Three analyses were conducted for this progress report of the Reading Excellence Act as implemented in Alabama public schools. The first analysis involved third grade reading comprehension scores over the 3-year period (1999-2001). Overall, reading comprehension scores remained stable. Based on multiple criteria, schools that either failed to meet…

Describes how two university instructors implemented the staff development component of a competitive U.S. federal literacy initiative in two elementary schools. Notes that Reading Excellence Act (REA) was enacted to give schools direct financial assistance to improve reading instruction. Suggests the greatest lesson the authors learned was…

From the perspective of the field of adult literacy, the year 1999 is best seen not as the penultimate year of the millennium but as the year bookended by the reauthorization of the National Literacy Act in late 1998 and the National Literacy Summit of early 2000. Both of those events represent a huge milestone, and 1999 may be regarded as the…