We present an aggregation scheme that increases power in randomized controlled trials and quasi-experiments when the intervention possesses a robust and well-articulated theory of change. Intervention studies using longitudinal data often include multiple observations on individuals, some of which may be more likely to manifest a treatment effect…

This paper describes the context, processes and issues experienced over 5 years in which a RCT was carried out to evaluate a programme for children aged 7-8 who were struggling with their reading. Its specific aim is to illuminate questions about the design of complex teaching approaches and their evaluation using an RCT. This covers the early…

The report of the national response to intervention (RTI) evaluation study, conducted during 2011-2012, was released in November 2015. Anyone who has read the lengthy report can attest to its complexity and the design used in the study. Both these factors can influence the interpretation of the results from this evaluation. In this commentary, we…

Interest in variation in program impacts--How big is it? What might explain it?--has inspired recent work on the analysis of data from multi-site experiments. One critical aspect of this problem involves the use of random or fixed effect estimates to visualize the distribution of impact estimates across a sample of sites. Unfortunately, unless the…

In the May 2001 "Educational Leadership," Stanley Pogrow wrote another article attacking the Success for All program and comprehensive reform. SFA has been highly evaluated in numerous studies and by 52 individual researchers. Pogrow is a competitor who believes his own program (Higher Order Thinking Skills) has been slighted. (Contains…

Success for All, evaluated highly in several cities, has received unfair criticism. Opposing the process for developing, evaluating, and disseminating effective programs to high-poverty schools (particularly highlighting flaws in a tiny subset of studies) merely sows doubt and misinformation about a most promising reform development. (Contains 44…

Despite Slavin and Madden's mountains of data, questions about Success for All results remain unanswered. Belief in SFA's unique success has caused Congress to reshape Title I policy in favor of comprehensive schoolwide reform models, influenced state and court program mandates, and restricted teachers' choices in serving disadvantaged students.…

Teachers today are in a stranglehold as a glut of mandates and standards restrict their ability to make decisions in their own classrooms. In many schools, scripted, regimented commercial programs further erode their power to view their students as individuals with unique talents and needs. Even the words they use "to teach" are no…

Although converging evidence favors fostering phonemic segmentation and phonic decoding knowledge in the primary grades, there is little agreement on best ways to accomplish these goals. The well-documented importance of teacher expertise is often ignored. Administrators evaluating reading programs should exercise considerable skepticism and…

Slavin's research that "validated" his Success for All program's effectiveness drives the current push for schoolwide models and comprehensive reform. Other research shows achievement gains for K-1 students only. Concentrating knowledge generation in just a few groups stifles innovative thinking and limits development of alternative…

Reading Recovery (RR), an early intervention for first graders at risk of literacy failure, was introduced in Maine in school year 1990-91 and has been growing ever since. The Maine Department of Education has been funding the training of RR teachers since the 1994-95 school year. Although there is general agreement that the RR program is…

Imported from New Zealand in 1984, Reading Recovery currently operates in 9,800 schools nationwide. Now the much- touted program for teaching at-risk readers is facing questions about its effectiveness and cost. According to one researcher, Reading Recovery temporarily increases the rate of reading development but has little effect on developing…

The evaluation of the reading programs in the Eugene, Oregon, public schools is described. Emphasis is placed on the eclectic approach to reading in the district prior to the evaluation and on the effect of using staff members as evaluators in their own district. (CTM)

Reviews and evaluative comments concerning the 11 papers read during the April 1976 portion of the Pittsburgh conference on the theory and practice of beginning reading are included in this document. Before the papers are reviewed, information is presented on some questions posed at the conference within the context of two issues that were raised…

This monograph is the first in a series of semiannual reports focusing on research related to reading in secondary schools. The first section includes three reviews of literature specifically related to word analysis instruction for adolescents and to reading programs that have been examined from a research perspective. Of the two papers in the…