Profiles the "Ready to Read Project," a literacy program developed in 1988 and implemented throughout several South Pacific islands including Fiji, Western Samoa, and the Marshall Islands. The program established a whole-language approach to English literacy based on principles and philosophies grounded in local and international reading…

A study investigated the effects of a software-based early reading program on the early reading ability of 55 first-graders with disabilities or who had potential for reading failure. Results showed students showed dramatic improvements following the 16-week program, including the skills of phonemic awareness, spelling, and word identification.…

Although most principals do not teach reading, it is critical that they know how reading should be taught, especially in the primary grades. A growing body of research gives an increasingly clear picture of effective reading programs. It indicates that most young children need instruction in five reading areas: phonemic awareness, phonics,…

In the past few years many states in the U.S. have moved toward full implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. In doing so, schools have adopted "research-based" early reading models to implement Reading First, a salient component of NCLB. Through structured observations and interviews, the study team examined the…

A primary goal of publicly funded adult education programs in the United States is to help adults increase their reading skills so their educational, vocational, and personal goals are more attainable. Adult education teachers are challenged with providing effective reading instruction for a diverse group of adults who have widely varying reading…

This issue celebrates Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's (SEDL's) history and touches upon new work. This issue includes an article on the need for educators to have access to relevant, high-quality research findings and to be able to apply those findings to their local settings. It also discusses briefly the three randomized…

A study evaluated the Early Literacy program that served 2,278 underachieving pupils in grades one (1,655) and two (623) who appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without additional reading instruction. The Early Literacy program teacher and each small group of pupils worked together each day for 40-45 minutes on reading and writing…

A study evaluated the Early Literacy program that served 1,773 underachieving pupils in grades one and two who appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without additional reading instruction. The Early Literacy program teacher and each small group of pupils worked together each day for 40-45 minutes on reading and writing activities. A…

A study examined the effect of an alternative language arts program designed to encourage children to take up reading and writing in ways that they find personally, socially, and politically relevant. Throughout a school year, the development of the alternative language arts program in a third/fourth grade classroom in an urban school was…

A process evaluation was conducted to determine the status of the School District of the City of Saginaw's Adult Basic Education (ABE) program operations during 1991-92. The instrument focused on nine aspects of an ABE classroom: start of class; time spent in instruction (for three subject areas and total); modes of instruction; extent of…

A formative evaluation was conducted during the first year of a whole language literacy project at Sir William Osler High School, Ontario, Canada, which serves students who have been diagnosed as functioning below grade level. Interviews were conducted to collect descriptive information from the six Osler staff members involved in the project, the…

A formative evaluation was conducted during the first year of a whole language literacy project at Maplewood High School, Ontario, Canada, which serves students who have been diagnosed as functioning below grade level. Interviews were conducted to collect descriptive information from the five Maplewood staff members involved in the project, the…

Literacy Foundation Memphis, Inc., Memphis City Schools Adult Education, and the Regional Medical Center at Memphis cooperatively implemented an intensive skills enhancement program for employees. The program used an industry immersion model, located on site, with 80 hours of instruction delivered 4 hours per day for 4 weeks on work-release time.…

Literacy Foundation Memphis, Memphis City Schools Adult Education, and Kimberly Clark engaged in a cooperative venture to implement an intensive industry skills enhancement program for employees of Kimberly Clark. The effort continued to develop, refine, and expand the industry immersion model located on site, with 80 hours of instruction…

The performance patterns of about 13,000 Asian/Pacific Islander (API) students in mathematics, written composition, and reading in grades 1 through 6 were examined. Student information was obtained through the Los Angeles Unified School District's data base for the Survey of Essential Skills (May 1982). Predominantly English-speaking, the students…