Locally and nationally, English Learners (ELs) struggle to achieve parity with their monolingual peers in reading. In addition to second language-related considerations, ELs' efforts to succeed in reading may be thwarted by poverty, trauma, interrupted education, barriers to effective instruction and parental engagement, limited parental…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the use of specific vocabulary instructional strategies during a six-week summer program to determine if the iReady universal screener measured an impact on student vocabulary and reading comprehension. The study utilized a treatment group (n = 34) and a control group (n = 40) from…

The fundamental goal of the Third Grade Summer Reading Camp program in 2024 was to bolster the reading skills of struggling third grade students and to prepare them to demonstrate mastery of state standards needed to be promoted to the fourth grade. The Office of Program Evaluation undertook an evaluation to gauge whether students who completed…

We leverage log data from an educational app and two-way text message records from over 3,500 students during the summers of 2019 and 2020, along with in-depth interviews in Spanish and English, to identify patterns of family engagement with educational technology. Based on the type and timing of technology use, we identify several distinct…

We leverage log data from an educational app and two-way text message records from over 3,500 students during the summers of 2019 and 2020 and in-depth interviews in Spanish and English to identify patterns of family engagement with educational technology. Based on the type and timing of technology use, we identify several distinct profiles of…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an 18-day summer tutoring program in which graduate student tutors delivered 15 minutes of differentiated reading instruction (DRI) and a 30-minute interactive read-aloud (IRA) lesson each day. Students in grades K-5 (N = 179) attending a summer program at one urban elementary school…

There are large gaps in reading skills by family income among school-aged children in the United States. Correlational evidence suggests that reading skills are strongly related to the amount of reading students do outside of school. Experimental evidence testing whether this relationship is causal is lacking. We report the results from a…

This U.S. study evaluated the effects of a reading intervention for emergent bilingual students with significant reading difficulties in Grades 6 and 7 within a multisite randomized controlled trial. Emergent bilinguals were randomized to a researcher-provided intervention (n = 171) or business-as-usual comparison condition (n = 169). Results on a…

This study investigates the effects of the text difficulty of extensive reading materials on the reading comprehension and reading motivation of English as a foreign language (EFL) vocational high school students in Taiwan. Two experimental groups were assigned, on an individual basis, to read graded readers at either one level below ('i-1') or…

A substantial amount of evidence suggests that students, particularly those from economically disadvantaged households, experience summer reading loss. Available evidence suggests this is due to a lack of participation in literacy-focused activities and access to books during the summer break from school. The current study investigated whether…

The present study examined potential synergistic relationships between reading engagement and reading comprehension among 3,689 third and fourth graders across 59 schools in North Carolina. Using hierarchical regression analyses, we replicated previous findings that reading engagement explains unique variance in reading comprehension. Our results…

"Literacy Strong All Year Long: Powerful Lessons for Grades K-2" equips educators of young children with engaging lessons that motivate students and help them develop the solid foundation of literacy skills essential to learning. Thoughtfully designed lessons linked to specific literacy standards create a seamless flow of learning…

This study reports on the instruction provided in district-designed intensive summer reading programs. The Tier 3 intervention was provided to 374 students from 24 school districts who were not meeting the end of third-grade reading benchmarks; students were exiting third grade and entering fourth grade. Observations of the 40 classes were…

This research summary explores READS and the rigorous research behind its development over the years, as well as the program's outcomes and key components. The brainchild of James Kim, a Harvard University education professor, READS provides 10 free, carefully-matched books to third through fifth graders over the summer, along with three key…

This qualitative study investigated the ways in which 84 parents from predominantly low-income communities described supporting their third graders' reading skills, motivation, and habits. Thematic analysis of open-ended parent interviews indicated that parents actively and deliberately scaffolded their children's progress toward developing…