A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act
Provides funding to help schools raise standards and improve their accountability. It encourages communities to create their own school improvement plans. For information, telephone your state education department or the U.S. Department of Education at (202) 401-0039.

The Education Excellence Partnership has published a booklet about standards for parents called Strengthening Your Child's Academic Future. To get your copy, call 1-800-558-5450.

The National Urban League has a new video, Putting Standards into Action, to help parents understand what academic standards are and what they can do to help children reach them. For more information, call (212) 558-5450.

The Illinois Right to Read Initiative entails 4 key strategies to improve reading and literacy: (a) communicate information on how children learn to read and reading programs that work; (b) improve the ability of educators to teach children to read; (c) mobilize partners to join with educators to improve reading; and (d) direct resources to support reading improvement.

This Internet address takes you to an outstanding Web site run by Putnam Valley Schools, Putnam Valley, New York, which posts links to other sites with K-12 education standards and curriculum framework documents, including sites from every state.

Achieve
Web site: http://www.achieve.org

Achieve Resource Center on Standards, Assessment, Accountability, and Technology is home to a National Clearinghouse database that contains easily accessible information on standards-based education reform for educators, governors, and business leaders.

American Federation of Teachers, Educational Issues Department
Web site: http://www.aft.org/edissues/index.htm

Find out more about the American Federation of Teachers' campaign for high standards at the Web site, which mentions related resources and information about standards nationally and internationally.

Early Literacy
Web site: http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/offices/instruct/literacy/

Essential components of a balanced and comprehensive reading program are listed: a strong literature, language and comprehension program (including oral and written language); an organized, explicit skills program; ongoing diagnosis; and a powerful early intervention program

Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
Web site: http://www.mcrel.org

McREL, one of the U.S. Department of Education's 10 regional labs, maintains a database on standards and benchmarks. A number of its publications on standards also are available on-line.

NCITE Research Synthesis: Reading and Diverse Learners
Web site: http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/reading.html

NCITE has compiled a synthesis of recent research on the optimum methods of teaching beginning reading and is making this synthesis available to publishers and developers. The reading research synthesis reviews studies conducted during the past eight years. It presents a clear picture of the key elements necessary to designing reading curricula for diverse learners. The research synthesis also addresses major concerns about the decline in reading scores.

Reading Recovery
Web site: http://www.selu.edu/Academics/Education/TEC/readrec1.htm

Reading Recovery is an early intervention program for first grade children who are experiencing difficulty in learning to read. The program is designed to help these initially low-progress readers (the lowest 20% to 30%) make accelerated progress and catch up with their peers.

Business Coalition for Education Reform
c/o National Alliance of Business
1201 New York Avenue NW, suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 289-2888
Web site: http://www.bcer.org and http://www.nab.com

Business Roundtable
1615 L Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036
Web site: http://www.brtable.org

Council for Basic Education
1319 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: (202) 347-4171
Web site: http://www.c-b-e.org

Council of Chief State School Officers
1 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001-1431
Phone: (202) 408-5505
Web site: http://www.ccsso.org

Education Excellence Partnership
1615 L Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 1-800-382-3762
Web site: http://www.edex.org/

National Education Association
1201 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 833-4000
Web site: http://www.nea.org

National Education Goals Panel
1255 22nd Street NW, Suite 502
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: (202) 724-0015
Web site: http://www.negp.gov

National Governors' Association
444 North Capitol Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 624-5300
Web site: http://www.nga.org

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Center for Workforce Preparation
1615 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20062
Phone: (202) 463-5525
Web site: http://www.uschamber.org/

Improving America's Schools: A Newsletter on Issues in School Reform. Spring 1996. "Standards: What are they?"

Moving America to the Head of the Class. 1995. Education Excellence Partnership.

Teachers and GOALS 2000: Leading the Journey Toward High Standards for All Students. June 1995.

American Federation of Teachers.

1997. Making Standards Matter: An Annual Fifty-State Report on Efforts to Raise Academic Standards. Washington, DC.

Council for Basic Education.

1996. How Does Your School Measure Up? Washington, DC.

Prichard, Ivor.

1996. Judging Standards in Standards-Based Reform. Washington, DC: Council for Basic Education.

RMC Research.

1996. Parents Ask About Standards. Portsmouth, NH.

Linda B. Gambrell

1996. What Motivates Children to Read?. University of Maryland.

Philip B. Gough, Kevin C. Larson and Hallie Yopp

1988. The Structure of Phonemic Awareness. University of Texas at Austin.

Linda Diamond and Sheila Mandel

1995. Building A Powerful Reading Program: From Research to Practice. Institute for Education Reform.

Timothy Bell

1994. Extensive Reading: Why? and How?. The Internet TESL Journal.

Houghton Mifflin

1997. Emerging Reading and Word-Identification Skills. Reading Center.

Constance Weaver

1997. Research Conclusions Crucial to the Teaching of Reading.Western Michigan University.

[Appendix D: Family Involvement] [Appendix D: Measurement and Evaluation]