Hello Courtney_apple!
I have done some quite in-depth research on this question, and I
believe my answer will be helpful to you. Finding out which school has
'*the* most successful' program would involve many more hours of
research, involving something like: (1) Find out which states, then
regions, then schools, have achieved the best improvement in reading
scores over a range of years, then (2) Find out which regions have the
highest percentage of low-income students, then (3) work out which of
the high-percentage of low-income student regions have the best
improvement in reading scores, then (4) find out which reading program
they've been using, including whether it changed through those years.
This is rather more than a $10 question!
I have, however, pinpointed one K-8 school in New York which has had
outstanding results in reading and math scores for several years in
comparison with other schools with a similar student make-up. This
school has a high percentage (98%) of students eligible for free
lunches (this is how poverty level is measured). The school is PS 161,
in Brooklyn, NY, which is also known as the Crown School or Crown
Heights. The school’s official Web site is
http://www.nycenet.edu/webhost/database/17K/161/default.htm
The school’s 1999-2000 annual report is available online at
http://www.nycenet.edu/daa/00asr/317161.pdf. It includes details of
the schools’ high performance in reading and math.
The Heritage Foundation has published a report entitled “No Excuses:
Lessons From 21 High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools”, available at
http://www.noexcuses.org/pdf/noexcuseslessons.pdf. The Crown School is
studied on page 74.
There is also a news release of PS 161 Crown Heights receiving an
award from McGraw-Hill (the educational publisher) for outstanding
reading results with their Open Court reading program at
http://www.sra-4kids.com/download/newsrelease/NR_PoSRA161.pdf
New York also has a table of the most improved schools in English
Language Arts at grade 4 and grade 8, available online at
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/ELA4_2001/Grade%204%20ELA%20Most%20Improved.pdf
The table includes information on the percentage of students at each
school eligible for free lunches, so you might want to look at some of
these schools too. (The Crown School is not listed, but I suspect this
is because it has had good scores for several years, and therefore
does not have as much room for improvement as other schools on the
list.)
Basic data about the Crown School is available from the National
Center for Education Statistics at
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&City=brooklyn&State=36&SchoolType=1&SchoolType=2&SchoolType=3&SchoolType=4&SpecificSchlTypes=all&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=9&SchoolPageNum=12&ID=362058002576
“Myth Slain: Poor Kids Can Read” (from the National Right to Read
Foundation) http://www.nrrf.org/article_stephens4-2-02.htm This
article talks about an experimental reading project that has been
successful. “The project, launched by the American Federation of
Teachers during the 2000-2001 school year, involves about 2,600
kindergartners, first-graders and second-graders in nine
low-performing schools here and in New Orleans and Washington, D.C.”
One school mentioned is the George Washington Carver Elementary School
in Cleveland, as a success story. The school’s Web site is at
http://www.cssd11.k12.co.us/carver/
“Overcoming the Language Gap: Make Better Use of the Literacy Time
Block” by E. D. Hirsch Jr. American Educator, Summer 2001
http://www.aft.org/american_educator/summer2001/lang_gap_hirsch.html
This article mentions the Nancy Ichanaga's Bennett-Kew School in
Inglewood, CA as being one of the ‘most successful’ at teaching
reading to low-income students.
There are a great many reports available that detail programs and ways
of teaching children to read that have proven successful, and some of
these also list schools as examples or case studies:
A report from the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading
Achievement: “Beating the Odds in Teaching All Children to Read” (30
September 1999) http://www.ciera.org/library/reports/inquiry-2/2-006/2-006.pdf
or the HTML version is at:
http://www.ciera.org/library/reports/inquiry-2/2-006/2-006.html
“The authors used quantitative and descriptive methods to investigate
school and classroom factors related to primary-grade reading
achievement. Fourteen schools across the U.S. with moderate to high
numbers of students on subsidized lunch were identified as most,
moderately, or least effective based on several measures of reading
achievement in the primary grades." (Summary from the Web site). This
is an academic report, but you can skip to the first table which shows
the schools’ effectiveness ratings.
“Studies of High-Performing School and Districts” (from the No
Excuses Web site) http://www.noexcuses.org/resources/schools_districts.html
“Exemplary Reading Programs in Illinois Public Schools” (prepares by
the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory for the Illinois
State Board of Education)
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/isbe/isbetoc.htm This site includes a
report "Profile of an Exemplary Elementary School"
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/isbe/isbeprof.htm (This is theoretical
- not based on an actual school).
“Effective Programs Can Serve as Models for Dissemination Strategies”
(from the National Reading Panel)
http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/publications/interim%5Freport/section4.htm#Strategies
“The Panel heard about a number of successful programs that offered a
series of initiatives and ideas that could be used as models for
dissemination.”
"Building on the Best, Learning from What Works: Seven Promising
Reading and English Language Arts Programs" (the American Federation
of Teachers) http://www.aft.org/edissues/downloads/seven.pdf This
includes a long bibliography.
“Recent surveys of experimental research on reading instruction” by
Dr. Patrick Groff http://www.nrrf.org/67_surveys_exp_research.htm
“Reading programs that Work: a review of reading programs from
pre-kindergarten to 4th grade”
http://www.readbygrade3.com/reading_research.htm This is a 72-page
downloadable publication: "Most children learn to read without
difficulty, yet a surprising number face serious stumbling blocks. Why
are some students failing to learn to read? What reading programs are
proven to be effective? This 72-page publication tackles these two
questions, joining the research behind why children fail to read with
research on effective solutions to reverse this failure. Included in
the reading report are analyses of 35 different reading programs and
their impact on student achievement"
Other resources that may be useful to you:
Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubskey.cfm?from=nrp
“In 1997, Congress asked the Director of the NICHD, in consultation
with the Secretary of Education, to convene a national panel to assess
the effectiveness of different approaches used to teach children to
read. For over two years, this National Reading Panel (NRP) reviewed
research-based knowledge on reading instruction. On April 13, 2000,
the NRP concluded its work and presented it at a hearing before the
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services, and Education.”
"Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children" (full text of this
book is available to view online)
http://books.nap.edu/books/030906418X/html/347.html
The No Excuses campaign Web site may be of interest to you:
http://www.noexcuses.org/
“The No Excuses campaign is a national effort organized by The
Heritage Foundation to mobilize public pressure on behalf of better
education for the poor.”
Success for all Foundation - Effectiveness Studies:
http://www.successforall.net/resource/effectivenessstudies.htm These
are reports of states which have had success with the “Success for
All” reading program, including New York City, which has a high
percentage of low-income students.
The National Right to Read Foundation: http://www.nrrf.org
National Reading Panel:
http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/default.htm
I hope this helps you!
All the best,
drjmetz-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
drjmetz-ga
on
26 Jul 2002 15:46 PDT
Oops! I do apologize, Courtland_apple, that I mis-spelt your name.
It's been a long day, and I'm afraid I'm rather tired :-)
One other thing I had meant to add was the address and phone number of
the New York school, PS 161. It's 330 CROWN STREET, BROOKLYN, NY
11225, and the phone number is 718-756-3100.
I hope this helps, and again, I'm sorry for the mistake,
drjmetz-ga.
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