Project Success (PS) at California's Grossmont College provides students with concurrent enrollment in linked courses, such as College Reading and English Fundamentals, to provide an environment of complementary learning. To determine the effectiveness of the program, a study was undertaken to compare the demographics, performance, and persistence…

A systemic approach to education reform emerged in the 1990s as one way of addressing policy fragmentation. This volume presents findings of a study that sought to: expand knowledge of state approaches to systemic education reform; examine district, school, and teacher responses to state reform policies in a small number of reforming schools and…

The purpose of this longitudinal qualitative inquiry was to describe the socially constructed, negotiated, and contextual nature of an early field placement in an urban elementary school. The objectives were to document subtle changes over time in preservice teachers' reading/language arts subject matter knowledge and teaching beliefs and…

Responses of first-grade students, parents, and teachers in elementary schools in one school district to the "Writing to Read" (WTR) program were assessed for a version of the program implemented in mid-sized suburban schools. The WTR program is an IBM computer-based instructional system designed to develop the writing and reading skills…

In preparation for the mandatory administration of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) that was to begin with ninth graders in 1986, a pilot program was conducted with ninth graders who had done poorly on the HSPT during its second, nonmandatory administration in 1985. Approximately 125 students were selected (25 in each of five…

Twenty third-grade teachers and their low ability reading group students participated in a naturalistic study to test how teachers' explanations during a year of reading instruction affected either metacognitive awareness or student use of strategies while reading. The 10 teachers in the treatment group were trained to be explicit when teaching…

To gather information to assist policy makers, curriculum designers, and classroom teachers in planning and delivering language and reading instruction that will promote success in school of children from complex language backgrounds, a 6-year longitudinal investigation begun in 1978 tracked approximately 250 Spanish-speaking children from low…

Written for language educators, this volume about reading and research suggests that the theory-practice and research-teaching gaps are dysfunctional and calls for a collaborative pedagogy between colleges and schools to develop a practical theory of reading instruction. In the opening article, Jerome Harste discusses issues that emerged from…

A segment of a study of the acquisition of English literacy among limited English speaking students in selected bilingual education programs examines student characteristics and program elements at one site, among native Cantonese-speaking children. The analysis focused on these issues: (1) the bilingual instructional practices that best foster…

This paper outlines the design of two Comparative Studies of Phase IV of the Individually Guided Education (IGE) Evaluation Project. More than 2,000 elementary schools in 25 states use the IGE system. The Evaluation Project was designed to gain a comprehensive view of the system's operation and effectiveness. Phase IV investigated pupil outcomes,…

This report describes and discusses the results of a 5-year program evaluating the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) for compensatory education of elementary school students. The report comprises seven parts: (1) an overview of the final report, in which project background, methodology, findings, and implications are summarized;…

Ways to increase the use of educational program evaluation findings through the meaningful involvement of potential users (teachers and administrators) are discussed. Involvement, as defined in this paper, is generally limited to the opportunity for input to the initial evaluation design and the chance to review the design and implementation plans…

In eight Title I classrooms 32 first grade students were observed as they completed reading and writing assignments without continuous teacher supervision. Observations focused on the students' immediate responses, such as attention, performance on the assignment, and reported understanding of the task. Two working hypotheses are presented about…

Student acquisition of reading and language arts skills was monitored ethnographically in a study of several schools in a largely black setting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fundamental to this extensive study was the development and maintenance of cooperative relationships with the urban schools being investigated. The ethnographic monitoring…

A questionnaire was designed to give content area teachers an opportunity to review 35 reading/learning skills that are necessary for vocabulary development, the comprehension of written materials, and the efficient use of study time. Over 400 secondary school teachers in seven content areas (English/language arts, social studies, science,…