceived that there are transformative long term benefits for the participating…

Describes the Reading Excellence Act (REA) model. Shares insight that the author has gained through her experiences as she describes her work at the national, state, and local levels. Concludes that knowledge at the building level is what really matters. (SG)

Professional development that increases quality classroom instruction is a concern of school administrators and professional educators. Using survey, observation, and interview methods, four rural schools in the Upper Cumberland area of Tennessee were examined to determine if professional development supported by the Reading Excellence Act…

The purpose of this article is to describe the professional development plan for an elementary school receiving federal funding through the Reading Excellence Act (REA). The Reading Excellence Act provided the school with a two-year plan for literacy improvement. During the first year of the grant, assessment-driven instruction and flexible…