Background/Context: Students classified as Long-Term English Learners (LTELs) are those who have not gained fluency in the English language, even after being enrolled in the U.S. K-12 educational system for five to seven years (Olsen, 2014). Although LTELs are not consistently tracked across states, we know they constitute a sizeable portion of…

The Virginia public-school assessment and accountability system impacted the statewide reading proficiency scores for students with disabilities. The purpose of this causal-comparative quantitative study was applied to answer the research question, and hypothesis statement and determine the difference in the reading improvement measured by the…

Phonological awareness (PA) is defined as a child's ability to hear and manipulate parts of spoken language (National Early Literacy Panel [NELP], 2009; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000). Ensuring that children develop PA increases the likelihood that they are successful with later reading instruction. Two…

Most evaluators have embraced the goal of evidence-based practice (EBP). Yet, many have criticized EBP review systems that prioritize randomized control trials and use various criteria to limit the studies examined. They suggest this could produce policy recommendations based on small, unrepresentative segments of the literature and recommend a…

The purpose of this program evaluation was to evaluate the Direct Instruction programs, Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading, from SRA McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, which were being used as a school-wide reading intervention. These programs were implemented at a small elementary school in the Piedmont area of North Carolina beginning in the…

Nearly one-quarter of U.S. eighth graders score below basic on national assessments of reading (NCES, 2013) and are poorly equipped for the reading demands of secondary school. Struggling adolescent readers cannot summarize a simple passage, use context to determine word meanings, and have difficulties making text-based inferences. In addition,…

"READ 180®" is a reading program designed for struggling readers who are reading 2 or more years below grade level. It combines online and direct instruction, student assessment, and teacher professional development. "READ 180®" is delivered in 90-minute sessions that include whole-group instruction, three small-group…

The Word and World Reading programme aimed to improve the reading comprehension and wider literacy skills of children aged 7-9 from low income families. The programme focused on improving the vocabulary and background knowledge (sometimes labelled "core knowledge") of pupils, through the use of specially designed "knowledge…

READ 180, a special class to help students read better, is just one of many boxed reading intervention programs popping up all over the United States and being used by districts to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) at a huge cost to students. The Milwaukee Public School District calls it "a research-based reading…

"Reading Mastery" is designed to provide explicit reading instruction to students in grades pre-K-5. One of several Direct Instruction curricula from McGraw-Hill, "Reading Mastery" is available in two versions: (1) "Reading Mastery Classic" (for grades pre-K-2) aims to help beginning readers identify letter sounds,…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a Direct Instruction summer reading intervention program designed to minimize summer reading regression. The summer intervention program targeted the lowest quartile of readers in grades kindergarten through third grade from a suburban school district over a three-week period before…

This review synthesizes research on English reading outcomes of all types of programs for Spanish-dominant ELLs in elementary schools. It is divided into two major sections. One focuses on studies of language of instruction, and one on reading approaches for ELLs other than bilingual education. A total of 14 qualifying studies met the inclusion…

Students with high-incidence disabilities struggle with reading comprehension due to difficulties in background knowledge and metacognitive skills, including use of self-monitoring and other strategies. In the United States, these students typically receive the majority of their instruction in general education settings. However, there is little…

"Reading Mastery," one of several curriculum components that constitute the "Direct Instruction" curriculum from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K-6. "Reading Mastery," which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement…

The Louisiana Striving Readers evaluation assessed the implementation and effectiveness of the Voyager "Passport Reading Journeys" (PRJ), a widely used supplemental literacy intervention for struggling adolescent readers that reflects the research-based practices recommended by the National Reading Panel (2000) and other more recent…