"A Focus on Professional Development" is the fourth in the Research-Based Practices in Early Reading Series published by the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) at Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL). Because reading proficiency is fundamental to student achievement across all subjects and grades, the preparation of the teachers…

Examples from a multiyear project in a Los Angeles (California) school in a low-income Hispanic school district illustrate successes of a program to improve the early reading achievement of Spanish-speaking primary school children. The interplay of research, practice, and school improvement resulted in significant improvement in early Spanish…

This research examined the impact of the first-year implementation of an instructional intervention to promote achievement and equity in science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students. The research addressed three areas: (a) overall science and literacy achievement, (b) achievement gaps among demographic…

The Baltimore City Public School System's (BCPSS) Grade 9 Transition Program was implemented in 2001-02. It is designed to increase student achievement in an era of No Child Left Behind federal legislation by providing additional time and learning opportunities for eighth-grade students who have not met all promotion standards established by the…

The purpose of Even Start, as outlined in federal legislation, is to help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and low literacy by providing a unified family literacy program for low-income families. Even Start has three related goals: (1) to help parents improve their literacy or basic education skills; (2) to help parents become full…

This paper analyzes 19 studies that were considered by the National Institute of Education's panel on the effects of school desegregation in order to determine desegregation's effect on black achievement, black self-esteem, and racial relations. It is stated that, overall, the results show that reading achievement improves somewhat as a result of…

This report presents the findings of the 1981-82 evaluation of two projects that served 200 mildly mentally retarded students of limited English proficiency (L.E.P.) in New York City Public Schools during the 1981-82 school year. Project TRABAJO served six middle and secondary schools, while Individualized Bilingual Education for Children with…

The introduction of the Multiple Ability Curriculum (MAC) and Expectation Training (ET) into the curriculum of racially integrated elementary schools appears to improve the equal status interaction between students of differing academic and social status. The goals of the MAC and ET are the following: (1) prevent classroom dominance by students of…

Project Esperanza, a staff development effort, was designed in order to supplement the basic educational program for handicapped students with limited English proficiency in New York City Schools. The project served the teachers of 458 students in elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools, and provided (1) staff training and consultation;…

This report summarizes evaluation information on reading, writing, and mathematics achievement among elementary and secondary school students in 310 school districts in Massachusetts, after the second year of implementation of the Basic Skills Improvement Policy. The report describes data collection, analysis, and reporting procedures, summarizes…

Project Concern is an experiment in educational intervention for children in those Hartford, Connecticut schools under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Begun in September, 1966, the program aims to achieve school desegregation objectives by busing Hartford students to schools in the suburbs and by busing students from schools…

This report is an evaluation of a Title VII Bilingual Program conducted in New York City in 1979-1980 for Spanish speaking students. A program description outlines the methods used for selecting students for the bilingual program. A discussion of the evaluation's design and objectives is also included. The report presents student test scores in…

Observations were conducted in 29 elementary schools in which reading instruction had been found to be effective, as well as in classes from less effective schools, in order to determine the characteristics which were associated with effective and ineffective compensatory reading programs. The schools' membership in a cluster (partially effective,…

Currently, the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) encompasses four mandated testing programs. This document includes results from the TCAP Achievement Test in reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies in grades 3-8; the Writing Assessment in grades 5, 8, and 11; the Gateway Assessments, administered initially to…

The present research is a third-party study of the effects of the School Renaissance (SR) comprehensive school reform (CSR) model on student achievement in 11 elementary and middle schools in Texas. The primary measures used in the study were the Texas Learning Index (TLI) reading and mathematics scores obtained through administration of the Texas…