Effects of the Success for All Model on Kindergarten Through Second-Grade Reading Achievement, Teachers' Adjustment, and Classroom-School Climate at an Inner-City School

Abstract

The Success for All (SFA) program is designed to bring every student to grade level in reading by third grade. Key elements include individualized tutoring, regrouping across grades into homogeneous reading classes, smaller reading classes, family support, and a comprehensive reading program incorporating phonics and whole-language methods. In the present study, first-year influences of the program on the reading achievement of 109 students in kindergarten through second grade relative to 111 matched control students in 1 school were evaluated. Individual reading test results for the SFA students indicated significant advantages on 2 out of 3 tests (word identification and word attack) at the kindergarten level. First-grade SFA students in the lowest-achieving 25% surpassed their control counterparts on silent reading tests but not on other tests. No differences were found for second graders, and there were no program effects on standardized achievement test scores. Surveys, interviews, and classroom observations indicated that the implementing of SFA progressed smoothly and was highly accepted by teachers. Program strengths were identified by teachers as cooperative learning, regrouping, tutoring, early reading instruction, writing, and active learning.