Many seem to believe that researcher-made tests are unnecessary, if not inappropriate, for evaluating reading comprehension interventions. We suggest that this view reflects a zeitgeist in which researcher-made (proximal) tests that align with the researchers' interventions are closely scrutinized and often devalued, whereas commercially developed…

In 2009, the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences (IES) allocated $120 million to establish the Reading for Understanding (RfU) initiative. This initiative responded to concern that children's improvement in reading comprehension had leveled off over the previous few decades, coupled with the observation that research on reading comprehension had…

Reading and writing are critical to students' success in and outside of school. Because they draw on common sources of knowledge and cognitive processes, involve meaning making, and can be used conjointly to accomplish important learning goals, it is often recommended that reading and writing should be taught together. This meta-analysis tested…

Butterfly Phonics aims to improve the reading of struggling pupils through phonics instruction and a formal teaching style where pupils sit at desks in rows facing the teacher. It is based on a course book created by Irina Tyk, and was delivered in this evaluation by Real Action, a charity based in London. Real Action staff recruited and trained…

Much is known about short-term--but very little about the long-term--effects of reading interventions. To rectify this, a detailed analysis of follow-up effects as a function of intervention, sample, and methodological variables was conducted. A total of 71 intervention-control groups were selected (N = 8,161 at posttest) from studies reporting…

The present study is a follow up study to a quantitative intervention study where two intervention programs, Reciprocal Teaching and Inference Training, were practiced. This study aims at capturing the potentials benefits and qualitative aspects of one of the programs evaluated, Reciprocal Teaching. More specifically, I have investigated the video…

"Talk of the Town" is a community led approach to supporting the speech, language and communication (SLC) skills of children and young people, aged 0-19, living in areas of social disadvantage. It is delivered by the Communication Trust. This evaluation reports on a randomised controlled trial undertaken with 2696 pupils in 64 primary…

The Summer Active Reading Programme aimed to improve reading skills and particularly comprehension by raising children's engagement in, and enjoyment of, reading at the transition from primary school to secondary school. The programme was delivered by Booktrust, an independent charity that aims to change lives through engaging people with reading.…

Advances in assessment technologies are affording teachers and students new ways to efficiently assess and track achievement while also better promoting learning. WriteToLearn is one such technology, a Web-based tool that integrates practice and assessment in reading comprehension with writing about what is learned. Based on the principle of…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) methods and procedures used in the 1979-80 assessment of reading and literature are described. The objectives of the assessment are categorized into four main areas. These include values reading and literature, comprehension of written work, response to written work, and application of study…

This is the executive report of a study which evaluated the Television Reading Project, an instructional program based upon current television programs designed to increase reading skills of students. The major goals of the evaluation were to assess the effects of the project on reading skills, acceptance of the materials by teachers and students,…

Research in reading comprehension was reviewed in order to characterize, summarize, and evaluate its contribution to principles of instructional practice. Studies were divided into four major research traditions: existential descriptions, existential proofs, pedagogical experiments, and program evaluations. An examination of these four frameworks…

This paper is a reaction to the "Standards for Evaluations of Educational Programs, Projects and Materials," focusing on the applicability of these standards. The evaluation of programs almost without exception deals with the evaluation of change of programs, taking the form of comparative studies, and being valued according to how the…

The evaluation of reading in the West Hartford Public Schools is part of a larger evaluation of English/Language Arts. Its purpose is to provide information for program improvement and growth. Using existing data, the reading evaluation focuses on four questions: (1) Does the reading achievement of West Hartford students improve from grade four…

The reading program of the Reading Public Schools encompasses skills which facilitate reading a wide variety of materials, reading as a source of enjoyment, and reading as a lifelong activity. The goals for each student address word recognition skills, comprehension, reading skills needed to function in society, reading skills for individual…