In-person tutoring has been shown to improve academic achievement. Though less well-researched, virtual tutoring has also shown a positive effect on achievement but has only been studied in grade five or above. We present findings from the first randomized controlled trial of virtual tutoring for young children (grades K-2). Students were assigned…

This paper presents evidence confirming the validity of the RD design in the Reading Recovery study by examining the ability of the RD design to replicate the 1st grade results observed in the original i3 RCT focused on short-term impacts. Over 1,800 schools participated in the RD study over all four cohort years. The RD design used cutoff-based…

Purpose: Researchers have developed a constellation model of decodingrelated reading disabilities (RD) to improve the RD risk determination. The model's hallmark is its inclusion of various RD indicators to determine RD risk. Classification methods such as logistic regression (LR) might be one way to determine RD risk within the constellation…

In this study, the student texts and teacher guides of two reading intervention programs for at-risk, first-grade students were analyzed and compared: Fountas and Pinnell's "Leveled Literacy Intervention" (LLI) and Scott Foresman's "My Sidewalks" (MS). The analyses drew on the framework of available theory and…

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of tier 2 instruction on the comprehension and vocabulary of first grade students identified with low language and vocabulary skills. Specifically, the authors conducted a pilot study within the context of federally funded efficacy research to examine whether students participating in…

Compares basal readers' vocabulary load in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Finds that the average number of words introduced in books for first grade increased during this time. Recommends that teachers adjust instruction to meet the needs of less able students when using basals with a high vocabulary load. (RS)

A study examined whether conclusions about constructive processes in reading based on analysis of group data were consistent with those based on an analysis of individual data. Subjects, selected from a larger sample of 45 first grade students who had participated in a longitudinal study on acquisition of linguistic procedures for printed words,…

A study determined the relationship between basal illustrations and contextual meaning. Five basals were analyzed to determine the percentage of illustration miscues appearing in each story. The basals chosen were from Silver Burdett and Ginn, Houghton Mifflin, Scott Foresman, Holt Rinehart and Winston, and D.C. Heath and Company. Results…

Repeated readings are a common, recommended practice for beginning readers. A study compared the gains made by high level and low level ability first grade readers in reading fluency. An initial reading of text at a second grade reading level was audiotaped and analyzed for rate and accuracy. This was followed by four readings, including a…

A study worked toward designing a small set of phonological, letter, and memory tasks that would allow teachers and other school personnel concerned with early intervention in reading to reliably identify children likely to develop reading disabilities (RD). A total of 446 kindergarten children from diverse geographic (west and east coasts),…

A study compared two groups of children attending two urban elementary schools who were unready for first grade at the conclusion of kindergarten. One group of 23 students was retained in kindergarten while the other group of 117 was promoted to the first grade. The California Test of Basic Skills was used to measure the reading ability of both…

The efficacy of two methods of early reading instruction were examined: introduction of words in isolation and introduction of words in context. (HOD)

A study evaluated reaching achievement for three groups of first-grade students: (1) those receiving phonics instruction utilizing the "Open Court" phonics materials integrated with the District's language arts curriculum; (2) those receiving phonics instruction in the context of guided and shared reading activities ("Phonics in…

A study investigated the effectiveness of Emergent Reader Literacy Instruction (ERLI), an eclectic approach to teaching reading which incorporates phonics, basal texts, quality literature, and writing instruction through daily inclusion of guided reading, word wall/making words, self-directed reading, and writing. A preliminary investigation,…

A study examined whether children learn phonic decoding skills by reading without direct phonic instruction; compared the effects of a whole language first grade reading program with the effects of a traditional basal reading program; and determined whether there was a difference in decoding and comprehending abilities across levels of ability.…