Reading Edge
Adolescent Literacy

Reading Edge is a middle school literacy program that emphasizes cooperative learning, goal setting, feedback, classroom management techniques, and the use of metacognitive strategy, whereby students assess their own skills and learn to apply new ones. The program is a component of the Success for All (SFA)^® whole-school reform model and provides eight levels of instruction, from beginning through eighth-grade reading levels. Students are grouped into classes based on ability, and whole-class reading instruction is delivered in daily 60-minute blocks. Instruction at the early levels uses fiction, nonfiction, and simple scripts to help students develop basic decoding skills, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. At reading level 3 and higher, students focus on developing comprehension strategies using both narrative and expository texts. All levels focus on building background knowledge and developing study skills. Although the program is often implemented in the context of the SFA^® whole-school reform, this report focuses on Reading Edge as a stand-alone program in grades 4 and higher.