While policymakers have demonstrated considerable enthusiasm for "science of reading" initiatives, the evidence on the impact of related reforms when implemented at scale is limited. In this pre-registered, quasi-experimental study, we examine California's recent initiative to improve early literacy across the state's lowest-performing…

The field of literacy education has long been concerned with the question of how to help classroom teachers improve their practices so that students will improve as readers. Although there is consensus on what characterizes effective professional development, the reading research on which this consensus is based most often is small scale and…

This report presents early findings from the Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study--a demonstration and rigorous evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth-grade readers. focuses on the first of two cohorts of ninth-grade students who will…

Charter school administrators weathered start-up woes, among them challenging students with unmet needs, verbal assaults, dwindling student enrollment, and a first-year budget deficit exceeding $200,000 to implement a reading improvement strategy that holds promise for helping at-risk students read better, a point particularly underscored…

Although over 15 years have passed since Witt (1990) noted that no empirical evidence exists to support the contention that a collaborative approach to consultation leads to more positive outcomes than a hierarchical or expert driven approach, this issue generally remains unaddressed (Schulte & Osborne, 2003). While the literature documenting…

This paper is based on a study of the Success for All (SFA) reading program at two Mississippi elementary schools. In particular, the study investigated whether SFA was being implemented as advocated by its developers, students' reading scores on standardized achievement tests, how the program was monitored, attitudes toward reading, and what key…

A study used 1999-2000 data from Accelerated Reader and STAR Reading to assess students' reading practice, growth in reading performance, and effects of Reading Renaissance training on students' reading development. The study included 10 schools that participated in the 1998-99 study and 27 additional schools. Data from 7876 students enrolled in…

In 1998, as part of a major 3-year Reading Initiative, the Albertson Foundation provided $24.5 million to improve the reading performance of all Idaho elementary, middle, and junior high students. The reading components of School Renaissance (SR), a comprehensive school improvement program, include Accelerated Reader (AR) learning information…

The purpose of this case study is to describe the challenges one coach faced during the initial implementation of a coaching initiative involving 33 teachers in an urban, high-poverty elementary school. Reading coaches are increasingly expected to play a key role in the professional development efforts to improve reading instruction in order to…

A study examined the implementation of the Indiana Early Literacy Intervention Grant Program during the 1997-98 school year, when the program funded a total of 133 projects and served 9,685 students in its first year. The study incorporated an analysis of existing databases, a systematic review of the research literature on reading interventions,…

Finds that rural middle-secondary classroom teachers expect a reading program that is highly compact and content focused and which will replace remediation. Suggests that trained content/reading specialists are needed to promote critical thinking and workplace literacy skills. Offers recommendations for establishing a pragmatic reading agenda for…

A study investigated whether Louisiana school districts and schools involved in the SPUR (Special Plan Upgrading Reading) program were implementing and maintaining essential elements of the project five years after termination of state funding and external support. Subjects were the 66 superintendents or their designee at the district level as…

A quasi-experimental study compared achievement effects of various configurations of the Success for All (SFA), schoolwide reform model for elementary schools serving many at-risk students, from full implementation (certified tutoring, full-time school-level facilitator, and the family support team) to implementations lacking some elements felt to…

Research in school districts throughout the United States shows that children who use "Breakthrough to Literacy" achieve significant and lasting improvement in their reading skills. At virtually every site studied where implementation criteria were met, children who participated in "Breakthrough" demonstrated marked increases…

A study examined the results and effectiveness of the sixth year of the Reading Recovery program in New Hampshire. With the 95 Reading Recovery teachers from previous classes, 38 teachers in the new class, and 4 teacher leaders, a total of 137 teachers taught Reading Recovery during the 1995-96 school year. A total of 693 first-grade children…