Success for All (SFA), a schoolwide research-based reform model developed by Robert Slavin and his associates at Johns Hopkins University, is based on the premise that all students can and must succeed in the early grades. The program targets students in the lower grades, providing them with intensive instruction in language arts. This effort is…

This paper evaluates a program for educators, youth workers, and parents in four Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools designed to teach African American children the positive aspects of their cultural heritage and to increase their self-esteem and desire to learn. Although the Self-Esteem Through Culture Leads to Academic Excellence (SETCLAE) program…

Released by the New York City Board of Education, this document reports on the success of the Learning to Read Through the Arts program for grades two through six during the 1985-86 school year. The first section introduces the Chapter 1 program, which was offered for 32 weeks at 6 different New York City sites, and explains how students are…

Part of an investigation of the effectiveness of Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) Chapter 1 reading programs, this document reports on a study of 699 second and fourth grade students in Chapter 1 programs in Iowa. An introduction notes that the study was conducted to discover instructional characteristics that affect student…

This publication on the New South Wales' Basic Skills Testing Program (BSTP) describes the development of the program's tests, the analysis of students' results, and the communication of results to parents, teachers, and schools. In BSTP tests, basic skills are defined not as low-level, rudimentary survival skills, but as major areas of learning…

An overview of a demonstration program in reading designed to improve students' reading skills and their attitudes toward reading at the middle school level is described in this booklet. Following introductory information about the program, the booklet lists some highlights of the program, including testing methods, student contracts, the point…

Since the fall of 1984, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has conducted a yearly statewide testing of the reading and mathematics competencies of students in grades 3, 5, and 8. Because Pennsylvania does not mandate statewide curricula, the Department has had to rely upon committees of state educators to determine which objectives to test.…

This report contains the findings and recommendations of the California Legislative Analyst concerning the Native American Indian Early Childhood Education program. The program was established in 1972 to increase competence in reading and mathematics among American Indian students in California rural schools by intervening in prekindergarten…

The progress of 243 students repeating first grade in 1981-82 was compared with matched low achievers in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. Mean achievement scores were obtained for each year between spring 1981 and spring 1986 for the two groups and compared to the national average. Regression analyses were used to compare the…

Overviews of three studies which focused on achievement as related to instructional time are presented. The first study investigated whether or not time spent in science with fourth and fifth graders (N=86) detracted from learning in more basic areas. The second study examined reading and mathematics achievement in grades 1 and 3 as related to…

This paper details how classroom reading instruction can be studied by using microethnographic techniques, wherein classroom events are videotaped and then carefully analyzed to determine their social organizational features. A short introduction to the use of microethnographic methods is presented, followed by an analysis of a lesson taught by a…

A study investigated the effectiveness of self-instructional strategies in enhancing the word recognition skills of learning disabled elementary school children. Subjects were 30 students in learning disabilities resource rooms whose word recognition skills were at least one year below expectancy, as measured by a standardized reading test, and…

The issues discussed in these four papers concern the validity and generalizability of classroom observation instruments. These issues have been studied and are reported here in an attempt to better define the limits to which classroom observation instruments can be used in researching relationships between teacher behavior and student outcome.…

A study was undertaken to explore the processes underlying the relationship between television viewing and reading achievement. Subjects were 580 second, third, and sixth grade students from nine schools in four different geographical regions in order to provide a cross-section of students in terms of socioeconomic status (SES), urban/rural…

Data gathered during a year-long sociolinguistic study of participant perspectives of classroom discourse are presented in this final report. Elementary school students gave their perceptions of (1) the formal rules or expectations governing discourse at school, in play groups, and at home; (2) appropriate forms to get attention or influence…