Lessons and Recommendations from the Alabama Reading Initiative: Sustaining Focus on Secondary Reading

Author: Bacevich, A., Salinger, T.
Publisher: American Institutes for Research
Publication Date: 2006, June
Full text available online at: http://www.air.org/publications/documents/ARI%20Popular%20Report_final.pdf

Abstract (written by WestEd)

Started in 1998, the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) provides comprehensive support for students having reading difficulties in grades K-12. Its key elements include:

• Schools have to apply to be literacy demonstration sites committed to a 100% literacy rate.
  
• Eighty-five percent of faculty and administration attend a two-week summer institute and then ongoing professional development during the school year.
  
• Full-time literacy coaches work with both teachers and students.
  
• School staff and higher education faculty collaborate.
  
• Schools establish partnerships with local businesses.

The study revealed several lessons:

1. Be mindful that secondary and elementary students and schools have different needs — since one-size does not fit all, the ARI actually developed into two separate initiatives, one for elementary and one for secondary.
   
2. Develop partnerships among teachers, administrators, and schools to create a coherent and well-defined K-12 continuum of reading instruction.
   
3. Provide secondary teachers and schools with consistent support from specialized staff including coaches, professional development providers and administrators at the state level.
   
4. Be attentive to the local, state, and national policy environment related to reading.

The report also discusses outcomes for teachers and students involved in the Initiative, and provides recommendations for the ARI. It concludes with a description of the study methodology.