Evaluation of Year 2 of the Alabama Reading Initiative

Client: Alabama Council on Higher Education 
Term: 1999 - 2000
Contact Person: Dr. Marcia O'Neal

The 1999-2000 school year was the second year of implementation of the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI), whose goal is 100% literacy for Alabama's public school students. An integral part of the plan for the ARI was the vision for a collaborative model in which reading specialists from institutions of higher education served as mentors to each Literacy Demonstration Site. The model paired mentors and K-12 faculty as partners; it also provided professional development both at a Summer Institute and during the school year. The Center for Educational Accountability completed its evaluation of Year 1 of the ARI and entered into a contract to participate in an internal/external evaluation of Year 2. The evaluation incorporated the School Accountability Model developed with the Mayer Electric Supply Foundation grant. Evaluation activities for Year 2 included analysis and interpretation of student achievement data, design and distribution of survey instruments, analysis and interpretation of survey results, and preparation of a report of findings.