The ongoing concern of literacy achievement in the United States has spawned costly implementation of national and state reading initiatives at the elementary school level in the past few decades. However, statistics reveal that over a third of elementary students continue to read below grade level. This book examines the Ensuring Literacy For All initiative, a major reading reform effort specific to Louisiana, in order to identify factors that contribute to student reading performance. It also discusses the effects of the perceptions of educational leaders on student achievement and the components of effective leadership that attribute to the success of the initiatives implementation. The findings of this phenomenological study should illuminate effective leadership practices and beliefs that would transform the way educational reform initiatives are implemented. Principals, curriculum coaches, district supervisors, politicians, and anyone involved in the development of education policies or initiatives would find this book useful.

Born in Vietnam, Khanh K. Nguyen-Dufour immigrated to the United States after the fall of Saigon. She earned her Ph.D. in education administration from the University of New Orleans and is currently an education consultant in the areas of differentiated instruction, literacy, and leadership. She resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her family.