Background: The need for evidence-based, effective interventions is especially great in literacy -- particularly for young students, mastering early literacy skills is predictive of later school success (Slavin et al., 2011). Understanding the relationship between letters and sounds, also known as the alphabetic principle, is essential for…

The purpose of this article is to describe a 40+ year journey during which researchers have endeavored to design and evaluate an integrated, empirically based reading intervention for secondary students and to chronicle the lessons learned as well as suggest future directions for this type of work. Initial development of the intervention began in…

Recent initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom have added greatly to the amount and quality of research on the effectiveness of secondary reading programs, especially programs for struggling readers. In this review of the experimental research on secondary reading programs, the authors focused on 69 studies that used random assignment…

Provides an observation checklist that enables school administrators to discuss with teachers specific aspects of successful remedial reading instruction. (Author/FL)

Suggests ways for teachers to evaluate their effectiveness and the effectiveness of their reading programs. (FL)

One of a series of educational packages designed for implementation either in a workshop atmosphere or through individual study, this Hot Topic guide on reading program evaluation presents a variety of materials to assist educators in designing and implementing classroom projects and activities centering on the topic of evaluating the progress of…

As the instructional leaders of the schools, principals have both the responsibility and the authority to bring about substantive improvements in their reading programs, their faculties, and ultimately in the reading achievement of the pupils in their charge. For this reason, they should seek constantly to upgrade their ability to supervise school…

Success for All is a schoolwide program developed by R. Slavin in the late 1980s. It has expanded from a single urban school in 1987-88 to approximately 300 schools in 23 states in 1995-96. The program serves all elementary school students. It relentlessly pursues success for every student, attempts to prevent learning problems, and intervenes…

This research report documents the development of the Reading Recovery Program in the United States from its inception in 1984. The report provides summaries of the various empirical studies that have been conducted. The report concludes that: (1) evidence from the first years of implementation indicates that Reading Recovery has had positive…

Prepared as part of a comprehensive study of reading in Virginia, this report contains the findings of 18 research studies. After a discussion of the findings, several recommendations are presented. Among these recommendations are: students in English as a second language programs should be placed with peer groups rather than according to English…

An examination of the Russian reading program, this report first describes the nature of American interest in Soviet education. Sections 3, 4, and 5 then present overviews of the Soviet cultural context, the structure of the Russian language, and the organization of the Soviet school system. Section 6 discusses the course of language study from…

This evaluation summary synthesizes the results of the first year of the Wisconsin Rural Reading Improvement Project (WRRIP), a project aimed at helping small, rural schools improve reading instruction by teaching reading as thinking (also termed "strategic reading"). The means used is staff development: specifically, a leadership team…

This report contains a literature search that was prepared as part of a statewide study undertaken to gather, from all relevant groups of professionals and lay representatives, statements of elements thought to be critical to the operation of successful Title I reading programs. Following an introductory chapter, four chapters provide information…

Through a review of the literature, this paper describes current practices in compensatory reading programs, (particularly Title I and Chapter 1 programs), offers evidence on how such practices evolved, identifies program features that may be questionable, and suggests ways to redesign such programs to enhance their effectiveness. The first…

Using information gathered through a study funded by the New Zealand Minister of Education, this document examines the history and implementation of the New Zealand government's 1:20 teacher-pupil ratio policy first set in motion in 1985, pupil progress associated with the policy, and related literature about class size. The following papers, each…