The performance measures from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study revealed no measurable growth in the U.S. average reading scores of 4th graders for the period between 2011 and 2016. Therefore, the diverse learning needs of students need to be customized if the education system is to accomplish its goal to graduate well-informed…

Children with low socioeconomic status and language-minority backgrounds generally have weak precursory skills (language and emergent literacy) for learning written language. These skills can be stimulated through interactive reading sessions. Our innovative study for French-speaking Belgium aimed to evaluate the effects of an interactive reading…

A fourth-grade teacher utilized action research in order to make data-driven decisions about reading interventions with her students. The teacher decided on a broad intervention, which was differentiating reading instruction, implemented differentiated instruction, collected data and continuously adjusted interventions based on monitoring data.…

This study describes a strengths-based blended personalized learning model, the implementation of the model over a 4-year period, and the results of an impact study focused on measuring its effectiveness. The model includes many commonly-used features of personalized learning, including (a) competency-based progressions, (b) flexible learning…

Teacher candidates experience a variety of school settings when enrolled in teacher education methods courses. Candidates report varied experiences when in public school classrooms. This dissertation investigated clinical experiences of teacher candidates when placed in two different environments for clinical teaching. The two environments were a…

Background: Education has much in common with professions that are using positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship to transform practice, yet the science behind peak human and group functioning has been slow to displace deficit-based framing of reform policies and improvement strategies in education. Purpose of the Study: This…

Guided reading, as developed by Fountas and Pinnell (2001), has been a staple of elementary reading programs for the past decade. Teachers in the elementary school setting utilize this small group, tailored instruction in order to differentiate and meet the instructional needs of the students. The literature shows academic benefit for students who…

This study examines the effect of a comprehensive literacy-coaching program focused on enacting a discussion-based approach to reading comprehension instruction (content-focused coaching [CFC]) on the quality of classroom text discussions over 2 years. The study used a cluster-randomized trial in which schools were assigned to either CFC or…

This quantitative study explored the academic progress of at-risk students in English language arts (ELA) when they were given differentiated instruction (DI) and universally designed curriculum (UDC) to address their academic needs. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a significant change in passing rates on the California…

"Odyssey Reading," published by CompassLearning[R], is a web-based K-12 reading/language arts program designed to allow for instructional differentiation and data-driven decision making. The online program includes electronic curricula and materials for individual or small-group work, assessments aligned with state curriculum standards,…

This study describes a procedure one school district used to increase students' reading abilities through reviewing data and adjusting the instruction to give students intensive services, as needed. This school worked in a problem-solving team approach to develop a comprehensive team that followed the progression of student achievement.…

Using a causal-comparative research design, this study investigated the effectiveness of Differentiated Instruction Support Inclusion Services on fifth grade regular education and gifted students' Reading/Language Arts achievement. The study analyzed and compared the achievement of the regular education students who received no inclusion support…

The Collaborative Language and Literacy Instruction Project (CLLIP) is a model of professional development designed to help teachers incorporate research-based practices of literacy instruction, support mastery, and sustained use of these practices through coaching, and serve as a foundation for whole-school reform efforts. We describe the model,…

Previous research has indicated that there is no relationship between traditional homework completion and academic achievement among elementary grade students. Yet, elementary school teachers continue to utilize this practice. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between nontraditional, differentiated reading…

The purpose of this research was to examine teachers' perspectives on transitioning from a predominately whole to small-group delivery method during reading instruction. This study used a qualitative approach and nested itself in an epistemology of constructivism. The research operated under the umbrella of practice ethnography as it closely…