"Bridging the gap": The effects of the success for all program on elementary school reading achievement as a function of student ethnicity and ability level

This study examined the effects on reading achievement of the Success For A ll (SFA) program for minority and nonminority students attending elementary school in a small midwestern city. SFA uses a research-based kindergarten program, beginning and intermediate readings programs in Grades 1-3, one-to -one tutoring for low achievers, family support, and other elements. Findin gs from a comparison between two SFA schools and two matched control school s showed that on individually-administered reading tests, minority (African American) students in the SFA schools performed comparably to their nonmin ority counterparts at the four schools while significantly outperforming co ntrol school minority students. Although overall program effects were not s ignificant, SFA was also effective for the subsample consisting of the lowe st-25% achieving students. Longitudinal results over four years showed stab le benefits for the lowest-achievers, but some decline in overall program e ffects relative to the first two years.