School Effectiveness
K-12 Literacy

AZ READS
Reading First Project

Professional Resources

Free Publications and Resources

• A Child Becomes A Reader: Proven Ideas From Research For Parents
  Bonnie B. Armbruster, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Fran Lehr, M.A., Lehr & Associates, Champaign, Illinois Jean Osborn, M. Ed., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Second Edition Spring 2003
• Consumer's Guide to Evaluating a Core Reading Program Grades K-3: A Critical Elements Analysis
• Report of The National Reading Panel: Teaching Children To Read Developed by the National Reading Panel (NRP). Reviewing over 100,000 studies on reading, The NRP found five components essential to a child's learning to read: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
• Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks of Reading Instruction Kindergarten-Grade Three
  Second Edition June 2003. Designed for classroom teachers, Put Reading First describes the findings of the NRP and provides analysis and discussion of five areas of reading instruction. Text version (html). PDF version
• Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks of Reading Instruction Kindergarten-Grade Three: Helping Your Child Learn to Read (A Parent Guide Preschool Through Grade 3): Aimed at families, this guide offers suggestions on how to promote reading at home. Text version.
• Reading:
  Putting It First.
  Getting It Right.
  A Publication for Administrators
• Reading: The Foundation Children Need to Succeed
  (A publication for Policy Makers)

Publications

• Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children: Against the background of normal progress, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children examines factors that put children at risk of poor reading. It explores in detail how literacy can be fostered from birth through kindergarten and the primary grades, including evaluation of philosophies, systems, and materials commonly used to teach reading. Order a copy.
• The Fourth Grade Plunge: The Cause. The Cure.
  E.D. Hirsch, Jr
• Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers Should Know and Be Able To Do
  Dr. Louisa Moats, Ed.D. June 1999
• Using Research and Reason in Education: How Teachers Can Use Scientifically Based Research To Make Curricular and Instructional Decisions
  Paula J. Stanovich and Keith E. Stanovich University of Toronto
  May 2003
• Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers
• Information on the federal Reading First Program
• The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) is a federal organization that shares information about literacy and supports the development of high-quality literacy services so all Americans can develop essential basic skills.
• National Reading Panel – Charged with reviewing research-based knowledge on reading instruction, the Panel published "The Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read." This Web site is updated regularly with information about NRP publications and materials, as well as upcoming speaking engagements by Panel members.
• Partnership for Reading – This national reading research dissemination project, makes scientifically-based reading research more accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, and other interested individuals. The Partnership for Reading efforts include a diverse set of public awareness, professional development, and program replication activities.
• Analysis of Reading Assessment Instruments for K-3

Links

• The Access Center: Improving Outcomes for All Students K-8
  The mission of the Access Center is to provide technical assistance that strengthens State and local capacity to help students with disabilities effectively learn in the general education curriculum.
• American Educator
  American Educator, the professional journal of the American Federation of Teachers, is a quarterly magazine published for classroom teachers and other educational personnel from preschool through university levels.
• Big Ideas In Beginning Reading
  This comprehensive site is maintained by the University of Oregon and houses a wealth of information on a variety of topics related to scientifically based reading research. Topics include: Reading in America, The Big Ideas, Instruction, Curricula, Assessment, Schoolwide Reading Model, and more…
• CIERA: Center For The Improvement Of Early Reading Achievement<>br> The Center for the improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) is a national center for research on early reading, representing a consortium of educators from five universities (the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, with the University of Southern California, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Georgia); teacher educators; teachers; publishers of texts, tests, and technology; professional organizations; and schools and school districts across the United States. CIERA is supported under the Educational Research and Development Centers Program, PR/Award Number R305R70004, as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education.
• Official DIBELS Home Page
  The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills. The measures were developed upon the essential early literacy domains discussed in both the National Reading Panel (2000) and National Research Council (1998) reports to assess student development of phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, and automaticity and fluency with the code. Each measure has been thoroughly researched and demonstrated to be reliable and valid indicators of early literacy development and predictive of later reading proficiency to aid in the early identification of students who are not progressing as expected. When used as recommended, the results can be used to evaluate individual student development as well as provide grade-level feedback toward validated instructional objectives.
• Florida Center for Reading Research
  The Florida Center for Reading Research Four-Part Mission:
• To serve as part of Florida's "Leadership Triangle" for the Just Read, Florida! initiative and to provide technical assistance and support to all districts and schools receiving a Reading First Award
• To conduct applied research that will have an immediate impact on policy and practices related to literacy instruction and assessment in Florida
• To disseminate information about research-based practices related to literacy instruction and assessment for children in pre-school through 12th grade
• To conduct basic research on reading, reading growth, reading assessment, and reading instruction that will contribute to the scientific knowledge of reading
• IDEA: Institute for the Development of Educational Assessment
  Director: Dr. Edward J. Kame'enui
  The Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement (IDEA) in the College of Education is committed to the development of research and outreach activities to improve the academic and social achievement of children and young adults. Through a broad coalition of scholars, educators, and research groups, IDEA supports research and service activities designed to meet three broad goals:
  • Establish, promote, and sustain a culture and community of scholarship, collaboration, and connoisseurship at the University of Oregon and in the State of Oregon to improve the academic and social achievement of children and young adults;
  • Produce, collect, synthesize, and disseminate information related to the academic and social achievement of children and young adults;
  Provide outreach and research services designed to enhance the knowledge and competence of educators, students, and parents about the educational achievement of children and young adults
• The Learning Child Video Project
  The Learning Child is a series of videos produced for public television by Jonathan Diamond Associates in association with the faculty of the Child Development Institute. The videos represent the view that intellectual, social and imaginative growth, as well as specific skills such as literacy, develops optimally in the context of activities that are inherently meaningful to the child.
• North Central Regional Laboratory (NCREL)
  The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Learning Point Associates. As a member of the Regional Educational Laboratory Network, NCREL is dedicated to providing high-quality, research-based resources to educators and policymakers in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
  A Closer Look at the Five Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction
  A Review of Scientifically Based Reading Research for Teachers
  Five Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction
  How can we teach all children to read accurately, rapidly, and with comprehension by the end of third grade? The National Reading Panel Report provides an answer to this question.
  
  The National Reading Panel Report (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000) summarized several decades of scientific research that clearly shows effective reading instruction addresses five critical areas:
  
  • Phonemic awareness
  • Phonics
  • Fluency
  • Vocabulary
  • Comprehension
  These five areas were incorporated into the No Child Left Behind Act and the Reading First
• Oregon Reading First Supplemental and Intervention Programs Review
  The following report, the Review of Supplemental and Intervention Reading Programs, describes the work of the Oregon Curriculum Review Panel and the Oregon Reading First Center, who had responsibility for conducting a critical review of supplemental and intervention curriculum programs in beginning reading for the first cohort of 34 schools participating in Oregon Reading First.
• State Contact Information For Approved Reading First State Grant Proposals
  This website has much to offer! If you work for a State Agency or a Local Education Agency/district, it is time well invested to visit this site!
• U.S. Department of Education
  Get the most current information on NCLB and more!
• U. S. Department of Education Reading First Resources

K-12 Literacy Home page

Contact Information

AZ READS
Arizona Department of Education
1535 West Jefferson Street, Bin 5
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Associate Superintendent, Kathryn Hrabluk
Tel: (602) 364-2333
Fax: (602) 364-0902

This page was last updated on
Tuesday, April 14, 2009.