A two-part study evaluated the effectiveness of Longfellow School's primary-grade whole-language literacy project. Part 1 of the study began in the academic year 1984-85 with children in standard English and bilingual classes in grade K-3. Over a 5-year period, a total of 1,021 individual assessments were carried out on 336 students. Data…

Offers a point-by-point comparison of the whole language approach and the Accelerated Reader program. Offers classroom stories of how Accelerated Reader affects students. Notes that students are taught that reading is an isolated and competitive activity, and that reading means correctly answering questions generated by a computer and earning…

This paper reviews the literature and research on literature-based reading programs (as an alternative to basal reading instruction) that have proven successful and identifies key elements of such programs. The first part of the paper contains an introduction, a statement of the problem, the significance of the problem, a description of the…

This discussion of the sources of "Reading Recovery" presents the results of an investigation into whether or not this relatively costly, tutoring remedial reading program, designed for primary-grade students, is based on relevant experimental evidence as to how these students best learn to read. The general finding of the study was that Reading…

This booklet presents a qualitative evaluation of the Simi Star Project, which sought to demonstrate the use of a Writing to Read adaptation that supports a literature-based, whole language, writing process environment within kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. After a description of the questions that the evaluation asked, the booklet…

A study investigated teachers' and staff developers' perceptions and assessment of the Whole Language Network (which assists teachers in using the whole language approach), the support provided to participants, changes in teaching and assessment practices, and the effects of such changes on student attitudes and achievement. A total of 164…

The Fluency First in English as a second language (ESL) project at City College (New York) began as a result of the high failure rate among ESL writing students at the college, and the fact that this kept many students from entering the regular college courses. Revision on the ESL reading and writing curricula, beginning in 1987, focused on…

A study investigated the effectiveness of an adapted Writing to Read (WTR) program that focused on the writing process and included the "Stories and More" software for literature-based emphasis. Over 1000 writing portfolio samples were collected from kindergarten through second grade students in 29 classrooms in 6 California school…

A study assessed and compared the effectiveness of two distinct approaches of bilingual education used within a single school district in El Paso (Texas). The program designs, one a traditional transitional bilingual and the other a bilingual immersion, were implemented under similar conditions of resources, school year length, class size, and…

This report presents an evaluation of the International Academy for Bilingual Education and Bicultural Studies, an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII-funded project in its third year of operation in 1992-93. The program provided instructional and support services to 74 Chinese- and English-speaking students in 1 pre-kindergarten, 1…

A family literacy demonstration project was conducted to offer family literacy classes in three public schools in Philadelphia. Instruction was offered for 2.5 hours per day 4 days per week for parents of kindergartners and first graders from January to June and for parents and children together in July. The project was designed to help adults…