Reading Reform

Title I

Title I is a reform initiative embedded in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, issued first in 1965, then again in 2000. The issuing of the Act in 1965 marked the first distribution of federal funds for the compensatory education of students in poverty and struggling with reading. Compensatory reading instruction in 1965 under Title I was provided in a pull-out classroom by a reading specialist. In 2000, the Act was reissued and Title I was renewed. Significant reforms were made to the provisions of Title I, however, based on research showing underwhelming success rates. Under the revisions, there is a greater emphasis on providing high-quality classroom instruction as opposed to pull-out instruction. Under this provision, reading specialists can go into the classroom to work with children in need as well as coaching and supporting teachers in their environment.

The revision of the Title I initiative also reinforced the emphasis on the use of scientifically based research to inform instruction. This reform initiative affected the state and local settings as state departments of education and local school districts reex-amined classroom practices and modified approaches to incorporate research-based educational programs. Finally, the reauthorization and reforms in the Title I [Page 761]program encouraged local districts to use informal assessment techniques to monitor student progress.

The changes in the Title I program opened new doors for state and local programs to consider how to use the reading specialists in their programs. Districts began implementing programs that facilitated literacy coaching. These programs provided advanced training to reading specialists to act as literacy coaches in their schools. Literacy coaches provide support to classroom teachers in designing high-quality instruction in reading within the classroom.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2000, along with additional political pressures, caused state programs to reevaluate and reform curriculum and standards. States began to reform their curricular programs for both elementary and secondary programs. At a national level, organizations such as the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association developed broad English/language arts and reading standards to guide and support state work. These new sets of curriculum and standards were then handed down to local school districts. New standards and curriculum drove further reform in school buildings as reading teachers, in particular, examined their teaching and the standards to be met in determining what would stay, what would go, and what would be added. This local and state reform was fueled by the national Reading Excellence Act of 1999, which secured funds for reading instruction staff development in states that based their standards on research that was scientifically rigorous.

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