Project IRIS (Improving Reading Instruction School-Wide) is one school district's effort to improve reading instruction. The project's first three years have produced median reading gains of one year or more per student per year. Although the most important aspect of Project IRIS is school-wide commitment to improving reading instruction, other…

The Tombigbee Regional Library in West Point, Mississippi, conducted a literacy program from October 1, 1988 to September 30, 1989. During the period, the program recruited 166 students and 64 new tutors, provided funding for 110 students not eligible for Job Training Partnership Act funding, solicited and used community resources and funds, and…

Intended for use by administrators, teachers, and district and state personnel, this guide provides a framework for Hawaii's kindergarten through grade 12 language arts program. Various sections of the guide contain (1) a statement of beliefs concerning the nature of language, language and learning, the student, and the school climate; (2) program…

The Boulder Public Library offered a one-to-one free literacy program aimed at middle-class nonreaders. During the fiscal year October 1988 to September 1989, the program matched 60 new students with volunteer tutors; of these, 52 enrolled, boosting enrollment to 90 students. The program also conducted assessment tests on 72 students and…

Discusses the effects of a sustained silent reading (SSR) program on school administrators, teachers, librarians, and the students. Offers suggestions on setting up an SSR program. (SRT)

Intended for use by adult basic education (ABE) instructors who are organizing or reorganizing their reading programs for individualized instruction, this guide outlines the ABE Reading Sequential Competency System (SCS). The main benefits of this particular system for reading are that it delineates a sequence of reading skills, allows the…

Designed for use by teachers who are implementing the adult basic education teaching/learning management system called CUBE (Continuity and Unity in Basic Education), this manual covers the contents of the CUBE system, its philosophy, and its six goals. An inventory sheet listing all materials included in the system, a materials request form, and…

A project was conducted in Texas using an intergenerational approach to literacy instruction. Parents received individualized literacy instruction using the Language Experience Approach, as well as instruction designed to help them encourage literacy skill development in their children. Children and parents also worked together on literacy…

This guide is a resource both for organizing and for managing adult literacy programs. Based on the collective input and refinement of national leaders in adult basic education, the handbook provides coverage of program planning, staff development, student recruitment and retention, instructional approaches and techniques, instructional materials,…

Observational studies of elementary school classrooms have indicated that basal reading programs (BRPs) influence strongly both how children are taught to read and what they read. BRPs are developed by authors working in varying degrees of involvement with the editors of educational publishing companies. Classroom observation literature and…