This is a companion to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) practice guide, "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade" (ED566956). This guide is organized according to the four recommendations and how-to steps from the WWC practice guide. The activities follow the typical developmental…

What does "rigor," a word that frequently pops up in conversations about education, really mean? More specifically, what does it mean for "literacy" instruction, and how does it relate to challenging standards-based assessments? In this informative and practical guide, literacy expert Nancy Boyles uses the framework from Webb's…

Grounded in a strong evidence base, this indispensable text and practitioner guide has given thousands of teachers tools to support the literacy growth of beginning and struggling readers in grades K-2. The interactive strategies approach (ISA) is organized around core instructional goals related to enhancing word learning and comprehension of…

This study examines whether the classification and regression tree (CART) model improves the early identification of students at risk for reading comprehension difficulties compared with the more difficult to interpret logistic regression model. CART is a type of predictive modeling that relies on nonparametric techniques. It presents results in…

The "School Leader's Literacy Walkthrough" is designed to assist school leaders in observing specific research-based practices during literacy instruction (or students' independent use or application of those practices). This tool is based on rigorous research that indicates the most effective way to teach reading (see Foorman &…

The goal of this practice guide is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations for teaching foundational reading skills to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. This guide is a companion to the existing practice guide, "Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade", and as a set, these guides…

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast developed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Facilitators Guide to support educators in the implementation of recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse's. The practice guide focuses on the foundational reading skills that enable students to read words, relate those words to their…

Amargosa Valley School in Nevada could be considered representative of almost any preK-8 school that serves a large proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and is focused on turning around persistently low achievement. Like other schools supported by federal School Improvement Grants, Amargosa is beginning to implement a reform plan…

"Focus in Grade 2: Teaching with Curriculum Focal Points" describes and illustrates learning paths for the mathematical concepts and skills of each grade 2 Focal Point as presented in 'Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics". It includes representational supports for teaching and learning that can facilitate…

Poor school adjustment is a known correlate of peer rejection in childhood. However, the impact of change in sociometric status on children's academic performance over time is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether improvement or decline in children's sociometric status would predict corresponding changes in their academic…

This article tells the story of young second-grade teacher and her quest to help students reach the New York state standards in reading. It is the yearlong story of significant professional growth highlighted by the conversations surrounding student learning. The collaborative conversations between the teacher, her colleague, and her staff…

This book is a contribution to the dialogue that is maintained today around the problems of education. The book contains four parts: (1) "In Search of the 21st Century School. Can the Colombian New School (EN) Show Us the Way?"; (2) "Experimentation with Self-Learning Materials in Two Schools in Conchali (Chile)"; (3)…

Noting that reading and writing in second-grade classrooms have undergone dramatic changes in the past 10 years, this book provides ideas that engage the second grader and transform the classroom into a more meaningful place in which to learn. The book discusses reading and writing from the developmental point of view, how to organize and set up…

One of the most critical needs in Florida's "Reading First" schools is to improve the effectiveness of interventions for struggling readers. For example, during the 2005-2006 school year, only 17% of first grade students who began the year at some level of risk for reading difficulties finished the year with grade level skills on the…

The practicum was designed to provide five inservice workshops concerned with identification and teaching strategies for regular second grade teachers with gifted children in their classes. The practicum used an interdisciplinary approach to present teaching procedures intended to be practical, cost effective, socially viable, and appropriate to…