General Description ECRI is a highly structured, teacher directed, mastery learning approach to instruction in language arts. Increased time on task, high expectations, individualized instruction, positive reinforcement, use of overt responses from students, and integrated instruction are all hallmarks of this approach. Students sometimes respond in unison and sometimes individually to teacher prompts. ECRI teachers deploy a variety of instructional methods as they teach vocabulary, comprehension, literature, creative and expository writing, and study skills. Teachers learn to develop mastery tests based on the curriculum and materials in place at the school.
Students progress at their own pace as they demonstrate mastery of skills.
Students also learn to keep records, diagnose problems, and judge when they are ready for mastery tests. Backup skills time is reserved for instruction in penmanship, spelling, dictation, and proofreading. Therefore, ECRI students write and discuss daily. Although the ECRI approach was designed for language arts instruction, it can be used in other content areas as well. Results A series of evaluations conducted from 1986 to 1990 demonstrated a significant positive impact of ECRI on student reading achievement.