"Achieve3000®" is a supplemental online literacy program that provides nonfiction reading content to students in grades preK-12 and focuses on building phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills. "Achieve3000®" is designed to help students advance their nonfiction reading skills…

Accelerated Reader™ is a computerized supplementary reading program that provides guided reading instruction to students in grades K-12. It aims to improve students' reading skills through reading practice and by providing frequent feedback on students' progress to teachers. The Accelerated Reader™ program requires students to select and read a…

The "Read Naturally"[R] program is a supplemental reading program that aims to improve reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension of elementary and middle school students using a combination of texts, audio CDs, and computer software. The program uses one of four products that share a common fluency-building strategy: "Read…

"Houghton Mifflin Reading"© is a reading program designed for grades K-6. The program provides step-by-step instruction in reading using Big Books (fiction and nonfiction literature), anthologies, Read Aloud books, and audio compact discs. The product is designed to be used as a full-year curriculum program with instruction on developing…

Decades of research have identified features of classrooms and teachers' talk that are associated with children's language growth. Unfortunately, much of this work has not yet translated to widespread practice in early childhood classrooms. Given the important contributions that early language development makes to later academic achievement,…

"Fast ForWord"[R] is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. The program, which is designed to be used 30-100 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 4-16 weeks, includes three series. The "Fast ForWord[R] Language" series…

Reading Recovery (RR) is a short-term early intervention designed to help the lowest-achieving readers in first grade reach average levels of classroom performance in literacy. Students identified to receive Reading Recovery meet individually with a specially trained Reading Recovery (RR) teacher every school day for 30-minute lessons over a…

The "Houghton Mifflin Reading"[c] system is a reading program for instruction in grades K-6. It uses Big Books (authentic literature), anthologies, Read Alouds, and audio compact discs to provide step-by-step instruction in reading. According to the developer's website, "Houghton Mifflin Reading"[c] was developed based on the…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading success of children in the elementary grades: reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria included use of…

Studies by the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction and others reveal that teacher characteristics account for beginning readers' performance more than do program characteristics. To be most successful in acquiring reading skills, pupils need teachers who provide enough time for practice in skills, who can prompt (model, demonstrate) the…

This paper deals with the environment within the family structure and its relationship to literacy. The contents include: "Parent-Child Studies," which cites studies related to environmental influences on the development of reading readiness, parents attitudes and reading achievement, parent involvement and education, television and parental home…

To get better readers, provide better teachers, say the authors. Regardless of outside influences, the focus is in the school and on the teacher. (Editor)

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…