Major federal education initiatives, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, have highlighted the importance of teacher quality in improving student achievement. The federal government has committed significant funding and resources to professional development programs for teachers through Title II of the Act and other initiatives. There…

This article discusses the kinds of instructional activities that young children need to develop basic language and literacy skills based on recent research and program evaluations. This includes approaches to develop alphabetic understanding, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and oral language. Activities and materials from the Pre-kindergarten…

Two Emergency School Aid Act (ESSA)-funded compensatory education reading programs served 1900 Minneapolis students in desegregated schools during 1974-75. Both programs generally met their objectives for comprehension gain among disabled readers. Students in the ESAA Intermediate Reading Program achieved a median rate of about 3 grade-score…

The Reading Strategy Project is designed for intermediate grade students who need assistance in the mastery of basic reading skills. The available data demonstrated that the Title I treatment group enhanced their average reading comprehension scores significantly. The gain exceeded the project objective of four normal curve equivalent points. The…

The 1983-84 Chapter 1 Reading Program of the Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District is evaluated in this report. The first section of the report describes the project's operation, and specifically discusses the criteria used for selecting students' instructional methods and activities, how instruction was organized, parent contact…

The Bilingual Learning Centers in Elementary Schools program was begun in four Philadelphia public schools in 1982-83. The project's goal was to improve the achievement of limited-English proficiency children through work in bilingual learning centers containing materials and instructional devices for individual and small group work. Learning…

This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) topic report addresses reading interventions for students in grades K-3, including core reading curricula, programs, or products to be used as supplements to other reading instruction, programs that focus on staff development, and literacy software. The WWC review on beginning reading focuses on programs…

Special Programs to Enhance the Education of Disadvantaged Youth (Project SPEEDY) was in its seventh year of Title I funding, the main thrust being in the area of corrective reading and other programs designed to promote language development. Although concentrating funds on fewer students has been made increasingly difficult by busing pupils,…

The second year of a Title VII project entitled "Bilingual Learning Centers in High Schools" is described. The program created learning centers in two Philadelphia public and one diocesan school designed to provide individualized instruction to limited-English speaking, primarily Spanish-speaking students in bilingual education programs…