Reading scientists have reached consensus that learning to read requires mastering the foundational skills of phonemic awareness and phonics (Dehaene, 2009; Stanovich, 2000). However, scientifically-based reading research has not fully transformed instructional practice (Castles, Rastle, & Nation, 2018), thereby leaving a science-to-practice…

Close reading is a recommended instructional approach to meet the challenges of teaching complex texts. But close readings are more common in high school and college than in elementary schools. In this article, we identify the components of close reading that were developed after a group of elementary school teachers observed their colleges in…

In recent years, with support from the Texas Legislature, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has funded various developmental education initiatives, including research and evaluation efforts, to help Texas public institutions of higher education provide more effective programs and services to underprepared students. Based on evaluation…

The Common Core State Standards aren't exactly new; it's been two years since most states adopted them. But it took those two years for the standards to trickle down from abstraction to daily practice, from a sheaf of papers in a state capital into a lesson plan on a teacher's desk. Now they're reshaping reading instruction in significant ways.…

Success for All (SFA), one of the best-known school reform models, aims to improve the reading skills of all children but is especially directed at schools that serve large numbers of students from low-income families. First implemented in 1987, SFA combines a challenging reading program, whole-school reform elements, and an emphasis on continuous…

Success for All (SFA), one of the best-known school reform models, aims to improve the reading skills of all children but is especially directed at schools that serve large numbers of students from low-income families. First implemented in 1987, SFA combines a challenging reading program, whole-school reform elements, and an emphasis on continuous…

In this paper we describe an action-research project that our research team proposed to a group of teachers working in a special education school. The main idea was to introduce new methods to teach reading and writing in their school, mainly constructivist-based ones on teaching the function of writing text. In this paper we focus on the process…

Guided reading is used in classrooms across the country and, while it is fairly new, it is anything but revolutionary. In this article, and in honor of the 50th volume of "Reading Horizons," the authors take a look back at the 50-year history of this practice, provide a definition of guided reading, analyze what caused the practice to…

The perception of "students' learning which equals students' being given knowledge" has brought about the theatrical mode of classroom instruction which is typically characterized by whole-class presentational techniques in which teachers perform most of the talking in order to transfer the knowledge to the students. Since this mode was…

In the age of standardized testing, science and social studies are not given the same priority as mathematics and reading in the curriculum of United States schools. High stakes testing is viewed as having heavily biased schools toward teaching tested subjects and away from less frequently tested subjects. This paper is premised on the notion that…

This is the second of three reports from MDRC's evaluation of the Success for All (SFA) scale-up demonstration, funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) competition. The report presents updated findings on SFA's implementation and impacts in the scale-up sites participating in the evaluation. The i3 evaluation…

First implemented in 1987, Success for All (SFA) is one of the best-known and most thoroughly evaluated school reform models. It combines three basic elements: (1) Reading instruction that emphasizes phonics for beginning readers and comprehension for students at all levels, and that is characterized by a highly structured curriculum, an emphasis…

In "RTI & Differentiated Reading in the K-8 Classroom," the authors argue that whole-group reading instruction in general education classes is no longer an appropriate learning environment. They outline three innovations that educators can integrate to dramatically improve reading instruction from kindergarten through the upper elementary…

"Success for All" (SFA) is one of the best known and thoroughly evaluated school reform models. Further evaluation of the initiative is especially important for two reasons. First, the program model has continued to evolve over time, with a greater emphasis placed on the use of engaging technology in the classroom and on the deployment…

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher…