"Setting the Foundation: A Report on Elementary Grades Reading in Tennessee" (ED572952) provides insight into the challenges associated with early grades reading in Tennessee, along with a set of recommendations for building more readers across the state. This appendix provides detailed information about reading programs in Tennessee…

This convergent parallel mixed method sought to determine if the reading program increased third-grade student achievement. The research questions of the study examined the reading achievement scores of third-grade students and the effectiveness of McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders™. Significant differences were observed when a paired sample t test…

Children's literature serves as mirrors and windows for the students we teach today. Through literature, children should be able to see their own reflections as well as the world around them. Yet despite their long history in the United States, Asian Americans have not always been represented in children's literature. This study analyzed the…

"Open Court Reading"[c] is a core reading program for grades K-6 developed by SRA/McGraw-Hill that is designed to teach decoding, comprehension, inquiry, and writing in a logical progression. Part 1 of each unit, Preparing to Read, focuses on phonemic awareness, sounds and letters, phonics, fluency, and word knowledge. Part 2, Reading…

Male underachievement in language arts is a continuing problem. At the participating school for this study, girls in Grades 3-6 have continued to outscore boys by 8% to 24% in language arts. As a result, school administrators identified male students as a population that need to demonstrate growth in this subject to meet state expectations. This…

This content analysis study examined 99 basal reading narratives from three publishers: Harcourt, SRA-McGraw Hill, and Scott Foresman. The stories were classified according to the ethnicity of the major characters. The observed frequencies were compared to expected frequencies to indicate over representation, adequate representation or under…

"Open Court Reading"[c] is an elementary basal reading program for grades K-6 developed by SRA/McGraw-Hill. The program is designed to systematically teach decoding, comprehension, inquiry and investigation, and writing in a logical progression. Part 1 of each unit, Preparing to Read, focuses on phonemic awareness, sounds and letters,…

"Treasures, a basal reading program for students in grades K-6, was developed to address reading comprehension among students in the middle elementary grades. "Treasures" is based on extensive research in vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and phonics and combines "explicit instruction and ample practice to ensure students'…

In this article, the author uses Gary Saul Morson's concept of sideshadows to attend to the multiplicity of narratives that occur in a third-grade classroom. The author advocates for experiential learning in order to make more visible to teachers children's internal thinking within language arts, especially English-language learners. Additionally,…

The study uses a quasi-experimental comparison group design to test the effectiveness of "Treasures" by comparing outcomes for students who used "Treasures" to those who did not use "Treasures", adjusting for differences between the "Treasures" and comparison groups on baseline characteristics. The study…

Basal readers have long been problematized for a lack of diversity among the characters and experiences represented in the text selections. Building on this, and informed by critical theory, critical race theory, and Bourdieuian perspectives, this dissertation examines racist discourses in a set of third grade basal readers. In order to explore…

Teachers at a Title I elementary school in South Carolina implemented the scripted Reading Mastery© program (RMP) to improve students' comprehension. Comprehension scores did not increase, despite teachers receiving RMP professional development (PD) prior to implementing the program. Administrators were unaware if the teachers were adequately…

Despite over 25 years of research supporting the instruction of comprehension strategies, it seems that such instruction is not readily found in many classrooms or basal readers, resulting in students that struggle with analyzing and comprehending text. This is particularly true in the primary grades. Originally designed with seventh grade…

An appreciation of the best there is in literature is one of the chief aims of the reading lessons. It is therefore essential that the material used in every grade should have intrinsic value. It must be good literature and it must also be worth while for its own sake, from the child's point of view. With this aim in view, the selections in this…

The authors used a randomized design to investigate the effects of an enriched reading program, Schoolwide Enrichment Reading Model (SEM-R), with blocks of independent reading on oral reading fluency (ORF), reading comprehension, and attitudes toward reading for students in Grades 3-5. The authors used SEM-R in comparison with basal reading…