Comparing four literacy reform models in high-poverty schools: Patterns of first-grade achievement

Low-performing districts have sought to raise student achievement through adoption of schoolwide models for the reform of literacy instruction, a trend that has intensified under the Reading First Act. This study examined literacy achievement for first graders in a large urban district that offered its schools a choice of literacy reform models. Sixteen high-poverty schools that had made at least "good" efforts in implementing their chosen reform model were the focus of the investigation. Literacy achievement for 590 children was assessed in fall and spring of first grade, including assessments of word reading, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing. The models adopted in the district, Building Essential Literacy, Developing Literacy First, Literacy Collaborative, and Success for All, produced similarly strong outcomes in first-grade word reading despite philosophical and practical differences in the models' implementation. Skills related to meaning construction, however, were low for children receiving instruction in all four models, with vocabulary and reading comprehension failing to reach grade-level expectations for most children.