Early literacy is the foundation of academic success and predicts outcomes far beyond elementary school. So when only 30% of 3rd graders in New York City public schools scored proficient on the state test in 2014, district leaders began targeting improvements in literacy instruction in grades K-2. In 2016, the New York City Department of Education…

We review the value of cost-effectiveness analysis for evaluation and decision making with respect to educational programs and discuss its application to early reading interventions. We describe the conditions for a rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis and illustrate the challenges of applying the method in practice, providing examples of programs…

An after-school book club, led by the school librarian, was held to test the efficacy of the peritextual literacy framework (PLF) in teaching skills related to critical thinking, problem solving, information literacy, and media literacy. The PLF is an extension of paratext theory developed by Gérard Genette, which provides a typology of the…

Improving student performance for high-need student populations by improving the use of data in decision-making for early reading intervention programs in northwest Florida is the focus of this research to practice effort. The study is conceptually based on using a relational-feedback intervention (RFI) database model in early learning…

When attempting to determine if an intervention has a causal impact, the "gold standard" of program evaluation is the randomized controlled trial (RCT). In education studies random assignment is rarely feasible at the student level, making RCTs harder to conduct. School-level assignment is more common but this often requires considerable resources…

The purpose of this case study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of one class of sixth grade middle students enrolled in a Title I reading class. The class consisted of 15 students. Through instrumental case study, qualitative data were collected over 24 weeks through (a) interviews, (b) observations, and (c) documents: student…

Reading motivation, reading promotion, free voluntary reading, or recreational reading is an activity that most library media specialists consider a vital part of the school library media program. According to Dr. Michael Eisenberg, co-founder of the Big6[TM] research model, reading is how one ensures that students are effective and efficient…

Five major steps are involved in evaluating school reading programs: clarifying evaluators' role, data collection, data analysis, data reporting, and followup. This article explains these steps and presents a checklist for guiding the measurement of motivation, clarification, application, and satisfaction components. (MLH)

Describes a Washington school district's eight-step process leading to the adoption of a districtwide reading program. Includes data collection, research analysis, skill tracing, and field-testing. (PKP)

The public is deeply concerned that students in urban settings are not achieving at high levels. Over the past twenty years, large urban districts have attempted to restructure massive school systems using educational policymaking processes that have focused on school structures, standards-driven curriculum, and test-based accountability measures.…

Apart from the annual returns to the Ministry of Education of Reading Recovery (RR) data (and to a lesser extent, the four-yearly National Education Monitoring Project cycle data), there is currently no national data sets of reading achievement information for New Zealand primary school children. This article uses the national RR data for 2002 as…

Many school reform initiatives now require school leaders to make curriculum and resourcing decisions on the basis of evidence about their likely impact on student achievement. In this paper, we discuss the implications of this policy demand in the context of a descriptive study of schools' capacity to collect, analyze, and use collective…