This paper examines the effect of a formal evaluation process upon educational change--specifically, the adoption of innovative reading programs and practices--at different organizational levels of implementation. Because of the size of the project (62 school systems, 142 designated schools, three sets of categorical funded projects), the…

To provide a Louisiana State reading improvement program with information that could improve instructional efficiency, a study was conducted to determine the relationship between student time on task and eight broad categories of classroom activities used by teachers during reading and language arts instruction. The eight activities studied were…

This report summarizes research supports addressing three areas as targets for educational improvement in Alabama: beginning reading, expansion of reading power, and intensive intervention for those who are reading below grade level. The paper also describes Alabama's statewide initiative to implement best practices in these areas and summarizes…

The Arizona Young Authors Conference and Young Readers Award are the culminating activities in a two-year cyclical program designed to expand the reading and writing of children throughout the state. During the 1975-1976 school year, elementary school students reproduced their writing in their own bound books; Young Authors Conferences were then…

A case study approach was used to evaluate the statewide reading improvement project in Louisiana called Special Plan Upgrading Reading (SPUR). SPUR emphasized a change agent approach by providing Technical Assistants and small stipends (approximately $5,000) to participating school districts. During the first two years of the evaluation,…