A Comprehensive K-3 Reading Policy establishes support and intensive reading interventions for K-3 students to ensure they read on grade level by the end of third grade. The policy also requires third grade students to demonstrate sufficient reading skills for promotion to fourth grade. For students severely below grade level and who do not…

The third-grade year is considered a pivotal point in a child's educational career, as a critical shift in learning takes place--one where basic reading skills are established and can begin to be utilized for more complex learning. State policymakers are well aware of the importance of ensuring that all students are reading at grade level by the…

The reading framework for the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) presents the assessment's conceptual base and discusses its content. The framework describes the types of texts and questions that should be included in the assessment, as well as how the questions should be designed and scored. This report provides highlights of…

The process of learning to read is difficult for many children, and this is especially true for students with learning disabilities (LD). Reading in English becomes even more difficult when a student's home language is not English. For English language learner (ELL) students with LD, acquiring the necessary skills to read fluently is an even…

As the ongoing national indicator of what American students know and can do, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading regularly collects achievement information on representative samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Through The Nation's Report Card, the NAEP Reading Assessment reports how well students perform in…

The Accelerated Reader program was designed by Renaissance Learning to increase students' motivation to read and students' achievement in reading; however, a review of the literature reveals inconsistent findings about its outcomes. The Renaissance Learning company reports several research studies on their website that suggest the program is…

This essay raises concerns over the future direction for educational aid designed to promote literacy in developing countries. The essay focuses on the EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) initiative in Africa. At one level, this essay challenges the claims for empirical and research-based support for the EGRA. At a broader level, this essay…

The purpose of this study was to survey the present status of reading in Alabama secondary schools. A survey of reading in secondary schools was designed to answer the following questions: What achievement or reading tests are presently administered in Alabama secondary schools? What is the purpose of such testing? What format is presently used in…

This article describes a randomized evaluation of The Reading Edge, a reading program for middle school students. The Reading Edge was designed to integrate findings of research on cooperative learning and metacognitive reading strategies into a replicable reading instructional package that could be implemented effectively in Title I middle…

Kansas schools implementing the Success for All reading program once again made significant gains on the Kansas Reading Assessment. From 2001 to 2004, fifth graders in Success for All schools gained 19.9 percentage points in students scoring proficient or better on KRA. Other Kansas schools gained 7.8 percentage points.

Describes how to measure whether students are making significant gains in reading. (JM)

This document reports on Parkway Missouri School District's Right to Read Reading Clinic aimed at improving the reading abilities of elementary school students. The contents consist of objectives, staffing procedures, testing, diagnosis, diagnostic tests, screening tests, case report forms, remediation phases, case study, case report, counselor…

"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 Subcommittee Passes Education Funding Bill: Appropriations Bill Would Provide Large Increases for Title I and…

This report discusses a project aimed at students both developing a positive attitude toward reading and related skills and showing at least a ten month achievement growth on the Stanford Achievement Test in word meaning, paragraph meaning, word study skills, spelling, and language over the pre-analysis survey of the same test. The contents…

This report outlines the results of a two year implementation of the Nebraska's Reading First initiative. Over three thousand six hundred students from Kindergarten to Third grade were included in the project. Results indicated significant growth across all demographic groups. Student performance in the earlier grades has shown great promise for…