  Questioning Success, Part One It is interesting to me that the Lab publishes a magazine which has an article entitled "Stepping Up the Rigor: A Rural Oregon School Embraces Success for All" (Fall 1999). This article seems to be expressly endorsing Success for All as a "cure" for low reading achievement. So is the Lab throwing its weight behind a specific program such as Success for All, which has little research to support it other than that done by the person who created it? What is the Lab’s position in regard to supporting entrepreneurial products? Just wondering. Carol Lauritzen Questioning Success, Part Two There are problems with the article "Stepping Up the Rigor" (Fall 1999) in that it begins to describe Success for All (SFA), but continues to discuss what Lake Labish Elementary School did before adopting the program. On page 29, paragraph 5, the article reads, "The school’s new reading program is a case in point …." This entire paragraph, plus the next paragraph, describes what Lake Labish used to do for reading instruction before they adopted SFA. The paragraph on page 30 that begins, "For the reading blocks to work…." onward is fine. In Success for All, we do not have students rotating in stations. Basically, the article begins describing adopting a new program, but is actually still describing Lake Labish’s past techniques. If the article described the old methodology and then began to describe how it had changed on page 30, that would work! Lydia Glassie Editor’s note: We’re sorry if the article "Stepping Up the Rigor" (Fall 1999) created confusion about how Success for All is designed and how it fits into the overall reform program at Lake Labish Elementary School. At that school, the model is woven in and around other strategies already in place. Some readers were unclear about which features of the school’s program are features of Success for All, and which are not. In our view, the school’s efforts are exciting precisely because the staff worked hard to find a way to blend the model into their ongoing reform efforts. The result is a unique approach that fits the school’s particular staff and student needs. In highlighting a school that has chosen to adopt an off-the-shelf model, the Laboratory intends no endorsement or recommendation of that model. Rather, our intent is always to show our readers what’s happening in the region’s schools and to let them form their own opinions about what they see. We welcome letters from our readers. Write to us by e-mail: nwedufeedback@nwrel.org. Or use traditional mail:
The Editors
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