STAR Initiative in Evidence-Based Reading Instruction

Background

During the 2008-2009 academic year, the Texas adult education leadership chose to participate in the STAR - STudent Achievement in Reading series of professional development trainings. STAR is designed to train teachers to implement evidence-based reading instructional practices for adult students reading at a 4 to 8.9 grade level equivalent. This first year of STAR training had 43 participants representing 13 programs and 3 professional development centers. Three participants from this cohort were selected to become Certified STAR Trainers for Texas during the 2009-2010 academic year.

Overview

STAR is a reading reform initiative that includes professional development, technical assistance, and online resources that expand participants' knowledge of effective reading instruction for adults. The STAR training is part of a larger Office of Vocational and Adult Education initiative called the National Diffusion of Reading Research. STAR was developed by Dr. Mary Beth Curtis (lead author), a reading research expert at Lesley University, and Laura Segal Bercovitz, manager of the Adult Learning Resource Center in Des Plaines, Illinois.

STAR Resources

More information about STAR may be found online at http://www.startoolkit.org/index.html

Future STAR Trainings

Texas’ professional development leaders are committed to expanding the availability of STAR training in our state. During the 2009-2010 academic year our STAR Trainer candidates will be training a limited number of teachers and providing technical assistance to programs implementing evidence-based reading instruction. STAR training will be expanded in the coming years. For more information contact Ken Appelt kappelt@tamu.edu or call 800-441-7323

TCALL Resources

For an introduction to the content of the STAR Institutes see STAR: Evidence-Based Reading Instruction for Adults Reading at the Intermediate Level

For a preliminary report of the first year of STAR training in Texas see STAR Reading Training in Texas - A Success Story With More Benefits to Come. Also see STAR - STudent Achievement in Reading: What We Learned During the First Year of Training

For a complete discussion of the first year of STAR training in Texas see Evaluation of the STAR Training Initiative and the Applicability of Its Content for Texas Adult Basic Education