This Statistics in Brief contributes to current research by investigating the use of tutoring services among a nationally representative group of public school students enrolled in grades K-12. The report compares students in schools that have not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for 3 or more years, and were thereby enrolled in schools that…

The purpose of this large-scale, national study is to determine whether some early elementary school math curricula are more effective than others at improving student math achievement, thereby providing educators with information that may be useful for making adequate yearly progress (AYP). This report presents results from the first cohort of…

Reading Recovery, a popular one-to-one tutoring program that Bush administration officials sought to shut out of a high-profile federal reading program, has gotten a rare thumbs-up from the federal What Works Clearinghouse. The positive rating comes after prominent researchers and federal reading officials tried to dissuade states and districts…

Accessing Curriculum through Technology Tools (ACTTT), a model development project, was developed and tested by staff of the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood (the Center), a research and development unit within the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois University. The major goal of ACTTT was to develop,…

The National Summer Learning Association is the only national organization that focuses exclusively on learning during the summer months. It works to ensure that children and youth in high-poverty communities have access to quality summer learning opportunities that support their academic performance and healthy development through hands-on…

One of the largest initiatives using coaching has been Reading First, a federal project whose purpose is to improve reading outcomes for students in low-performing K-3 schools. The present study addressed two questions: (1) Who becomes a reading coach, and what background, skills, and qualifications do coaches bring to their jobs? and (2) How do…

In this article, the authors explore which conditions support the success of literacy coaches. Because the literacy coach position is a relatively new one, this article examines some of the questions related to designing and implementing the position of the literacy coach, and the potential influence of the position on student achievement. The…

Schools taking part in the federal Reading First program are showing significant progress in boosting students' reading fluency and comprehension, according to state-reported data compiled and released by the U.S. Department of Education last week. In releasing for the first time detailed, multiyear data on how Reading First schools are performing…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 requires states to ensure that all students make adequate yearly progress in achieving proficiency in English language arts and math. This study examines how six diverse schools have responded to the challenge of educating their students in math, particularly students with disabilities and other…

At a time when many states are poised to roll out new standardized tests to evaluate English-language proficiency in unprecedented depth, California is balking at carrying out a federal requirement to test the literacy of young children who are learning English. Recently, the California board of education decided to ask the U.S. Department of…

The "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (PL 107-110) established the Reading First (RF) Program (Title I, Part B, Subpart 1), a major Federal initiative designed to help ensure that all children can read at or above grade level by the end of third-grade. The legislation (Section 1205 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) requires…

This report presents findings from the third and final year of the Reading First Impact Study (RFIS), a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government's initiative to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 established Reading First (RF) and mandated its…

The primary purpose of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The "Digest" includes a selection of data from both government and private sources, and draws especially on the results…

To complement the information gathered on middle school and high school literacy initiatives as reported in "Middle and High School Literacy across the Curriculum" (Task 1.2 Fast Response Project), the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast (REL-SE) staff conducted a scan of the six southeast states to gather the following information…

Gaps in academic achievement between students from various racial and ethnic groups and from low-income families are a cause for national concern. The advent of high stakes testing and the increased awareness of high dropout rates have rekindled the search for ways to help all children succeed in school. Many strategies to address lagging…