LXD Research analyzed data from over 3,200 students in grades K-2 who participated in using the 95 Phonics Core Program in a school district in MO during 2021-2022. The demographic breakdown of this sample included 75% White students, 23% Low Income students, 9% ESL students, 13% SPED students. Schools in the district were paired for similar ELA…

The No Child Left Behind Act requires that educators at all grade levels use Scientifically Based Research (SBR) instructional practices. Researchers constructed a literature-based model to examine the predictive relationship between a state's comprehensiveness of planned implementation and its capacity to implement the plan. An approach comprised…

The authors examined the results of a three-year summer intervention, Dig Into Reading, for pre-first-grade through pre-third-grade students. This partnership among university professors, public school Title I teachers, and primary classroom teachers resulted in the development of research-based, copyright-free, replicable summer reading…

The authors examined the implementation of a blended learning program for literacy instruction across kindergarten through Grade 5 in a Title I urban elementary school, including a population of students (18%) who are English learners. Student progress in the online component of the blended learning program was a significant predictor of growth in…

The Reading First (RF) Program was first and foremost designed to improve young students' reading skills, as reading proficiency is critical to students' success in school. Students must be able to read and comprehend text well in order to master subject matter taught in various content areas. Disproportionately large numbers of minority and…

The study researches the success rate of dyslexic students at the third, fourth and fifth grade levels on the reading portion of the TAKS test in a school district in south central Texas. In 2007, a school district in south central Texas implemented a dyslexia program, Basic Language Skills, which utilizes all learning pathways in the brain…

After forty years and billions spent on educational programs, minority and at-risk students are still not at a level of academic proficiency (A Guide to Education and "No Child Left Behind 2004"). Among the many reasons cited for this result, one is failure to implement, which is what happens between the development of a program, the…

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in elementary reading comprehension achievement existed as a result of statewide implementation of the Alabama Reading Initiative post No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Research supports the premise that targeted instruction in reading comprehension yields increases in reading achievement for…

As educators strive to meet the demands of federal and state mandates intended to "close the achievement gap" schools often adopt multiple programs to help improve student achievement. Many studies have examined the impact of single programs but few have attempted to understand the interactions of multiple reforms. This case study looks…

Students, who are at risk of academic failure, are reading and achieving below their grade level yet the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that all students perform on or above grade level. Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Education Program (NAEP) showed that 37% of fourth graders across the United States are reading below grade…

A hypothesized model of state implementation of federal policy was extracted from empirical studies to discover the strategies states can use to gain compliance more cost effectively. Sixteen factors were identified and applied to the implementation of the Scientific Based Research provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. Data collected from…

The Reading First Program is a central element of the No Child Left Behind legislation (No Child Left Behind Act, 2001). It builds on findings reported in a national consensus report (NICHD, 2000), about proven strategies to reduce the prevalence of reading difficulty in the early grades in order to help children read at or above grade level by…

Two pressing education reforms entail improving students' reading skills and improving high schools in the United States. In this article, the authors focus on both of these issues by adding the voices of students in an underperforming high school to the discussion about reading reform. We present the results of a larger study pertaining…

As part of a larger project to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education, the Center on Education Policy prepared this compendium, which summarizes the findings of major studies of the implementation and effects of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) conducted by various organizations and agencies. The brief summaries are…

Researchers and policymakers may be continuing to debate solutions to the nation's reading woes, but many struggling schools appear to have reached a consensus on the subject, even if not by choice. As President Bush's flagship reading initiative hits full stride, it is yielding a more uniform approach to teaching the essential skills to children…