Success for some: An evaluation of a Success for All program

Results from an evaluation of a 3-year Success for All program applied under difficult circum-stances show positive effects for the kindergarten component but a mix of nonsignificant, positive, and negative results for other early elementary grades. Large negative effects were found for achievement ratings of students’performance in Years 2 and 3 for all cohorts. Previous evaluations have reported results for a limited range of outcome measures and used a narrow range of outcome measures. Future evaluations of Success for All programs should assess attainment of the stated goal of the program—to get all students reading at grade level by Grade 3. This attempt to implement the program in a difficult school implies that the program may not be effective wherever and whenever attempted. One of our nation’s most pressing social problems is the prevalence of early school failure, especially in urban public schools. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the average reading profi-ciency score for 9-year-old students in disadvantaged urban areas lagged far behind other groups (U.S. Department of Education 1995). In some cities, large percentages of first graders become official failures when they are not promoted to the second grade; 25 % of first graders were retained i