What Has Made ARI Successful?

1. The research reported in the professional literature created a climate for change. We would not have had a reading initiative had the research not suggested that peace could be negotiated in the reading “wars”.
   
2. Getting started was possible because the director knew how to teach reading and recognized that research was finally available to point the way. The leadership in the State Department of Education believed in, supported, and guided the director.
   
3. The focus of the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) is on student results, not means. People, especially educators, argue about means, about what is the best way of achieving a goal. But people, even educators, can agree upon the desired results and be united in their resolve to achieve those goals.
   
4. A broad-based coalition reached enough consensus on what the research said to agree upon a vision, a goal, a plan, and strategies for achieving these. Additionally, broad-based involvement appears to generate optimism and trust in a public that can be skeptical.
   
5. The ARI acknowledges that a skillful teacher who has a deep understanding of the reading process and how to teach it is the single most important variable in increasing reading achievement.
   
6. Great efforts were made to produce written products that were concise and easy to read. Research must be made practical and useful.
   
7. Teachers must overcome low expectations that are the result of their usual classroom experience. In most cases, this means that teachers must see with their own eyes that things can be different. That is why the ARI has demonstration sites. That is why the director of the ARI does many demonstration lessons (especially with struggling readers).
   
8. Applying research to classrooms is made possible by substantial initial development and guidance, encouragement, support, and professional development.
   
9. Systemic change requires leadership. The initial selection of schools with strong principals was essential to the success of the first 16 LDSs. In the subsequent two years, principals were trained to conduct four two-hour faculty meetings during the Summer Institutes that focus on Effective Intervention.
   
10. Systemic change requires teamwork. Requiring at least 85% of the faculty to participate in the professional development is powerful.
    
11. Nothing breeds success like success. When teachers observe how their changes positively influence student achievement, they are renewed and revived.
    
12. Thus far, the ARI has been protected from excessive political influence. Because of the excitement associated with the initiative, the tendency is to want to expand quickly. Wisdom dictates, however, that to bring about lasting change and sustain it, we must take the time it takes to build capacity in teachers and those who are their leaders.