All but four states in the nation now permit teachers to come into the profession through an "alternate route," compared to only a few 30 years ago. Alternate routes into the classroom have grown so acceptable that about one in five teachers now enters the profession through one of these programs, which offer some real benefits to the…

With Response to Intervention (RTI) increasingly used for identification for special education services, interventions are systematically being implemented and evaluated to improve achievement for students with disabilities. This descriptive study provides baseline data on RTI interventions and tiered instruction from 15 school districts (5 large,…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Pressured to comply with state and district mandates, teachers may follow scripted, back-to-basics lessons and, as a result, feel frustrated about the assaults on their professionalism and the prevalence of "test-prep pedagogy." As they experience relentless pressure to improve test scores, teachers face a constant challenge to maintain…

Statistics show that American students' reading and writing skills are lagging at a time when literacy skills are needed more than ever. Efforts to address low adolescent literacy levels meet numerous challenges, chief among them is the fact that formal literacy instruction ends for most students after the elementary grades. Career and technical…

This article explores the factors behind the success of a reading workshop at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine. In the workshop, teachers start by being honest with students about what they do as readers. They acknowledge the guilt many of them grew up with--the feeling that there's a proper, rigorous way to read and that…

This report provides state-, regional-, and district-level decisionmakers in the Northeast and Islands Region with a description of the "Compendium of Strategies to Reduce Teacher Turnover in the Northeast and Islands Region," a searchable database of selected profiles of retention strategies implemented in Connecticut, Maine,…

In this article, the author shares her journey with evidence-based reading instruction. Her experience with evidence-based reading instruction (as the adult basic education coordinator at Windham Adult Education in Windham, Maine) has been a journey of change both professionally and programmatically, and the students at Windham Adult Education are…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report is…

This report states that in 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 in Maine the number of Reading Recovery programs provided increased by 5% and 11% respectively, and that more than half of all Reading Recovery[R] students successfully completed the program. The report also states that students who successfully completed Reading Recovery[R] continued to improve…

This elementary French reader was designed for use in a bilingual program. It contains reading selections about life in Madawaska, Maine, illustrated vocabulary lists, and discussion questions. Also included are the words and music for two short songs and four phonetic drills. (PMP)

This paper describes the results of a study assessing the impact on field independence-dependence of decoding as a component of reading instruction for 225 first graders. Such drill appears to affect the ability to disembed, a component of field independence-dependence, but not to affect the ability to identify vertically. (Author)

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The "2011 State…

This elementary French textbook was designed for use in Frenchville and St.-Agathe, Maine, bilingual programs. It contains several reading selections, arithmetic and social studies lessons, and the words and music for three short songs. Every lesson is illustrated, and several exercises that provide space for the students' written responses are…