As with all learners, English learners (ELs) require more than basic reading and writing skills to successfully engage with rigorous academic content, progress through school, and be fully prepared for postsecondary education and careers. ELs must be able to access grade-level content while simultaneously developing proficiency and autonomy in…

The National Center for Leadership in Intensive Intervention (NCLII), a consortium funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), prepares special education leaders to become experts in research on intensive intervention for students with disabilities who have persistent and severe academic (e.g., reading and math) and behavioral…

The implementation of effective instructional materials, such as a core reading program, by a qualified teacher is an important part of improving students' reading achievement. But selecting those instructional materials can be time-consuming. Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast created this rubric for evaluating reading/language arts…

There are many reasons for teachers' reluctance to address the issue of spelling content area vocabulary words; however, content vocabulary word spelling need not be ignored because of time constraints, boredom, or lack of knowledge on the teacher's part any longer. A method which can be utilized is an adaption of "Scratch, Scribble and…

Twenty college students learned sign language vocabularly via an interactive videodisc system, while 20 control group students learned the same signs through a traditional classroom approach. The experimental group took one-third less time to learn as many signs as the control group. (Author/JDD)

This paper discusses two reading comprehension strategies for teachers to incorporate into their teaching methods. The paper reviews research and suggests techniques to support these strategies, vocabulary packs and cued spelling. Vocabulary packs, an effective strategy to increase reading comprehension, allow students to work independently on…

The performance of 18 deaf college students who learned English words and their definitions using the mnemonic keyword method with pictorial elaboration was compared with the performance of 13 controls who learned the same words and their definitions using their own strategies. Immediate and delayed prompted word-definition recall and delayed…

Arguing that researchers in the last decade have helped to illuminate a direction for effective vocabulary development for students, this monograph reviews the recent research on vocabulary knowledge. After a discussion of the importance of vocabulary knowledge, the monograph examines the various factors in vocabulary acquisition identified by…

This book presents a practical approach for assessing children's spelling and word knowledge abilities and offering effective, appropriate instruction. Included in the book is the Developmental Spelling Analysis (DSA), a dictated word inventory that enables teachers to evaluate students' stages of spelling development and their knowledge of…

This book argues for a deeper, richer view of vocabulary than the standard images conjured up by that word--worksheets, weekly quizzes, and anxieties about standardized test scores. The book invites teachers and students to experience "the music of words," words in isolation and in juxtapositions, and urges them to bring their own life…

The study, involving 61 learning-disabled junior high students, compared the short-term and long-term effectiveness of definition instruction with interactive vocabulary strategies (semantic mapping, semantic feature analysis, and semantic/syntactic feature analysis). Students participating in the interactive strategies demonstrated greater…

Four elementary-level students with moderate mental retardation were taught to read sight words using a progressive time-delay procedure. All students acquired their target words and at least 50 percent of the incidental and observational words and definitions to which they were exposed. (Author/PB)

This study with 12 2nd- and 3rd-grade students with mild disabilities compared memory for new reading words following instructional sessions in which either word meaning or phonic cues were emphasized. The phonic instruction resulted in a greater number of words remembered either within sentences or on word lists. (Author/DB)

In response to a directive to devise strategies to increase student performance in vocabulary development skills, as measured by standardized tests, this paper suggests some of the following strategies: (1) teach word origins and structural analysis; (2) use semantic mapping/webbing; (3) show students how to attack analogies; (4) read aloud; (5)…

Based on the idea that word knowledge has particular importance in literate societies, this Digest finds that most people feel that there is a common sense relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension, i.e., messages are composed of ideas, and ideas are expressed in words. The Digest considers several viewpoints on teaching…