Because children living in poverty and minorities consistently demonstrate persistent reading difficulties (Adams, 1990), Congress intervened and passed the No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2006) mandating that scientifically based reading research be implemented in the primary grades. Quantitative studies presented in the…

A study determined the effect of parental involvement on reading achievement of participating students. Subjects were 22 fifth-grade students in a Chicago public school who received parental involvement and 19 students in the same school who did not receive parental involvement. Subjects' scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills were used in the…

A study determined the effectiveness of the "Direct Instruction" program on the reading achievement of sixth-grade students. "Direct Instruction," known as "Distar" in the 1960s, is a phonic-based method that uses scripted lesson plans engaging students to learn by memory and classroom responses. Subjects were 30…

A study investigated various developmental relationships between the attitudes of students toward reading and their reading achievement, with the intention of providing additional information concerning attitudes and attitude testing within school programs. Subjects, 876 students in grades 1 through 8 from a white, middle-class rural community,…

A study investigated whether third graders who attended preschool had significantly higher reading achievement scores than students who did not attend preschool. Subjects were 60 students at a public school located in a predominantly low and low middle socioeconomic neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. Half the students had…

A study ascertained the degree of relationships between scores on each of various reading subskills and overall reading success. Reading subskills were measured by locally developed reading skills tests. Overall reading success was measured by the reading subtest of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). In each of three southern Indiana school…

Noting that existing research reveals considerable diversity among researchers' philosophical stances toward literature-based reading instruction versus traditional basal reading instruction, a study determined what effects literature-based instruction had on the reading achievement of fourth graders. Subjects, fourth-grade students of the John P.…

A study examined the relationship between geographic mobility and school achievement. Subjects, 15 fourth-grade students who transferred more than twice and 47 fourth-grade students who did not transfer as often from a Chicago public school in a low socioeconomic area, had their scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills compared. Results indicated…

A study was conducted to determine whether or not a child who is older when entering school performs better on reading readiness and achievement tests than a younger child. Two samples of second grade students from a middle class community in Bloomfield, New Jersey, were established by examining the ages of all the children in the cohort. Sample A…

A study examined whether preschool attendance has a positive effect on reading achievement of third graders. Subjects were 40 students attending third grade at the Benjamin Wright Raymond Public School (100% minority students), located in a mostly low socioeconomic neighborhood in the Chicago, Illinois area. Half of the subjects had attended…

A study determined whether computer assisted instruction (CAI) had an effect on students' reading achievement. Subjects were 21 randomly selected fourth-grade students at D. S. Wentworth Elementary School on the south side of Chicago in a low-income neighborhood who received a year's exposure to a CAI program, and 21 randomly selected students at…

A longitudinal study determined if children's invented spelling served as a viable predictor of reading achievement and compared the predictive value of assessing children's invented spelling relative to other notable predictors, such as letter names, letter sounds, a concept of a word, and phonemic awareness. Subjects, 52 kindergarten children…

To determine whether mastery of one reading comprehension task is a prerequisite to mastery of two or more reading comprehension tasks, a study examined the prerequisite relations existing in the item responses elicited from a sample of sixth grade students who took the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Form G, Level 12 reading comprehension test. Test…

Twenty-seven third-grade children in a northern Louisiana public school participated in a study which examined whether a minimum amount of direct instruction in sight word recognition, combined with drill of sight words, could result in significantly better performance for the targeted at-risk children on the story and unit reading tests. The…

A study examined the effect of Direct Instruction (DI) on the reading achievement of sixth graders. Subjects were 72 Chicago Public School students, nearly 100% minority. In the school year of 1994-95 no students received DI. A sample of 30 students who performed poorly, with stanines of 1, 2, and 3 on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) were…