Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of explanatory texts characteristics on comprehension performances in children from 2nd to 9th grade. Method: Several metrics have been applied to 40 explanatory texts, accounting for length, complexity and age accuracy. Children were asked to read an age-appropriate text, and answer…

This quantitative study examined seventh-grade reading scores to determine the extent to which certain demographic variables (race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status) explain and MAP reading scores predict reading scores on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) in a selected northeast Texas public school. Standardized…

Using data from interviews with 111 reading policy actors from California, Connecticut, Michigan, and Utah, this study explains how individuals acquire central positions in issue networks. Regression analyses showed that the greater a policy actor's reputed influence was and the more similar their preferences were to other members in the network,…

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the delegation of financial authority to public primary schools through Parent-Teacher Councils (PTCs) on learning outcomes of primary school children in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan. The learning outcomes were measured in three subject areas (Urdu, English, and Mathematics).…

Despite almost a century of research, there is little consensus among researchers and educators about the role of oral reading accuracy in beginning reading progress of struggling readers. Should, for example, students be given easy books to read with high levels of accuracy to promote early reading development or does reading hard texts with…

Learning strategies, such as memorization and elaboration strategies, have received both support and repudiation. The 2009 international PISA reading, science, and mathematics achievement test and survey of 15 year-olds in 65 countries was used. The findings indicated that self-reported use of learning strategies, which involve compensatory…

Early number sense knowledge is highly predictive of later math achievement (Herbers et al., in press; Jordan, Kaplan, Ramineni, & Locuniak, 2009; Obradovic i et al., 2009). However, research suggests that variables beyond number competencies contribute to students' mathematics achievement, most notably, executive function (Blair & Razza,…

This article examines the differences in language learning strategies (LLS) use between preservice teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) and Arabic as a second language (ASL). It also examines the relationship between LLS use and language performance (academic achievement and four language skills) among ASL students. The study made use…

This article contributes to the field of reading assessment in English as a second language (L2). Few reading studies have been carried out at the upper secondary school level, and the present study provides insight into upper secondary school students' L2 reading proficiency. It examines whether such proficiency can be explained by reading…

This study examined associations between broad cognitive abilities (Fluid Reasoning [Gf], Short-Term Working Memory [Gwm], Long-Term Storage and Retrieval [Glr], Processing Speed [Gs], Comprehension-Knowledge [Gc], Visual Processing [Gv], and Auditory Processing [Ga]) and reading achievement (Basic Reading Skills, Reading Rate, Reading Fluency,…

Background: The present study investigates what factors related to the school context influence student achievement on TIMSS mathematics tests across countries. A systematic review of the literature on PIRLS, TIMSS, and ICCS was conducted upstream to identify those school, teacher, and classroom factors shown to be useful predictors of student…

The same working memory and reading and writing achievement phenotypes (behavioral markers of genetic variants) validated in prior research with younger children and older adults in a multi-generational family genetics study of dyslexia were used to study 81 adolescent and young adults (ages 16 to 25) from that study. Dyslexia is impaired word…

This multilevel study examined the relationship between school climate and academic achievement. Using the Educational Longitudinal Survey (ELS, 2002), and a sample of 16,258 students and 1954 schools nationwide, we found that student-level perception of school climate--especially the student learning environment--was highly predictive of academic…

This study examined the influence of classroom pedagogic reading practices and out-of-school practices in explaining why the reading attainment of Hong Kong Grade 4 students was superior to that of their counterparts in Taiwan in the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. Analyses of scores from 9,301 students (4,712 from Hong Kong…

Middle school students who struggle in reading are likely to also experience difficulty in their other subjects in school. A variety of reading intervention programs exist for schools to utilize to increase reading comprehension. The Scholastic READ 180 program is used as part of this study. This small, focused study of 160 students examined the…