This executive summary of Georgia Reading Excellence Act Demonstration Sites (GA READS) includes the Reading Excellence overview; Georgia's plan and goals; state activities; a timeline; local activities; and a budget. The overview states that the Reading Excellence Act was authorized to carry out the following purposes: teach every child to read…

The proportion of variance in student achievement that is explained by student SES-"poverty's power rating," as some dub it--tends to be lower among smaller schools than among larger schools. Small schools, many claim, are able to somehow disrupt the seemingly axiomatic association between SES and student achievement. Using eighth-grade…

The National Indian Education Study is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian/Alaska Native students in the United States. The study was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics for the U.S. Department of Education, with the support of the Office of Indian Education. This report, Part…

Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1996 Long-Term Reading Assessment show that overall student reading performance, as tested at age levels 9, 13, and 17, has increased for both 9- and 13-year-olds since the first assessment in 1971. Scores for 9- and 13-year-olds in most racial/ethnic and gender subgroups reflected…

A study examined the effectiveness of the Reading Recovery program. Subjects were 60 third-grade students (100% minority students) from the midwest who came from low and middle-to-low socioeconomic status. Half of the students received Reading Recovery in first grade, half did not. Comparison of Iowa Tests of Basic Skills scores indicated no…

Designed to help teachers who want to implement an approach to assessment and reporting that supports the wholeness of the teaching/learning/assessment enterprise, this book describes students' accumulation of literacy-related behaviors and attributes and allows for the idiosyncracies of individual learning patterns. The scales presented in the…

This demonstration booklet illustrates the kinds of exercises or test questions and tasks used in the assessment of student achievement in reading and writing by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Each student will be asked to complete the background section and the cognitive sections for one subject, and the assessment will…

This study describes a program designed to increase student achievement in reading. The targeted population consisted of two first grade classes and one second grade class in a small central Illinois community. The median household income was in the lower range. Evidence of the existence of the problem included the April 2000 standard testing…

This book offers middle and high school principals (with or without a background in reading instruction or curriculum) the tools to help teachers and lead their schools to reading excellence. The book presents the current status of student achievement in America, links the importance of reading to learning, clarifies the learning process of…

This paper reviews the existing research on joint storybook reading practices, outlining the behaviors essential for success. It then describes and reports on the efficacy of an assessment instrument, the Adult/Child Interactive Reading Inventory (ACIRI). The ACIRI is an observational tool for assessing the joint reading behaviors of both adults…

The importance of all children achieving adequate reading outcomes by the end of third grade cannot be overstated. Awareness is growing nationwide of the dividends of early reading success and the dire consequences of early reading failure. Schools need a prevention-oriented assessment and intervention system to prevent reading difficulties from…

This publication contains released test items for grade 4 reading from the 2001 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). It is designed to assist teachers and administrators in the analysis of specific test items in order to identify patterns, trends, weaknesses, and strengths of student performance on the Essential Academic Learning…

This publication contains released test items for grade 10 reading from the 2001 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). It is designed to assist teachers and administrators in the analysis of specific test items in order to identify patterns, trends, weaknesses, and strengths of student performance on the Essential Academic Learning…

Three teacher researchers conducted research to help motivate, encourage, and raise achievement of all students involved in the study. There were three fifth-grade classes involved of approximately 30 students per class, ages 10-11. The elementary school involved is located in Bolingbrook, Illinois: Wood View Elementary. The researchers conducted…

The Center for Literacy (part of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) established the Regional and National Network of Research and Professional Organizations, which examines current trends in literacy research on a national level. The first meeting of the Research Network was held in 2001, and featured a panel of expert researchers…