http://datacenter.ap.org/wdc/schools/index.html

Fourth-graders in 2002 showed significant reading gains compared with 1998,
according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress - known as the
nation’s report card - released Thursday. It is those younger students who
are at the center of a national push to improve basic education.

http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/

Children across America salute you for participating in the America Reads Challenge, a four-year grassroots national campaign challenging every American to help all our children learn to read. From college students and citizens of all ages tutoring children, to seniors starting lending libraries, to businesses donating time, money and books and from policy makers and elected officials focusing on literacy, to parents reading to their children every night, to children themselves promising to read thirty minutes per day in the summer....everyone had an important role in meeting the Challenge. Keep up the good work!

http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/index.html

NCITE’s purpose is to advance the quality and effectiveness of technology, media, and materials for individuals with disabilities. NCITE creates a marketplace demand for the selection and appropriate use of research-based technology, media, and materials (TMM).

http://reading.uoregon.edu/

Consumer’s Guide to Evaluating a Core Reading Program, Grades K-3: A Critical Elements Analysis.  This PDF file was written at the University of Oregon by special education professors Simmons and Kame’enui.  The handbook is helpful for evaluating a basal reader critically.

http://www.cal.org/ncle/links.htm#publications

This site links you to all the ESL publications that are on-line!

http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/miscpubs/ncrcdsll/

The Research and Educational Practice Reports which are provided here represent the principal products from the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning (NCRCDSLL). This Center was funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) from 1991 to 1995. As the title implies, the projects conducted by the NCRCDSLL researchers addressed the relationship between first and second language learning; the relationship between cultural and linguistic factors and literacy achievement, and other factors related to instruction, assessment, and instructional models. In short, this Center addressed many of the key issues that impact on schools’ efforts to improve access to educational opportunities for linguistically and culturally diverse students, especially those who are at risk of educational failure.

http://www.everythingesl.net/index.php

Activities for Summer School ESL
Teaching summer school is often a challenge because the range of English language ability and grade levels in a single class can be very broad. You may find yourself with a mix of students who are not literate in native language with those who are. Second graders may be placed with 5th graders; non-English speakers with intermediate ESL students. in lesson plans

Safety First!
Many of the safety issues which are crucial for our newcomers are taught during the regular school year. Even if your new English languge learners attended school for the entire year, it is possible these important lessons were not understood. in lesson plans

Soaring High with Kites
Help your ESL students obtain new heights in English language learning through this dynamic unit on kites. Through this topic your students can study the importance of kites in cultures around the world and investigate the role that kites have played in scientific discovery, in lesson plans

http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/famlitnotebook/

Preface and Introduction

CHAPTER 1: What Is Family Literacy?

CHAPTER 2: What Does Family Literacy Look Like?

CHAPTER 3: Whoís Involved in Family Literacy?

Pages 1-50
Pages 51-98
Pages 99-156

CHAPTER 4: How Do We Get Started?

CHAPTER 5: Collaboration

CHAPTER 6: Funding Family Literacy Programs

Section I: Funding Sources
Section II: Tips for Writing Successful Grants
Section III: Family Literacy Facts and Figures

CHAPTER 7: Curriculum

Section I: General Information
Section II: Instructional Strategies
Section III: Sample Curricula
Section IV: Parent-Child Activities
Section V: Resources

CHAPTER 8: Staff Selection and Training

CHAPTER 9: Recruitment and Retention

CHAPTER 10: Marketing and Public Relations

CHAPTER 11: Evaluation

Section I: Introduction
Section II: General Program Evaluation
Section III: Related Reading

CHAPTER 12: References and Index

http://www.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/faq.html

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What’s the current situation - how well are America’s children reading?

Not nearly well enough. Educators, parents and other interested parties have long acknowledged the general deterioration of our students’ overall reading achievement. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides perhaps the best single glimpse into the nationwide problem. From NAEP, we get a basic picture of how well children read, and the picture is not encouraging. Approximately 40% of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level. And as disconcerting as this general situation is, specific sub-groups of students are experiencing even less success.

* Almost 70% of low-income fourth grade students cannot read at a basic level. In other words, these children struggle with foundational reading skills like summarizing and understanding a story.
* Almost half the students living in urban areas cannot read at a basic level.
* Average-performing students have made no progress over the last 10 years, and the lowest-performing readers have become less successful over this same time period.

From a national perspective these facts are deeply troubling, and cry out for a vigorous and coordinated effort by all those with a role and responsibility in educating our nation’s children. Not being able to read at grade level is devastating to the nine-year old child who cannot do homework, enjoy a book or look forward to future grades with confidence and excitement.

MORE...

http://www.nclb.gov/

“No Child Left Behind makes history in American education and builds futures for America’s students.”
Rod Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education