The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine how, and to what degree learning methods (student-centered or instructor-centered) and gender independently or interactively made a difference in adult student achievement. The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test Third Edition (WIAT-III) was utilized to measure…

An inferential comprehension intervention addressing reading comprehension difficulties of middle schoolers was tested. Method Students in Grades 6 to 8 (n = 145; 53.8% female; 71% White; 24% Black) who failed their state literacy test, were randomly assigned to tutor-led, computerized, or business-as-usual [BaU] interventions. Results The…

Student motivation to write is a pivotal factor influencing their writing achievement. However, individual motivation to write is not independent of the learning environment. It also is crucial for teachers to develop their own efficacy, knowledge, and ability in writing and writing instruction to help them utilize effective instructional methods…

Visual-verbal-paired associate learning (PAL) is strongly related to reading acquisition, possibly indexing a distinct cross-modal mechanism for learning letter-sound associations. We measured linguistic abilities (nonword repetition, vocabulary size) longitudinally at 3.5 and 4.0 years, and visual-verbal PAL and letter knowledge at 4.0 and…

Assistive technology supports students with disabilities in a variety of ways, including serving as a means of instruction. Although virtual manipulatives can serve as an assistive technology tool, limited research examines virtual manipulatives in-and-of-themselves to support students with disabilities. This study explored app-based virtual…

We attempted to strengthen an evidence-based, peer-mediated, first-grade reading program (First Grade Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies [PALS]) by modestly revising its content and adding a repeated-reading (RR) component. In a cluster-randomized trial, we conducted a component analysis of the revised program by creating two versions of it.…

This article reports the results from a study investigating the effects of a discipline-specific reading and writing intervention (I3C/PROVE IT!) with fourth and fifth graders. Participants included 237 students with writing difficulties (WD) from an initial pool of 608 upper elementary school students in a larger study. Teachers and students were…

This project tested the effects of adding instruction of trios of children in patterning, mathematics, early literacy, or social studies to ongoing instruction in kindergartens. Children were randomly assigned to trios which were randomly assigned to one of four kinds of instruction. A quarter of the trios received patterning instruction with a…

Researchers and practitioners have questioned whether scoring procedures used with curriculum-based measures of writing (CBM-W) capture growth in complexity of writing. We analyzed data from six independent samples to examine two potential scoring metrics for picture word CBM-W (PW), a sentence-level CBM task. Correct word sequences per response…

A majority of reading-related intervention studies aiming to remediate struggling readers' reading outcomes assess student performance immediately following the conclusion of an intervention to determine intervention effects. Few studies collect follow-up data to measure the long-term sustainability of treatment effects. Hence, the aim of the…

Upon entering high school, students with ID who may be able to read simple texts often have difficulty grasping meaning when required to understand more complex texts. This failure affects their overall academic performance, since at this age, it is no longer just a question of learning to read, but rather of reading to learn, in all disciplines.…

This study investigated literacy learning in students with specific kinds of language challenges at a specific stage of schooling--transition to high school--when the language requirements of the curriculum can be especially challenging. For this exploratory research, a case study approach was adopted that compared 2 adolescent boys both with…

Educator preparation in comprehension strategy instruction (CSI) is essential to meeting the needs of English learners (ELs) in contemporary schools. This article provides teacher educators and professional developers with concrete examples of practices to prepare classroom teachers in comprehensive strategy instruction, based on an experimental…

In this study, we intend to determine if reading tests aloud provides a differential boost to youth with elevated symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) relative to same-aged peers. Participants were 36 youth, 44% with or at risk for ADHD, who participated in a week long summer camp. Over the course of the week, youth attended…

Few evidence-based practices are available to guide educators in teaching reading to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder who have complex learning and behavioral needs associated with the symptoms of ASD and common co-occurring conditions, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder and Specific Learning Disability. Some researchers have…