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…

The present study aims to advance the extant research base by evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of an academic vocabulary program designed for use in mainstream middle school classrooms with high proportions of language minority learners. The quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study was conducted in 21 classes (13 treatment matched to…

Discusses the outlier paradigm, then (1) reviews some major studies in reading program effectiveness at the elementary school level that have followed the paradigm (2) synthesizes findings from these studies into what they suggest are the key elements of effective reading programs (3) offers some critical commentary on the studies in question and…

Suggests that adult basic skills programs may be ineffective for developing the kinds of literacy proficiencies assessed by the National Adult Literacy Survey--reading and understanding prose and documents materials and texts containing quantitative information. Discusses why basic skills education may not lead to improved literacy skills. Offers…

Provides independent analysis of the extant evaluations of Reading Recovery. Finds that students make greater than expected gains in reading, effects comparable to those accomplished by other effective educational interventions; and that programs are less effective in maintaining student gains and more costly than has been claimed. Offers…

Examines the effectiveness of Reading Recovery as compared to a one-on-one skills practice model, group treatment taught by trained Reading Recovery teachers, and a treatment modeled on Reading Recovery provided by teachers trained in a shortened program. Finds that Reading Recovery children performed significantly better than any other treatments…

Evaluates the effectiveness of Reading Recovery (RR) in 10 schools in New South Wales. Finds that the RR group was superior to control students after 15 weeks, but that no differences were found after 30 weeks. Finds that 12 months after discontinuation, 35% of the students directly benefitted from the program, 35% had not been…

Reviews 16 studies of 5 1-to-one tutoring models (Reading Recovery, Success for All, Prevention of Learning Disabilities, the Wallach Tutoring Program, and Programmed Tutorial Reading) used with at-risk first graders. Finds (1) substantial positive effects of tutoring; (2) effects of tutoring are generally lasting; and (3) results were more…

Reports that while an intervention program increased children's library use, it did not affect their attitudes toward reading or their home reading habits. (FL)

Describes a reading program that features systematic instruction in comprehension that has been developed for Polynesian and Hawaiian children identified as educationally high risk. (AEA)