Bowman, Geoffrey D.; Slavin, Robert E.; Cheung Alan C.R.; Chamberlain, Anne M.; Madden, Nancy A.; & Chambers, Bette. (Sept. 2007). Final reading outcomes of the national randomized field trial of Success for All. American Educational Research Journal,44(3), 701-731.
The finding that the Success for All program had a large effect size on several reading measures is hardly surprising, given that the second author, Robert E. Slavin, is the father of Success for All and has benefited handsomely from it, professionally and probably financially. An independent study would be much more convincing.
Although there may be some redeeming factors (his use of cooperative learning and an emphasis on professional development) in Slavin’s program, some aspects, such as the highly scripted programs, the ability grouping, and the testing of atomistic aspects of reading make me cringe. All you have to do is look at the assessment instruments used as outcome measures there and you get the picture of how reading is viewed in Success for All. The closest they come to a comprehension assessment is a cloze test. No authentic reading or writing tasks are used. I feel for children under this program, especially those here in one of our large urban districts in my metropolitan area who are currently experiencing Success for All.
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