"As an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) was created in 2002 to be a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education."
See their findings about Accelerated Reader: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=14.
This is from the June 2011 ODE Social Sciences Newsletter: "Understanding how to manage money is a skill that is more important today than ever. You can look all around for examples of poor financial decisions. Let us turn that around for our next generation. Financial Beginnings and Operation HOPE offer free financial education programs for students in grades 4-12 as well as young adults. All programs are free and provide age-specific curriculum and activities and are designed to promote self-sufficiency, fiscal responsibility, and encourage active and educated participation in the banking system. The fun, engaging and relevant programs are taught by professionals from the community. Together, Financial Beginnings and Operation HOPE have served nearly 25,000 youth at more than 100 schools throughout the Pacific Northwest." Every year the Office of the State Treasurer sponsors the Reading is an Investment (RII) program between October and March. Anyone who wanted to schedule the elementary financial program, Banking on our Future, could try to time it so it happens when RII is active.
http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1707http://www.ost.state.or.us/read
WOW, terrific site with games, online books, appropriate tv shows- one on reference source use (Once upon a rat) and numerous other worth your time activities! From Flying Rhino/Ray Nelson. Even online classes you can join in on- writing, illustrating, etc.