Improving Reading and Literacy in Grades 1-5

Edward P. St. John is professor of educational leadership at Indiana University and was director of the Indiana Education Policy Center. His research focuses on policy issues in K–16 education (1998–2002). At the Policy Center, he has directed several studies of the impact of early read-ing programs and comprehensive school reform. His other collaborative books on topics related to school reform include Accelerated Schools in Action (Corwin), Families in Schools (Heinemann), and Reinterpreting Urban School Reform (SUNY Press). Siri Ann Loescher is an educational specialist and served as a policy analyst for the Indiana Educational Policy Center, and currently works as a consultant. She has an M.A. in administration and policy analysis from Stanford University where she completed advanced course work. She has worked as an alternative educator in an urban school district, and an instructor and teacher program coordinator with a Washington, DC, based experiential civics education pro-gram. She spent four years working for the National Center for the Accelerated Schools Project as a coach and liaison for special programs in an urban school district. She currently serves as a leader on the founding board of a proposed charter school to serve at-risk youth. Jeffrey Bardzell, founder of Allecto Media, an eLearning consulting and development company, is a Ph.D. candi-date at Indiana University, where he also works as a trainer and multimedia instructional developer. He is also an eLearning Web developer, author, and instructor. Among his technical publications are Macromedia MX eLearning: Advanced Training From the Source and Special Edition Using Fireworks MX. Jeffrey honed his learner- centered approach through seven years of teaching literature and composition. He has also worked for three years as a policy analyst for the Indiana Education Policy Center. His education and academic publications cover such topics as early literacy instruction, school finance reform, and epic poetry.

• Introduction / Planning for Reading and Literacy Reform / Comparing Reading and Literacy Reforms / Targeted Interventions / Classroom-Based Interventions / Inquiry-Oriented Reforms / Process-Oriented Comprehensive Reforms / Curriculum-Based Comprehensive Reforms / Research-Based Reform

"The analysis of programs presented is extremely thorough and complete. The comparisons are easy to follow due to the use of the same logical framework for each program."