Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center
E-Newsletters
NWRCC E-Newsletter
October 2008
- Leading for Reading: An Introductory Guide for K-3 Reading Coaches
- Reviewing a Reading Program
- Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice
- National Implementation of Response to Intervention: Research Summary
- What Works Clearing House Intervention Report: Accelerated Reader
- A Call to Restructure Restructuring:
Lessons from the No Child Left Behind Act in Five States - Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians
and Alaska Natives: 2008 - Service-Learning Policies and Practices: A Research-Based Advocacy Paper
1. Leading for Reading: An Introductory Guide for K-3 Reading Coaches
The Center on Instruction has released a collection of resource materials designed to prepare school-based reading coaches who work with teachers to improve reading instruction in kindergarten through grade three. The materials support a four- or five-day professional development event, although they can be used in alternate formats. The materials include three components: a Participant’s Guide for use in the workshop sessions and as a long-term resource for attendees, a Facilitator’s Guide to provide information for session leaders (e.g., speaker notes, activity instructions), and a slide presentation with embedded video clips that illustrate practical application of the content.
For additional information visit: http://www.centeroninstruction.org/
resources.cfm?category=reading&subcategory=materials&grade_start
=0&grade_end=3#176
2. Reviewing a Reading Program
The Center on Instruction has released a professional development module for Reviewing a Reading Program based on The Curriculum and Instructional Projects Team at the Florida Center for Reading Research’s "Guidelines for Reviewing a Reading Program". The professional development module is designed as a two-day training to guide reviewers of reading programs through the review process. The Participant's Guide contains resources (charts, summaries, and the Guidelines themselves) to help in reviewing a reading program. The Participant's Guide can also serve as a tool for reviewing any reading program.
For additional information visit: http://www.centeroninstruction.org/
resources.cfm?category=reading&subcategory=materials&grade_start
=0&grade_end=3#175
3. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice
The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) has released a professional learning module designed to help educators understand and create a classroom atmosphere and curriculum that integrate and respond to the vast diversity of cultures present today in our schools. There are three academies within this professional learning module:
Academy 1: Understanding Culturally Responsiveness explores what it means to be culturally responsive and how to apply this concept to education.
Academy 2: Culturally Responsive Classrooms provides guidelines for how to create culturally responsive classrooms.
Academy 3: Culturally Responsive Curriculum focuses on the ideas of content integration and knowledge construction through curriculum review and redesign.
For additional information visit: http://nccrest.org/professional/
culturally_responsive_pedagogy-and.html
4. National Implementation of Response to Intervention: Research Summary
The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) has released a new publication on Response to Intervention. This research study investigated the level of emphasis of current and projected state-wide efforts for implementing RTI from the perspectives of special education state department directors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Every state responding indicated that some work on RTI was underway, either in current practice or in development.
For additional information visit: http://www.nasdse.org/Portals/0/
NationalImplementationofRTI-ResearchSummary.pdf
5. What Works Clearing House Intervention Report: Accelerated Reader
The What Works Clearinghouse has released an intervention report on The Accelerated Reader program. The Accelerated Reader program is a guided reading intervention in which teachers are closely involved with student reading of text. It involves two components, the Accelerated Reader software and Accelerated Reader Best Classroom Practices (formerly called Reading Renaissance). Two studies of Accelerated Reader meet the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The Intervention Report noted that Accelerated Reader was found to have no discernible effects on reading fluency, mixed effects on comprehension, and potentially positive effects on general reading achievement.
For additional information visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/
beginning_reading/arrr/index.asp
6. A Call to Restructure Restructuring:
Lessons from the No Child Left Behind Act in Five States
The Center on Education Policy has a released a report synthesizing findings from their research on how the No Child Left Behind Act's school restructuring requirements are being implemented in Michigan, California, Maryland, Ohio, and Georgia. Document reviews and interviews with state officials were conducted in the five states, and case study research was carried out in 19 districts and 42 schools. Among the report's findings are that more schools have entered restructuring and many remain in that status for multiple years; the "any other" restructuring option is the most popular option in the states studied; and the five states varied greatly in the supports they offered restructuring schools.
For additional information visit: http://www.cep-dc.org/
index.cfm?fuseaction=document_ext.showDocumentByID&nodeID
=1&DocumentID=248
7. Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians
and Alaska Natives: 2008
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has released a report examining both the educational progress of American Indian/Alaska Native children and adults and challenges in their education. The report shows that over time more American Indian/Alaska Native students have gone on to college and that their attainment expectations have increased. Despite these gains, progress has been uneven and differences persist between American Indian/Alaska Native students and students of other racial/ethnic groups on key indicators of educational performance.
For additional information visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/
pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008084
8. Service-Learning Policies and Practices: A Research-Based Advocacy Paper
The Education Commission of the States’ (ECS) National Center for Learning and Citizenship has released a paper detailing service-learning’s research-based evidence for education leaders and identifies best practices and policies. The paper describes five critical components for effectiveness: vision and leadership, curriculum and assessment, community-school partnerships, professional development and continuous improvement.
For additional information visit: http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/78/58/7858.pdf
The NWRCC monthly e-newsletter is a useful resource and we welcome your feedback and ideas. Each issue will include items related to timely, important topics. Our purpose is to keep you informed and provide access to source materials about critical issues relating to No Child Left Behind.
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