Strong foundational reading skills empower students to succeed both within and beyond the classroom. This Spotlight will help readers identify how much time should be spent teaching foundational reading skills; review how reading aloud to students can be a critical tool for developing literacy; investigate how teachers can support older students…

"Engaging" and "connecting" are often buzzwords associated with social media. While much has been made of its use and value for professional learning for teachers, classroom uses of social media with students have received less attention. The Global Read Aloud (GRA) is a collaborative book study where classes read a common book…

Read-alouds not only reinforce story time traditions but also hold significant educational value when used strategically. Reading aloud benefits all students, no matter the grade or achievement level. This article explores a number of research-based academic benefits of reading aloud in K-12 classrooms. The author shares practical tips for…

With its focus on evidence-based instruction, the science of reading (SOR) is crucial to ensuring all students unlock strong literacy skills, the foundation for future success. This Spotlight will help readers get up to speed with the latest state initiatives; review a reading comprehension glossary highlighting the key components for success;…

This article reports research results from an analyzsis of frequency and content of read aloud articles published between 2011 and 2015 in selected, national, peer-reviewed journals across the K-8 curriculum. An introduction describes the problem, purpose, and limitations of the study. It provides a review of research on reading aloud at home, in…

Providing accommodations during assessments for students with disabilities has long been a standard requirement in federal education legislation. Providing assessment accommodations for English learners (ELs), on the other hand, is a newer requirement appearing only over the past few decades. As such, state assessment policies vary widely in terms…

Gender identity is influenced by a variety of characteristics, including race, social class, sexual orientation, language, and gender. This article explores the importance of critical literacy, critical pedagogy, and the influence on identity development. Furthermore, it seeks to provide practitioners and teacher educators with an understanding of…

The Data-Informed Accessibility--Making Optimal Needs-based Decisions (DIAMOND) project received funding in 2015 from an Enhanced Assessment Initiative grant to collect information that would inform the creation of professional development modules for educators making decisions within new accessibility frameworks. The DIAMOND project conducted…

Storytime is an important fixture in many school libraries that helps foster students' reading abilities. With a history of success, why would librarians want to alter storytime by incorporating technology? This article discusses how Laura Fleming, a long-time school librarian, addressed decreased student engagement in traditional reading…

Technology can create new opportunities for learning "with" and "from" people of other cultures, not just "about" them. The Global Read Aloud (GRA) offers an example of such learning possibilities. The GRA is a project that connects classrooms via digital technologies to discuss common texts. This research explored…

The theme of this year was educate to liberate. A reminder to the literacy community that education, and literacy extend beyond the content and courses we teach. As Freire puts it, "Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people--they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are…

Read aloud is a testing accommodation that has been studied by many researchers, and its use on K-12 assessments continues to be debated because of its potential to change the measured construct or unfairly increase test scores. This study is a summary of quantitative research on the read aloud accommodation. Previous studies contributed…

The purpose of this study was to investigate what teachers in a Western Canadian province were doing when engaging their students with literature. Forty two teachers from Kindergarten through to Grade 12 were interviewed, which allowed us to get a broad perspective on the types of reader response activities that are being taught in the classroom…

How do teachers ignite a fire that kindles a love for books and produces a sense of wonder in the science classroom? What do teachers know and do that lights that spark in their students (Cummins 2012)? In this article, science and mathematics professor Sally Mayberry highlights a number of trade books that have made a fantastic difference in the…

This report provides an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations as well as to identify promising future areas of research. Previous reports by NCEO have covered research published since 1999. We summarize the research to review current research trends and enhance understanding of the implications of accommodations use in the…