Research was conducted on the efficacy of an integrated reading-writing program for primary-grade students with mild disabilities. The literacy program was designed to incorporate five principles of teaching and learning: the involvement of students in contextualized literacy activities, the development of learning-to-learn strategies, the construction of classroom dialogues about literacy, the enactment of responsive instruction designed to support learners in their zones of proximal development, and the creation of literacy communities. Furthermore, the study involved three different groups of learners: students of control teachers, students of first-year teachers, and students of second-year teachers. The results clearly indicated the effects of the integrated literacy program on students' reading and writing performance, especially the students of the most experienced teachers. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

The identification of effective instructional practices for teaching reading in inclusive settings is crucial for ensuring the success of students with high-incidence disabilities integrated in general education classrooms. Poor reading ability is a strong predictor of school failure, and the majority of students with learning disabilities—the largest high-incidence disability group in schools— experience difficulty with reading. The purpose of this inquiry was to review the literature to identify pedagogically sound and empirically grounded reading approaches that can be used with general and special education students to meet the diverse needs of students in an inclusive classroom setting. Research indicates that poor readers display metacognitive strategy deficiencies that play a large role in their comprehension problems. This review presents specific strategies that support the reading development of both general and special education students and identifies instructional conditions that contribute to successful literacy learning in inclusive settings.

The purpose of this two-year study, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), was to examine the impact of "musically trained" early childhood specialists on the music achievement and emergent literacy achievement of preschool students. The sample, obtained through use of a letter of recruitment mailed to a regional group of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) members, consisted of 11 teachers who met the criteria for the project and their respective students (N = 165). Following a year of intensive staff development training in musicianship skill and pedagogical strategies for guiding young children’s music development, the teachers implemented the curriculum in the second year and several measures were used to collect data relative to student music and literacy outcomes. Analyses included the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-test and multivariate techniques of MANCOVA and multiple regression. Results were mixed for music achievement. Median scores were similar for the experimental and control groups on use of singing voice. Students’ tonal pattern achievement in the experimental group was significantly higher but no significant differences were found in children’s rhythm-pattern achievement. When controlling for age and prior knowledge, the music intervention significantly increased children’s oral vocabulary and grammatic understanding and was especially effective for children who began with lower literacy skills.

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This paper discusses three characteristics of ongoing professional development in Communities of Practice-mutual goals, texts to negotiate knowledge, and the development of evaluation tools to monitor and adjust practice. Data from the Literacy Environments for Accelerated Progress (LEAP) project are used to showcase these characteristics in practice and highlight the transformation of teacher and researcher knowledge. Central to the development of long-lasting change in practice is teacher and researcher discourse anchored in the ongoing context of students in the classroom.