Defeating the reading achievement gap at Fargo Elementary: To each according to his needs

At Fargo Elementary, the need to reduce the achievement gap between minority African American students and White students became apparent following the continued decline in African American scores in the 2000--2001 school year. This study measured the effect of Direct Instruction in reducing the reading achievement gap at Fargo Elementary school.; Fargo Elementary school is a K--6 elementary school which largely serves the children of military members. At the time of this study, approximately 20% of Fargo's student population were African American, and approximately 20% of the total student population received Special Education services. Students who participated in the school improvement strategy utilized either district adopted reading texts published by McMillan McGraw Hill, or Direct Instruction materials published by SRA McGraw Hill. The students who participated in the treatment group utilizing Direct Instruction received the intervention over a 4-year period.; This study follows a quasi-experimental format, and compares the achievement of Fargo Elementary African American students who did not participate in Direct Instruction with those that did. Schools from the California Academic Performance similar schools rankings were compared with Fargo Elementary to illustrate the effect of Direct Instruction on the achievement gap.; The study findings indicated a significant NCE effect size of .96 for students who participated in the Direct Instruction reading program at Fargo Elementary. Fargo Elementary significantly outperformed similar schools on the California Standards Test with approximately 55% of the African American students scoring as proficient or advanced in the 2003 school year, compared with the highest similar school that had 40% of the African American students score at proficient or above. The API scores for Fargo Elementary White students improved by 56 points, and African American API scores improved by 58 points over the 4-year period of the study.; The study findings clearly show that the use of Direct Instruction is preferential for schools with underperforming students. Included in the study are the means by which Direct Instruction strategies were adopted at Fargo Elementary, since this highly scripted program met some initial resistance from staff, necessitating the use of appropriate strategies to minimize opposition and increase participation.