NEARStar
NEARStar, a Star Schools grant, operated for 5 years, from 1999 to 2004. The primary goal of NEARStar was to support English literacy acquisition for primarily non- and limited-English learners. It was a supplemental beginning reading program designed to enrich and expand existing classroom literacy programs. Literacy instruction was taught in tandem with oral language development in a digital environment that built on the research of the National Reading Panel aligned to state and national standards, and incorporated best practices for English language learners (ELLs).
NEARStar ’s four measurable objectives met the purposes of the Star Schools Program and utilized telecommunications technologies to: (1) create a distributed learning environment that fosters improved reading achievement among elementary ELLs, (2) create a distributed learning environment that fosters professional development for teachers of ELLs, (3) provide support materials and training to students and teachers to enable them to effectively use the services and resources of NEARStar, and (4) enhance telecommunications infrastructure and end-user equipment as needed to ensure the full and effective utilization of NEARStar over the Internet and World Wide Web.
NEARStar conducted annual evaluations of its effectiveness through formative and qualitative evaluations. The program’s internal and external evaluators collaborated on a comprehensive quasi-experimental research design to evaluate the program’s impact on student reading and language performance. Results from 2 years of evaluation showed that more students in the treatment group increased reading scores from pre-test to post-test, there were significant differences in achievement from pre- to post-testing in favor of the treatment group, and NEARStar helped narrow the achievement gap for ELLs.
PREL licensed NEARStar to Scholastic, Inc, which turned it into Zip Zoom English.
Star Schools
With funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Star Schools Program, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) held two Star Schools grants. Star Schools programs were grants awarded to telecommunications partnerships among local school districts, state departments of education, public broadcasting entities, and other public and private organizations to support distance education projects.
Previous Star Schools grants:
Current Star Schools grant:
Contact PREL
Pacific Resources for Education and Learning
Phone:
(808) 441-1300
U.S. Toll-free Phone:
(800) 377-4773
AskPREL
Phone:
(808) 441-1300
U.S. Toll-free Phone:
(800) 377-4773
AskPREL