Under contract, in collaboration with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE),
APRC wrote and ADE was awarded a federal Reading First grant in order to improve
primary reading instruction and ensure that all students can read at grade level
by the end of third grade. Schools are required to implement a scientifically-based
reading curriculum that has been proven effective. The APRC was contracted to
evaluate how well ADE was ensuring students could read by examining five evaluation
questions in the areas of professional development, adoption of a scientific
core reading program to aid instruction, an establishment of a school-wide assessment
system, leadership development, and use of assessment instruments to measure
reading results.
ARIZONA’S READING FIRST EVALUATION
A cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind Act signed by President Bush in January
2002 is the Reading First initiative. The Arizona Department of Education (ADE)
was awarded a federal Reading First grant to improve primary reading instruction
and ensure that all students can read at grade level by the end of third grade.
In 2002-2003, ADE accepted applications from schools to participate in Reading
First. In 2003-2004, the program was implemented in kindergarten through third
grades in the 63 Arizona schools that were awarded Reading First subgrants.
In 2004-2005, nine additional schools were added to the Reading First program
and ally continued into the 2005-2006 year. For 2006-2007, approximately 50
of the schools will continue to receive Reading First support while another
application process will add approximately 90 new schools.
The Arizona Prevention Resource Center (APRC) serves as the external evaluation
team for the Arizona Reading First project, with a subcontract to the Northwest
Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) in Portland, Oregon, to aid in the evaluation.The
Arizona Reading First evaluation incorporates a multi-year, mixed-methods, multiple-instruments
evaluation design to determine the level of effectiveness of the reading strategies.
Data are collected from reading teachers, reading coaches, reading specialists,
principals, district administrators, and of course, K-3 students. Measurement
tools include pre and post tests, surveys, site visit observations, interviews,
focus groups, and reading test scores.
