Reading First is the signature program of No Child Left Behind legislation, with all 50 states and the District of Columbia participating. The US Department of Education recently released its interim report on the implementation of the Reading First program throughout the country's elementary schools. As we began in the last issue, Strategies will provide essential highlights of this report over the next few issues.
 
In this fourth article, we focus on interventions for struggling readers. The methods for identification of struggling readers, the methods to meet their needs, and coordination of interventions across teachers are key factors featured.
 
Identification of Struggling Readers
According to the report, principals were asked to identify which information sources they used during the 2004-05 school year in their identification of struggling readers needing intervention. Methods used to identify students included progress monitoring tests, teacher recommendations, scores on tests from core reading programs, diagnostic tests, and standardized achievement tests, among others. More than 90 percent of principals at both Reading First and Title I schools reported using these methods to identify struggling readers in need of intervention. However, RF teachers across all grades were significantly more likely to rely on diagnostic assessments to determine their struggling readers' core deficits than were teachers in corresponding grades in Title I schools.
 
Methods to Meet the Needs of Struggling Readers
Once students were identified as struggling readers and in need of intervention, the various supports used to meet their needs included: staff activities (diagnostics, tutoring, work with reading specialists); extra practice, materials, and support for English Language Learners.  RF teachers in three grades (kindergarten, second, and third) were significantly more likely than their counterparts in Title I schools to place their struggling students in reading intervention programs.
 
Time Set Aside for Coordination of Interventions among Teachers
RF and Title I schools are similar with respect to planning and coordinating instruction for struggling readers; in general, teachers in both types of schools reported that little time is set aside to coordinate interventions for struggling readers with ELL or special education staff. This finding is consistent with reading coach and principal reports from both sets of schools, indicating that this sort of coordination, while important to the success of intervention services, has yet to be achieved.


In a recently awarded project, Hezel Associates will assist Abt Associates on the continued evaluation of nationwide Reading First implementation.
 
Read the DOE's Executive Summary and report here: http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/other/readingfirst-interim/readingfirst.pdf