Whole Language Lives . . .

Amid the snow-soaked boots that line the hallway of Mapleton Elementary School in Mapleton, Maine, a student sits in a stream of warm sunlight to read a favorite book. In a classroom around the corner, pairs of 5th graders carefully select books to share with kindergartners-their reading partners. Down the hall, a 2nd grader peruses the shelves in the library-searching, in vain, the librarian says, for a book the youngster has not yet read.

"Books fly around this school," says Gail Gibson, a teacher and Mapleton's principal. Such enthusiasm for reading isn't surprising. In recent state results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Maine proved to be one of the top performers in reading, as it has since 1992. And Mapleton consistently beats average scores on state wide tests, despite an enrollment with many impoverished students and a local economy sapped of strength by struggling potato farms, failing timber mills, and an abandoned military base. On last year's assessments, only 6 percent of Mapleton's 4th graders failed to read at the "basic" level, while nearly...