State education leaders across the country are rightly prioritizing efforts to improve elementary student reading outcomes. However, too often these initiatives do not focus enough on the key component to strong implementation and long-term sustainability: effective teachers. Only when state leaders implement a literacy strategy that prioritizes…

The Early Intervention Reading Software Program encourages literacy growth and achievement in students in grades K-3. The program addresses early reading through the use of computer-based literacy software which provides individualized instruction designed to supplement students' classroom learning. During the 2018-2019 school year, these software…

Reading Improvement Through Art (RITA) program is an interdisciplinary approach to literacy that blends visual art with reading comprehension, evaluated in nine New York City urban high schools. 240 problem readers participating in the pilot program were pre- and post-tested in the Fall 1975 and Spring 1976 semesters. The testing showed the 9th…

Over the past decade, Americans have become increasingly concerned about the high numbers--and costs--of high school dropouts. The time is now to build a similar consensus around this less-recognized but equally urgent fact: The pool from which employers, colleges, and the military draw is too small, and still shrinking, because millions of…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress reveals that 37 percent of U.S. fourth graders fail to achieve basic levels of reading achievement. In 1997, the U.S. Congress asked that a review of research be conducted to determine what could be done to improve reading and writing achievement. The resulting "Report of the National Reading…

This report, which is anchored in ACT data, focuses on steps for improving the reading skills of students attending this nation's high schools. The conclusions reported are based both on what ACT test scores inform about the reading skills of ACT-tested high school students who graduated in 2005 and trends derived from students who have taken the…

Governors and other state policymakers are turning to volunteer reading tutoring programs to improve children's reading ability. The Committee for Economic Development, a nonpartisan organization of business leaders and educators, reports a steady rise in the number of businesses that are volunteering personnel to participate in business-school…

Identifies the elements of a successful districtwide reading-improvement program: (1) a strong central-office advocate; (2) an emphasis on phonemic awareness; (3) an early intervention program; (4) a concentration on language arts in the primary grades; (5) a basal-language-arts program; (6) a variety of assessment strategies; (7) a strong…

This article tells the story of young second-grade teacher and her quest to help students reach the New York state standards in reading. It is the yearlong story of significant professional growth highlighted by the conversations surrounding student learning. The collaborative conversations between the teacher, her colleague, and her staff…

Describes one school district's (Wareham, Massachusetts) experience with Reading Recovery, a first-grade program to help low achievers and at-risk readers. In contrast to reports from Reading Recovery staff, an outside evaluation found that the program did not meet expectations and did not produce lasting results. The district concluded that it…

Evaluates the report of the Commission on Reading, "Becoming a Nation of Readers," which focuses on giving attention to classroom teaching, testing, and teacher education. It gives recommendations for changes in the way reading is taught and includes the list of 17 recommmendations from the report. (MD)

This newsletter describes the Reading Recovery program, developed in New Zealand to help low-achieving first-grade students "recover" 90 percent of average first-grade reading and writing skills after 12 to 18 weeks of intensive instruction. It is currently being implemented by school districts in the United States as well--statewide in…

The fundamental principles underlying the "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001" focus on high standards of learning and instruction with the goal of increasing academic achievement--reading and math in particular--within all identified subgroups in the K-12 population. One of these subgroups is the growing population of English…