The author was startled by the carelessness and selectivity of Robert Slavin's comments, which give his words the ring of a promotional release rather than of intellectual reflection. He agrees that Slavin is accurate in saying that the scores on reading tests at P.S. 65 in the South Bronx improved during a period in which, among a number of other…

Summarizes a large-scale, systematic study that described and analyzed instructional practices in about 140 classrooms located in 15 poverty-area elementary schools. Teaching for meaning, or instruction promoting comprehension and conceptual understanding, was compared to more conventional methods. Students exposed to meaning-oriented instruction…

Teachers for Chicago is a graduate-level program addressing the need to select, train, and retain talented, dedicated newcomers for urban schools. It was conceived as a teacher preparation program combining robust academic preparation, an internship, support from experienced mentors, and employment incentives. A second-year evaluation survey…