Analysis of the School Preferred Reading Program in Selected Los Angeles Minority Schools.

Abstract

In 20 elementary schools participating in the Los Angeles School Preferred Reading Program, gains'in reading achievement were examinedin order to identify school and classroom policies that were most successful in raising reaaing scores of inner-city.children. All schools sampled displayed large or consistent gains for sixth-grade reading achievement, had predominantly minority-group student bodies, and were located in low-income neighborhoods. Data on schoOl and classroom practices were gathered by interview and questionnaire from principals, reading 'specialists, and classroom teaahers in the,,target schools. Background and demographic information and reading test scores for grades three through six were,recorded for members of the sixth-grade classes of 1974 and 1975 from their junior high school records. Background factors and reading test scores in earlier grades were found to account for the largest part of the variation in sixth-grade achievement, but variables reflecting particular sehool experiences 'also had signilicant influence..These factors are deScribed and illustrated in the report. Overall, the results are interpreted as supporting the continuation of the School Preferred Reading Program. (Author/AA) **********************************************************************1= Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * .materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy, reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. ***********************************************************************