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Title
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A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF THE ALABAMA READING INITIATIVE-PROJECT FOR ADOLESCENT LITERACY.
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Author
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Merold, Michael Kent
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Abstract/Description
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This study describes the initial year of the Alabama Reading Initiative-Project for Adolescent Literacy (ARI-PAL). The ARI-PAL was developed in response to a growing concern over the state of literacy instruction in Alabamas secondary schools after the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that 77 percent of the states fourth-graders and 78 percent of the states eighth-graders were reading below proficiency. In the spring of 2006, the Alabama Reading Initiative launched...
Show moreThis study describes the initial year of the Alabama Reading Initiative-Project for Adolescent Literacy (ARI-PAL). The ARI-PAL was developed in response to a growing concern over the state of literacy instruction in Alabamas secondary schools after the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that 77 percent of the states fourth-graders and 78 percent of the states eighth-graders were reading below proficiency. In the spring of 2006, the Alabama Reading Initiative launched the ARI-PAL with three primary purposes. The first purpose was to build highly successful adolescent literacy demonstration sites by making research-based local education authority (LEA) investments in adolescent literacy efforts and by concentrating the available ARI secondary resources in a small number of schools. A second purpose for the ARI-PAL was to develop advocacy and to secure funding for implementing the ARI into more secondary schools. The third purpose for the ARI-PAL was to increase the effectiveness of the ARI secondary model by making it compatible with the latest research on adolescent literacy instruction. The results of this study explain the experiences of the 14 ARI-PAL schools and provide recommendations for other secondary schools interested in strengthening the reading and writing skills of their students. To address the purpose of this study, the following research questions were explored: 1. Did the students participating in the ARI-PAL program in 14 selected Alabama schools increase their achievement as measured by SAT-10? 2. Using descriptive data from site visits and educators' experiences, what were the perceived successes and challenges of the ARI-PAL program during the first year of implementation? SAT-10 data were analyzed to determine if the ARI-PAL model was successful in positively impacting the reading achievement of students in the participating schools. To document the implementation and challenges to the implementation of the ARI-PAL model, site visit forms designed to provide weekly anecdotal data on progress in each school were analyzed. Areas addressed in the site visit reports included instructional leadership, the administration of formal and informal assessments, reading intervention for struggling readers, implementation of strategic teaching in the content area classrooms, and professional development.
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Date Issued
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2008
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Identifier
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WFE0000147, uwf:60784
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Format
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Document (PDF)
