This article reports the outcomes of community participation and quality learning education resulting from the MEMBACA II project. MEMBACA (Making Early Matter through Books and Community Action) is a literacy project that targets young children in Indonesia. The MEMBACA project includes teacher training, community reading activities, and…

Evidence-based reform, in which proven programs are scaled up to reach many students, is playing an increasing role in American education. This article summarizes articles in this issue to explain how Reading Recovery has managed to sustain itself and go to scale over more than 30 years. It argues that Reading Recovery has succeeded due to a focus…

A recent community wide reading program offers a valuable opportunity for students and teachers to respond to literature by attending community wide events, creating art, and developing relationships with community members.

A randomized field trial involving 883 students at 23 schools in three urban cities assessed the effectiveness of Experience Corps[R] (EC), a program that places older adult volunteers in elementary schools to tutor students who are poor readers. Students were assessed at the beginning and end of the academic year with standardized reading…

Outreach and engagement that connects the Patton College at Ohio University with P-12 schools has been a strong tradition in the Southeastern Ohio/Appalachian region. In the mid-1980s, a partnership aligned with the Coalition of Essential Schools and 9 "Common Principles"' was one of the first. Alignment with 19 "Postulates" of…

In this article, the authors reexamine and duplicate research conducted more than 20 years ago to learn if the simple act of sharing literature with kindergarten children through a nurturing dialogic approach will support children's development of literacy skills, including a love of reading. Dialogic reading is based on: (1) child participation;…

The authors support role changes for educational practitioners who work with children and youth with disabilities as they make important transitions. Principles from critical pedagogy and disability studies are summarized to provide a new theoretical framework to support role changes. Rather than needs-based services that focus on helping those…

A One Book program called "Building a Community of Readers" encourages reading and discussion of a book in a casual setting and not as an assignment to earn a grade. Some suggestions are provided that would help in establishing such a program and encourage a community-wide participation that includes choosing the book, choosing the committee,…

The Edgecombe County (North Carolina) Schools have successfully adopted HOSTS (Help One Student To Succeed), a nationally recognized language-arts program that uses individualized, prescriptive learning through one-to-one mentoring by teams of volunteers. HOSTS begins where Reading Recovery leaves off and helped 240 low-performing students improve…

Describes a volunteer Read Aloud Week program at a Milton (Massachusetts) elementary school. To help students strengthen their language development, the growth of their imagination, and their love of literature, 100 community leaders spent over 50 hours visiting the school and reading stories aloud to enthusiastic fourth grade listeners. (MLH)

Provides a selection of criteria (including needs assessment, shared responsibilities, decision making, constant communication, and continuous participation) which must be part of lasting and long-term outreach efforts with parents. (MG)

Offers descriptions of reading programs created for the elderly in community centers and retirement and nursing homes. (HOD)

Administrators across the nation have encountered vigorous challenges against textbooks, practices, and procedures that critics find laden with occult and New Age values. Attacks are becoming more aggressive, better organized, and well financed. This article and accompanying sidebars discuss pressure group tactics and ways to counter them. The…

Describes a community program designed to commit students to reading during the summer. (MKM)

Provides guidelines to involve the entire community in a successful reading fair, based on procedures followed in Newport News, Virginia. (RL)