Reading Apprenticeship is a research-based professional learning model and instructional framework designed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) at WestEd to improve student literacy and learning. Based on understandings of the close relationship between curricular reform and professional development (Heller & Greenleaf, 2007), Reading…

Educators often use reading programs to address younger students' reading abilities and teachers' perceptions of those reading abilities; however, few researchers have examined teachers' perceptions of the effects of sustained silent reading on middle and high school students. The conceptual framework for this study was based on social learning…

This study demonstrates the impact of an Early Reading First intervention on preschool children's language and literacy development using an ex post facto, causal-comparative research design. The project's professional development model was evaluated to produce a process and outcome evaluation to answer two overarching research questions: (1) What…

In this paper, we ask what constitutes effective professional development for teachers faced with struggling readers in high school. Metacognitive teacher training, instructional coaching, mentorship, and collaborative learning are considered. We describe a professional development model preparing high school teachers to teach PHAST PACES, a…

The public is deeply concerned that students in urban settings are not achieving at high levels. Over the past twenty years, large urban districts have attempted to restructure massive school systems using educational policymaking processes that have focused on school structures, standards-driven curriculum, and test-based accountability measures.…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) House Committee Approves Education Funding Bill: Striving Readers Program Would Receive $5 Million Increase; (2) Role…

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program in Texas designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Texas…

The report presents data and discussion on U.S. education across sectors, as well as the work of the Office of Education. Among topics covered are education-equalization programs, including desegregation assistance, civil rights advisory services, education of disadvantaged children, grants to local education agencies, migrant children, neglected…