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This evaluation summary synthesizes the results of the first year of the Wisconsin Rural Reading Improvement Project (WRRIP), a project aimed at helping small, rural schools improve reading instruction by teaching reading as thinking (also termed "strategic reading"). The means used is staff development: specifically, a leadership team composed of a school principal, the reading specialist, and the media specialist work together to support targeted teachers in reading instruction while information is delivered to the team and the teachers through an assortment of telecommunications strategies that allow distance learning to take place. Following a brief general overview, the summary begins with 10 general findings based upon case study data, data from two surveys, meeting observations, and other sources. The findings are sorted into four categories: Reading Instruction, Staff Development, Distance Learning, and Project Organization and Delivery. This is followed by eight findings from two surveys. The next section describes generally the evaluation methodology used. The final section provides a description of the project at the end of year 1. (SR)

Based upon case studies, surveys conducted in 18 participating school districts in fall 1987 and spring 1988, meeting observations, discussions with project staff, and an audit trail, this report evaluates the first year of the Wisconsin Rural Reading Improvement Project (WRRIP), a school improvement project aimed at helping small, rural schools improve reading instruction by teaching reading as thinking (also termed "strategic reading"). The means used to achieve this improvement is through staff development utilizing distance learning: specifically, a leadership team composed of a school principal, the reading specialist, and the media specialist work together to support targeted teachers while information is delivered to the team and the teachers through an assortment of telecommunications strategies. The report is in five major sections. The first section is an evaluation summary which discusses 10 general findings (sorted into 4 categories: Reading Instruction, Staff Development, Distance Learning, and Project Organization and Delivery), gives 8 findings from the fall and spring surveys, describes generally the evaluation methodology used, and provides a description of the project at the end of year 1. The second section describes five case studies, while the third section gives detailed results of the two surveys. The mid-year formative evaluation report is contained in the fourth section, and the fifth section gives the response to the mid-year report by the Wisconsin project staff. (SR)