In this column, we share the collective reflections of a group of teachers and a school administrator in one Midwestern elementary school, which highlight the value of using data collaboratively to bring about instructional change and to improve student reading achievement.

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) established a System of Support program that included certain mandates for schools in restructuring and school improvement within the framework of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The Bureau operates 184 elementary schools and 24 colleges nationwide. Some of the schools are required to utilize scripted…

Teachers at a Title I elementary school in South Carolina implemented the scripted Reading Mastery© program (RMP) to improve students' comprehension. Comprehension scores did not increase, despite teachers receiving RMP professional development (PD) prior to implementing the program. Administrators were unaware if the teachers were adequately…

This article discusses how one school system achieved districtwide technology integration through an ongoing professional development (PD) program that encouraged its teachers to learn and lead together. In an effort to prepare students of Kannapolis (North Carolina) City Schools for success in the 21st century, the author, together with three…

A popular approach for improving students' literacy skills is school-based literacy or reading coaches--specially trained master teachers who provide leadership for the school's literacy program and offer on-site and ongoing professional development support for teachers so they can improve the literacy skills of their students. To understand the…

Educators today were concerned with how the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 dealt with the improvement of education throughout the United States. Schools should have put forth a greater effort and reduced the achievement gap between different groups of students based on race, gender, special education status, and if that student was economically…

Title I schools that want desperately to raise student scores on high-stakes tests often have found it hard to resist the lure of scripted literacy programs, especially in the face of pressure from No Child Left Behind to raise test scores. In recent years, many high-poverty elementary schools have adopted such programs in spite of evidence about…

Measures reading rate and comprehension of 39 managers. Shows that both increased after a one-week training program to improve reading speed. (SR)

This handbook prepared by the Alabama State Right to Read staff is intended for the use of local Right to Read directors. The book is organized around the three levels at which Right to Read operates--local, state, and national. "History of Right to Read in Alabama" discusses training of state staff, criteria for a successful reading…

Visual Phonics is an instructional program to provide print awareness, alphabet knowledge, and sound-letter correspondence for children with hearing loss who experience difficulty developing a foundation of phonemic awareness skills. Its purpose is "to clarify the sound symbol relationship between spoken English and print" (Waddy-Smith…

The papers included in this book were presented at a conference in San Francisco, just prior to the National Council of Teachers of English Convention. The speakers included specialists in children's literature, parents, librarians, school administrators, reading consultants, college professors of children's literature, and those informed on…