Academic progress monitoring is essential when implementing Individualized Education Programs for students with learning disabilities and more generally in a multi-tiered system of supports framework. Although students' progress is monitored frequently in schools today, these students often are not actively involved in this practice. Research has…

Secondary students with emotional and behavioral disorders may experience a phenomenon known as the failure cycle where behavioral needs and academic deficits negatively impact learning, including reading comprehension. Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is one emerging method that addresses behavioral needs and reading comprehension…

The affordances of learning analytics (LA) tools and solutions are being increasingly harnessed for enhancing 21st century pedagogical and learning strategies and outcomes. However, use cases and empirical understandings of students' experiences with LA tools and environments aimed at fostering 21st century literacies, especially in the K-12…

In academic environments, reading is assigned not simply to transmit information; students are required to take the information, and based on the task set by the instructor, assess, analyze, and critique it on the basis of personal experiences, prior knowledge, and other readings (Grabe, 2009). Thus text-based comprehension (Kintsch, 1998) alone…

"PISA 2009 at a Glance" is a companion publication to "PISA 2009 Results", the six-volume report on the 2009 survey conducted by the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA assesses the extent to which students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that…

How do second-language learners become successful readers and writers? This article examines the importance of social networks to English language learners' reading and writing development. It describes different family, peer, and virtual social networks that ELLs can utilize to engage in online and offline reading and writing (especially related…

Although supplemental reading services are meant to improve reading achievement of struggling readers and students with reading disabilities, without concerted effort to ensure communication and coordination with in-school instruction, they may fall short of their desired mark. To promote learning, it is critical that any services provided outside…

The current trend in First Year Experience (FYE) courses is to add critical thinking through reading and writing. Research now suggests this design for a learning strategy based FYE course improves retention rates. This paper provides methods of incorporating critical thinking through reading and learning into the FYE course curriculum through a…

"The Achiever" is published monthly during the school year for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) President Establishes National Advisory Panel on Math: Experts to Advise on "Best Available…

Sums up new integrated approaches to teaching reading that are needed to help troubled college readers cope with advanced academic material. Presents two case studies that show how these approaches can work with very different at-risk students. (RS)

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a new system of international assessments that focus on 15-year-olds' capabilities in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy. PISA, which is sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), also measures general or cross-curricular…

Federal mandates have created a high-pressure climate of testing in today's classrooms, and educators are left to balance these constantly changing demands with lessons that will challenge the academic lives of their students. Technology and the wealth of information it makes available can and should change teaching and learning, but that …

Students enrolled in technical programs prefer hands-on activities over reading and writing. While hands-on learning works well for conveying technical skills, most technical jobs will also require good reading, writing, and oral communication skills. Effective reading includes more than just "mouthing the words"--it calls for understanding and…

Recent research indicates that Americans are reading less than they have in the past, as black-and-white text competes with more visually exciting media, such as the Internet, movies, and television. As a solution to this problem, the author proposes that books and instructional materials engage readers visually through the use of color and…

Describes the evolution and testing of an inservice special education teacher training project in which teachers engaged in collaborative strategy instruction with small groups of severely reading-delayed adolescents. An analysis of videotaped pre- and posttest reading sessions showed significant gains in many dimensions related to fostering…