This paper presents a new theory and model of the teaching of decoding, reading and writing. The first part of the paper reviews a selection of influential models of learning to read and write that to varying degrees have been used as the basis for approaches to teaching, including the "Simple View of Reading." As well as noting some…

Up until third grade, reading instruction is focused on learning to read, while in fourth grade and up, students begin reading to learn (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2024; Grunke et al., 2013). This reading with purpose includes increasing critical thinking skills and using newfound reading skills to understand complex subjects such as math and…

Over the years, persistently low achievement levels have led scholars to question whether reading skill development is different for deaf readers. Research findings suggest that in order for deaf students to become proficient readers, they must master the same fundamental abilities that are well established for hearing learners, regardless of the…

Dyslexia and other learning disabilities are not being properly recognized and treated in our educational system or society at large. Unrecognized and untreated learning disabilities represent a serious social and economic problem, not only to the individual but to society as a whole. For example, antisocial behavior, as seen in prison populations…

This study tested a hypothesized model examining reading proficiency across first grade. It addressed how alphabetics at the beginning of the year were mediated by applied and automated skills at the middle of the year to explain actualized reading at the end of the year. The alphabetic skills of 102 first graders were measured in October and the…

Effective reading instruction plays an important role in improving students' outcomes in reading achievement. This paper is designed to serve as a tutorial for translating the simple view of reading model into classroom practices for improving early reading instruction. This model is used as a framework for facilitating teachers' word…

In this column, the authors encourage teachers to resist using the unhelpful term "struggling reader" and instead focus on who the reader is and what will motivate her or him. The authors present a five-part framework for meeting the needs of all readers and argue that focusing on students' negative behaviors during reading creates a missed…

Failure to "activate" relevant, existing background knowledge may be a cause of poor reading comprehension. This failure may cause particular problems with inferences that depend heavily on prior knowledge. Conversely, teaching how to use background knowledge in the context of gap-filling inferences could improve reading comprehension in…

This is the second of three reports from MDRC's evaluation of the Success for All (SFA) scale-up demonstration, funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) competition. The report presents updated findings on SFA's implementation and impacts in the scale-up sites participating in the evaluation. The i3 evaluation…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether integrating encoding instruction with reading instruction provides stronger gains for students who struggle with reading than instruction that includes little or no encoding. An instructional design model was investigated to best fit the data of 175 first-grade readers at risk for reading…

There is a growing literature demonstrating that speech rhythm sensitivity is related to children's reading development, independent of phonological awareness. However, the precise nature of this relationship is less well understood, and further research is warranted to investigate whether speech rhythm sensitivity predicts the different…

The purpose of this article is to describe how teachers can foster strategic reading processes in their early literacy classrooms, and how to incorporate a Strategy Perception Interview to assist in documenting students' use and perceptions of these strategies. Descriptions of classroom instruction incorporating literacy strategies and…

The purposes of this study were to investigate the reliability and construct validity of measures of reading component skills with a sample of adult basic education (ABE) learners, including both native and nonnative English speakers, and to describe the performance of those learners on the measures. Investigation of measures of reading components…

We review the Simple View of Reading (SVR) model and examine its nature, applicability and validity. We describe the SVR as an abstract framework for understanding the relationship between global linguistic comprehension and word-reading abilities in reading comprehension (RC). We argue that the SVR is neither a full theory of reading nor a…

Reviews the literature on decodable text, instructional material containing words with phonically regular relationships that the reader has been taught. Synthesizes findings into a theoretical model that suggests a specific developmental juncture in which decodable text may be useful. Concludes that additional analyses of words in text are not…