Many schools identified by states as needing improvement through their Elementary and Secondary Education Act waivers have selected Response to Intervention (RTI), a three-tiered instruction program sometimes referred to as tiered levels of instruction, as one of their main strategies for improving school performance and closing achievement gaps.…

Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest assisted Milwaukee Public Schools in developing a fidelity monitoring system for measuring schools' progress in implementing Response to Intervention (RTI). The study examined the ratings produced by that system to determine the system's reliability, schools' progress in implementing RTI, and whether ratings…

The importance of educational practices based on evidence is well-supported in the literature, however barriers to their implementation in classrooms still exist. This paper examines the phenomenon of evidence-based practice in education highlighting enablers and barriers to their implementation with particular reference to RTLB practice.

The purpose of this article is to describe the first part of a three-phase study to learn what makes an effective elementary literacy initial licensure program. The first step was to identify how nine programs prioritized research-based literacy practices and to identify each program's unique features, which we called "signature aspects." Findings…

The educational approach views the community of practice as a community of teachers and students who share common rules and values, information and experiences through dialogue and collaboration. Three doctoral theses are in progress at the University of Athens which study the possibilities of creating a community of practice in three different…

Exposition as the dominant instructional method can be replaced by including alternative methodologies, such as demonstration, discovery, or integrated curriculum methods and strategies. Changing the direct instruction model's role from an instructional methodology to a planning tool allows the principal to introduce additional instructional…

This guide, which is intended for parents in New South Wales, Australia, provides a description of primary school and its curriculum and guidelines for conducting learning activities with children both at school and at home. Introductory sections briefly discuss the topics of parents as children's first teachers, knowledge about children's…

Notes that school effectiveness research has identified particular process and content characteristics associated with gains in reading achievement. Examines the research and the application of research findings. (FL)

The relationship between changes in the scores from Maryland's performance assessment program, the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) from 1993 to 1998 and classroom instruction and assessment practices, student learning and motivation, students' and teachers' beliefs about and attitudes towards the assessment, and school…

A study compared reading instruction in two South Carolina public elementary schools, Sumner and Danville, that receive federal funding for remedial reading instruction under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. The two schools vary in many ways--Danville is a "traditional" school in a predominantly black urban…

This paper describes the Survey of Effective School Practices, which began in 1995-96 to examine key characteristics, common elements, and unique qualities that contributed to having several elementary schools and one middle school in a large Texas school district become state recognized or exemplary. The study involved a survey instrument that…

Describes similarities and differences in teaching of elementary mathematics in 135 elementary schools in districts of varying size in Washington state. Finds more similarities than differences and that differences relate to selection of student learning objectives and instructional materials, measurement of student progress, student achievement,…

Previous studies of unusually effective urban schools have focused on school characteristics considered influential in the schools' success, but few provide specific guidance for improving achievement in other schools. This study sought to describe organizational processes and arrangements within elementary schools implementing the Chicago Mastery…

Six student teachers who were committed to the tenets of whole language were studied to determine how they manifested their whole language perspectives in light of the enabling and constraining factors they faced in their specific field sites. Results indicated that the six student teachers were forced to alter their teaching behaviors…

Nine public schools in New Jersey, eight of which are in urban areas, are separately described as samples of schools with a high level of student achievement in the basic skills, and with demographic characteristics that are similar to those of schools with serious achievement problems. Eight elementary schools and one high school are included in…