A synthesis of the extant research on reading interventions for students with reading difficulties and disabilities in fourth and fifth grade (ages 9-11) is presented. Thirteen studies with treatment/comparison study designs and eleven single group or single subject studies were located and synthesized. Findings from the 24 studies revealed high…

Examines the acquisition of a reading vocabulary for abstract and concrete words in 62 second-grade children--words had been learned in basals or outside. Uses two tasks to examine concrete and abstract words. Finds that in neither task did concreteness influence reaction times, and abstract words were read with less accuracy than concrete words.…

Investigates the relationship between phoneme segmentation ability and the development of orthographic representations. Finds that children who were most well equipped to perform phoneme segmentation tasks acquired the new reading vocabulary significantly faster than those who were less phonemically aware. Provides strong support for the thesis…

Studies fourth-grade children's lexical acquisition ability for aurally taught words. Finds that reading ability predicted facility at learning novel phonological sequences, while intelligence was the only factor which accounted for performance level for the semantic content of the words. Suggests that vocabulary deficits of less-skilled readers…

Investigates the relationship of third and fifth graders' awareness of the structure and meanings of derived words and the relationship of these forms of morphological awareness to word reading and reading comprehension. Shows that awareness of structure was significantly related to the ability to define morphologically complex words; some aspects…