Documentary search
 
 

Document

Success for All


File number :
PPEE-ISC-04e

Bibliographic reference :
Slavin, R.E., & Madden, N.A. (2003). Success for all/Roots & Wings. Summary of Research on Achievement Outcomes. Report no. 41. Washington: Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR).

Abstract :

Program Description
Designed to develop reading skills, the Success for All program focuses on prevention and early intervention among at-risk primary school students from underprivileged environments. In the classroom, teachers put emphasis on a large number of activities revolving around reading (reading and discussing stories, developing phonetic awareness, working on auditory discrimination with younger children and comprehension activities with older ones, and so on).

Regular reading assessment every eight weeks enabled teachers to identify students in need of a tutor, a special approach, parental assistance (specialized team at school), or screening for vision and hearing problems. This direct intervention, if required, took 20 minutes and was done outside class hours, but was linked to classroom activities. This program, which began in 1987-1988 in Baltimore, U.S.A., was implemented in 1500 schools in fall 2003 throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Australia, and Israel.

Assessment
In a report released by the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), R.E. Slavin from John Hopkins University and N.A. Madden from the Success for All Foundation summarized various scientific studies pertaining to a number of aspects of the program. These included effect on reading performance, effect depending on the level of quality and degree of program implementation, effect on standardized test scores, national assessment, long-term effects and costs incurred, adaptations required for its implementation in foreign countries, effects of implementation time within the same school, effects of the program on students for whom English was a second language, comparison between the Success for All program and other programs, effects on special education, and impressions of teachers regarding the program. Most of these studies were based on data comparing the different schools that applied the program to control groups with similar school populations.

Main Results
Data collected between 1988 and 1999 and pertaining to over 6000 students have shown significant increase in the reading performance of students who participated in the program. Success for All was found to be one of the only programs applied at the primary school level to have had rigorous, frequently replicated evidence of effectiveness. For the program to be effective, a least 80% of the school staff should be in favour of its implementation and in a position to make the necessary adaptations to the environment in which the program is to be applied. This way, it can be maintained over the long term, and is all the more validated and no more costly than a regular program.

For more information on this topic, see file PPEE-ISC-12. You can also visit the Success for All Foundation Website at http://www.successforall.net/.



Links :
The research report is available on the Website of the Success for All Foundation: http://www.successforall.net/

Key Words :
Reading, Early Intervention, Prevention, Success for All, Tutoring, At-risk Students, Underprivileged Environments, Learning Difficulties, Literature Review, Primary School, Elementary School

Monitored Countries :
United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Australia, Israel