Press Release Archives

For Immediate Release: 18 March 2008

REL-NEI Examines Programs for Struggling Readers in Four Northeast Cities

Boston, Mass. — A new study by the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) has identified six important factors for practitioners to consider when designing or improving middle grades reading programs for struggling readers. Operated by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), REL-NEI is one of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

A research team from REL-NEI examined the programs that four midsize urban school districts in the Northeast used to assist struggling readers in their middle schools. Schools in Worcester, Massachusetts; Nashua, New Hampshire; Yonkers, New York; and Providence, Rhode Island, were included in this study.

Through program reviews and conversations with district personnel, the research team noted the emergence of six strategies that, according to administrators, promoted program success:

• Extending relevant aspects of Reading First initiatives, which promote proven methods of reading instruction in grades K-3, into the middle grades;
• Using Response to Intervention and three-tier reading models as a starting point for designing a foundation skills program;
• Fostering collaboration among English language arts, special education, Title I, and English language learner departments;
• Engaging highly qualified teachers in the intervention;
• Creating flexible schedules to accommodate interventions; and
• Maintaining program consistency and fidelity.

“There is a critical need to focus on foundation reading skills in the middle grades for struggling readers,” says Judith Zorfass, a co-author of the study. “You cannot just assume that students exit the elementary grades with the basic reading skills needed for content area learning.”

Information about best practices for reading interventions is timely in light of concern about middle school students’ low performance on reading assessments, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

The research team found that all four school districts were at the early stages of program development and that some commonalities cut across their experiences. For example, although the exact format of reading interventions varied by district, most drew on Response to Intervention frameworks to guide program development. In a Response to Intervention framework, students identified as being in serious need of reading remediation are given intensive instruction that targets their specific needs and then reassessed periodically to monitor progress.

The full study, titled “A Description of Foundation Skills Interventions for Struggling Middle-grade Readers in Four Urban Northeast and Islands Region School Districts,” is available online. The staff of REL-NEI seeks to help educators at the state and district levels make evidence-based decisions that help reduce performance gaps among student groups and boost student achievement.

For more information about this report, contact agaddis@edc.org.

The Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) is run by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and WestEd’s Learning Innovations program. REL-NEI is one of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories funded by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. REL-NEI provides rigorous research that is relevant to national education priorities, responsive to local needs, and usable for policy and practice. Visit www.relnei.org.

This project has been funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under Contract Number ED-06-CO-0025. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Education Development Center, Inc.(EDC) is a global nonprofit organization that develops, delivers, and evaluates innovative programs to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development. Celebrating its 50th year, EDC manages more than 300 projects in 35 countries. Visit www.edc.org.