Implementation fidelity is considered an indicator of an intervention's internal validity. In reading research, while student outcome measures are often well described, measures of implementation fidelity have received far less attention. Although researchers have become interested in the relation between implementation fidelity and student…

A majority of fourth grade students in the United States aren't reading proficiently (NAEP Reading: Reading Results, 2022). Deeper analysis of these assessment data surfaced a large gap between how our education system is serving students of color and their white counterparts. These gaps represent gaps in opportunity as access to quality…

While policymakers have demonstrated considerable enthusiasm for "science of reading" initiatives, the evidence on the impact of related reforms when implemented at scale is limited. In this pre-registered, quasi-experimental study, we examine California's recent initiative to improve early literacy across the state's lowest-performing…

The Reading League builds the understanding of evidence-aligned reading instruction and its application with a variety of supports for educators as they build their knowledge and professional networks around the science of reading. It builds the understanding of evidence-aligned reading instruction and its application with a variety of supports…

There are three purposes of this paper, the first of which is to elucidate the theory and principles underlying extensive reading. Long-held principles will be discussed in light of practical classroom and contextual considerations. Secondly, a critical summary of current research on extensive reading that has been conducted in English as a Second…

Improving reading instruction is one of the hottest topics in K-12 education today. It is also one of the most complex, encompassing pedagogy, policy, and politics -- all rooted in a long history of arguments about the best way to teach kids to read. This analysis is a primer on the "Science of Reading" and efforts to implement it across…

Leaders across North Carolina believe strongly in the potential for all students to read proficiently by 3rd grade. Yet despite significant effort and investment, only 36% of 4th graders are at or above proficient in reading. The Belk Foundation, in partnership with The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), The Foundation for…

In May 2016, an invitational symposium on the Reading for Understanding (RfU) initiative was held in Alexandria, Virginia. Co-hosted by ETS and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the symposium brought together some 160 state and local education leaders to examine the results of the Reading for Understanding Initiative. The goal of…

This article argues that literacy educators must take time to advocate for research-informed instructional responses in this age of Common Core State Standards and Race to the Top mandates. To that end, it offers four key ideas regarding: (a) what we know about instruction, (b) the need for long-term, continuously revised planning, (c) literacy in…

When schools and teachers adopt core reading programs they can use them with fidelity or make intelligent decisions about the texts, lessons and components they select to use. The evidence suggests that these programs are not research-based documents, but rather compromises between what the research suggests about effective reading instruction and…

The field of literacy education has long been concerned with the question of how to help classroom teachers improve their practices so that students will improve as readers. Although there is consensus on what characterizes effective professional development, the reading research on which this consensus is based most often is small scale and…

Summaries of the Danish internal reports of the essay studies, the introspection studies, and the literary analyses that are part of the larger interdisciplinary Turko-Danish Fairytale Project concerning the collective versus the individual nature of the response to literature are presented in this report. Various sections of the five papers…

Investigates the effects on students' literacy learning of implementing recommended practices for primary programs, mandated in Kentucky's sweeping education-reform effort. Finds that students taught by four "high implementing" teachers outperformed students of "low implementing" teachers on every measure of literacy…

This study investigated the role of the amount, content, and implementation of reading instruction provided by 17 kindergarten teachers in eight "Reading First" elementary schools as it related to students' progress (n = 286 students) on early reading assessments of phonological awareness and letter naming-decoding fluency. Children's…

"Reading Mastery," one of several curriculum components that constitute the "Direct Instruction" curriculum from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K-6. "Reading Mastery," which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement…