This Spotlight will help readers investigate one state's plan to improve literacy with daily summer reading instruction; review how teachers can better support struggling older readers; gain expert insights into strategies for boosting reading proficiency; evaluate the merits of audiobooks for improving reading engagement; explore how short bursts…

Reading is an essential foundation for learning. In 2016, Alaska's Education Challenge was developed with five measurable goals. Supporting students to read at grade level by the end of third grade is the priority as the department seeks to meet the goals established in 2016. Reading proficiency impacts students, state, and society far beyond the…

Ohio's Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement serves as a guide to promote evidence-based language and literacy teaching and learning for all learners from birth to grade 12. Literacy acquisition affects learners' access to, and interest in, content at all grade levels and in all aspects of their lives. In light of this, literacy is not treated as a…

During the 2001-2002 school year, the Read to Achieve Grant program was successfully implemented in 553 schools throughout Colorado. All funded schools were held accountable for reaching the specific reading achievement goals outlined in the statute establishing the program in order to be recommended for second year funding. The Read to Achieve…

This pamphlet describes 8 key elements established to guide the Texas Reading Initiative, whose goal is that all students will read on grade level or above by the end of grade 3. The elements discussed in the pamphlet are: (1) increase awareness of students' reading skill levels in kindergarten through grade 3; (2) promote reading programs as…

Colorado Senate Bill 00-71 and S.B. 00-124 established the Read-to-Achieve Grant Program. The purpose of the program is to solicit proposals from any elementary school, including a charter school, or consortium of schools, to fund research-based intensive reading programs. The funding opportunity was designed specifically for second and third…

The Kansas Minimum Competency Testing Program is designed to provide the public, the Kansas State Board of Education, and the Kansas legislature with descriptive profiles of student performance relative to minimum competencies in reading and mathematics. Results of the 1982-83 assessment are presented in this report. Included are overall test…

The first section of a four-part technical report of Florida's statewide program for assessing reading-related skills in grades 2 and 4 provides an introduction to the program, a description of procedures used, and recommendations regarding program operation. Program background, design, and responsibility for assessment activities are discussed in…

The Maryland Functional Reading Test, Level II (MFRT-II) assesses Maryland students' mastery of functional reading skills that are described in the Declared Competencies Index published by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) in 1980. The test is also used to certify students for graduation from high school and to identify those who…

The Maryland Functional Reading Test, Level II (MFRT-II) assesses Maryland students' mastery of functional reading skills that are described in the Declared Competencies Index published by the Maryland State Department of Education in 1980. The test is used to certify students for high school graduation and to identify those in need of assistance…

To examine the relationship between reading performance and television viewing, the state of Connecticut's third assessment of educational progress in reading included questions relating to the reading materials available in students' homes, their television viewing habits, and their attitudes toward reading. Approximately 8,000 students in grades…

Beginning with the 1985-86 school year, the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) tests have been based on the objectives provided in this publication for teachers and test development specialists. Reading skills objectives for grade 7 include the ability to: (1) identify the main idea; (2) use context to understand the meaning of…

The second section of a four-part technical report of Florida's statewide program for assessing reading-related skills in grades 2 and 4 provides statistical and scoring information. Item and student sampling, a test re-scoring study, reporting statewide assessment data (percentage of achievement, types of tables used), and standard error…

This abbreviated form of the report of Florida's Statewide Assessment Program summarizes the key results and recommendations of the State's performance on the 1971-72 assessment of selected reading-related skills in grades 2 and 4. Topics discussed are: (1) why test? (2) what is statewide assessment? (3) what do 1971-72 assessment results show?…