As our literate society becomes aware of the gaps between education and educational achievement, teachers of reading must deliver a superior reading program. To sharpen their skills, teachers of reading must research and educate themselves on essential reading instruction components, useful professional development, the characteristics that define…

Reading researchers have suggested that teachers struggle with implementing differentiated instruction (DI) in the reading classroom; however, researchers have found that differentiation improves student reading achievement. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine reading teachers' perceptions of implementing DI in the reading…

This case study explores the trajectory of a reading teacher's self-directed development when implementing drama-based pedagogy in an under-resourced College in China. Through qualitative analyses of multiple data sources collected over one semester, the study demonstrates that the teacher's self-directed use of drama-based pedagogy following…

The problem addressed through this research study was although kindergarten through Grade 3 (K-3) reading teachers have received specific professional development in phonological methods, a gap in practice exists with the implementation of instructional strategies. The purpose of this study was to explore K-3 reading teachers' perspectives…

When observing and consistently hearing about the obstacles our current public educational system faces, many are left wondering what can be done to produce genuine, significant, and continuous improvement. Upon deeper analysis of educational systems, one can see that many areas need system improvement. SOAR School (pseudonym) is a Pre-K-5 school…

Not all children enter school with the same skill set. Teachers of young children know this. Despite this, schools prescribe curriculum and pacing guides as well as assessments that may fit only a subset of students' instructional levels. Teachers are left to determine the best way to meet the student and mandated requirements. Teachers from two…

Providing differentiated learning experiences for every student is one of the goals behind teacher collaboration (Reeves, 2003; Byrd, 2020). The problem examined in this study was that collaborative planning has been used as a solution to improve instructional quality in low-resourced schools, without assessing the effectiveness of that solution…

Students need strong literacy skills to succeed in core academic subjects--English, mathematics, science, and social studies--and to be prepared for college and careers. "Reading Apprenticeship"® is a professional development program that aims to help teachers improve their students' literacy skills. The program also aims to improve…

The authors discuss the tension between the science of reading and adaptive teaching. The discussion focuses on the ways in which the science of reading emphasizes the teaching of reading as decontextualized and compartmentalized aspects of literacy acquisition that are distant from culturally sustaining and relevant pedagogies and restrict…

As an initial step of a larger grant-funded project, this pilot study examined how providing preschool teachers in low socio-economic urban areas with a traditional professional development workshop and subsequent coaching on dialogic reading (DR) strategies affected their storybook reading. Effects on children's receptive and expressive language…

Students need strong literacy skills to succeed in core academic subjects--English, mathematics, science, and social studies--and to be prepared for college and careers. "Reading Apprenticeship"® is a professional development program that aims to help teachers improve their students' literacy skills. The program also aims to improve…

Value-added assessment is designed to measure teacher contributions to student achievement in order to promote effective teaching (Battelle for Kids, 2011b; Darling-Hammond et al., 2012; Lee, 2011). When value-added assessment is used, research indicates that in some cases effective teaching is promoted, but in other cases it is not…

The most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Because reading affects all other academic achievement and is associated with social, emotional, economic, and physical health, it has been the most researched aspect of human cognition. The fact that teachers need better preparation, professional development, and…

This qualitative case study examined two first-grade teachers' scaffolding within daily small-group reading instruction for students identified as having the most difficulty with reading and how the scaffolds supported students' reading. This research occurred in two first-grade classrooms at Springville Elementary School, a school in a rural town…

Research has indicated that reading aloud to young students can enhance their foundational reading skills and their reading motivation, but such research has been lacking in African contexts. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of story read-aloud lessons in improving students' foundational reading skills in Nigeria. The experiment took place…