According to Jim Knight, learning something new--such as a new instructional approach or other innovation--and applying it in practice is complex and involves adaptations that take time. Knight describes the five stages he believes people go through in learning and practicing any innovation, from "non-use," gradually up to the stage of…

One important principle of social psychology, writes Nisbett, is that some big-seeming interventions have little or no effect. This article discusses a number of cases from the field of education that confirm this principle. For example, Head Start seems like a big intervention, but research has indicated that its effects on academic achievement…

About 1,300 school students in Round Rock (Texas) Independent School District attend redesigned summer school program that provides intensive interventions in reading and math for students functioning below grade-level standards. Most take reading and math on alternate four-hour days for six weeks in classes with 15:1 student/teacher ratio.…

An evaluation of 14 independent experiments in early intervention, conducted in the late 1950s and early 1960s, revealed program characteristics related to positive outcome: the early age at intervention; the higher adult-child ratio; and more home visits, direct participation of parents, and services for families. (Author/MLF)

Schools can reduce special-education and remedial instruction costs by helping students succeed in early grades. This article profiles several prevention and early intervention programs, including Success for All, Reading Recovery, Prevention of Learning Disabilities, the Carolina Abecedarian Project, Comer's School Development Program, and…

Faced with low literacy levels, four schools in Santa Clara, California, decreed that every entering kindergartner would be a competent reader by the end of second grade. The schools then implemented the 1,000 Days Network--an uninterrupted morning literacy block tailored to children's needs. Preliminary results are encouraging. (MLH)

By providing immediate intensive interventions when learning problems occur, the Success for All program has improved the achievement of students at an innercity Baltimore elementary school. (TE)

Underachievers generally lack internal locus of control, compete poorly, and undervalue effort. Many underachieving children who have adopted dependent or dominant defense mechanisms can be reached using the Family Achievement Clinic's Trifocal method. This multi-step process features assessment, parent-child communication, identification of the…

The Thomas J. Pappas Regional Education Center in Phoenix, Arizona, is a magnet school for homeless students from unorganized territories, military installations, Indian reservations, and national forest lands. This "accommodation" school, supported by federal grants, in-kind business donations, and committed volunteer mentors from the…

Treatment of key variables (resource allocation, instructional quality, and implementation methods) in the Mainstreaming Computers Project involved (1) linking keyboards with one computer; (2) developing criteria for selecting software, sample programs, and a language for writing software; and (3) increasing teacher productivity by assisting…

Although educators can do little to change students' out-of-school environments, they can use inhouse suspension time to help them behave more responsibly and become more resilient in handling daily pressures. The adult in charge should assume the role of a supportive resource, establish a personal connection with students, listen, take interest,…

Researchers agree that a core linguistic deficit underlies poor reading at all ages; poor readers generally exhibit weaknesses in phonological processing and word-recognition speed and accuracy. Reading intervention grounded in research imparts to older readers the skills missed in primary grades and can bring them to grade level in 1 or 2 years.…

Two reasons African American females do not pursue science careers are the need for immediate employment and lack of tools to negotiate the racism and sexism that undermine their aspirations for success. This article describes intervention strategies in an Afrocentric school and a medical magnet school that encourage African American girls to…

In Pennsylvania, instructional-support teams are being used as prereferral intervention groups to help teachers garner necessary school resources to meet students' increasingly complex academic, behavioral, social, and emotional needs. Onsite training elements include collaboration and team building, instructional assessment, instructional…

Over the past four years, educators and researchers from the University of Connecticut have worked with urban high-poverty schools to implement an alternative reading instruction program called the Schoolwide Enrichment Model in Reading (SEM-R). Based on Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model, the SEM-R works through planned enrichment experiences to…