Purpose: Writing is an essential skill that secondary students need to establish for success in their further education, careers, and lives. However, most secondary students in the United States do not achieve the level of writing proficiency expected to ensure academic and future success. One approach that is emerging more in the research…

Automaticity in recognizing the words in a text is fundamental to comprehension. If the number of words readers need to stop and decode exceeds their ability to retain their understanding of a narrative's plot or an expository text's description, their comprehension suffers. The conventional intervention for students who lack the automaticity to…

Our district reading data at the secondary level has remained stagnant over the last decade with respect to grade-level reading ability. We knew we wanted to find a way to engage students in reading and strengthen their literacy skills. In response to this, we sought to examine if we were hindering literacy development through our instructional…

Up until 2020, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores had increased only slightly since the early 1990s with large achievement gaps for students of color and students living in poverty. Modest gains in fourth grade reading proficiency since 1992 were erased during the pandemic. The insufficient progress in reading even…

In recent years, a new movement to raise awareness about early math learning has been growing in the U.S., driven by research showing that foundational math knowledge is more predictive of later success in school than nearly any other indicator, including literacy. This awareness of the importance of early math has led to an increasing focus among…

This article attempts to address the need for African American students to receive the same level of support that most schools in Texas provide for English language learners due to the underperformance of many African American students on various literacy measures. The intent is to provide readers with the phonological and grammatical features of…

Paul Jablon's "The Synergy of Inquiry" (2014) is well-timed. The 2014 deadline set by No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) for universal student proficiency has come and gone, and according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, "proficiency rates last year were below 50 percent for nearly every racial and ethnic group, in…

This study examines the effectiveness of cooperative reading teaching activities and independent reading activities for English language learner (ELL) students at 4th grade level. Based on simple linear regression and correlational analyses of data collected from two large data bases, PIRLS and NAEP, the study found that cooperative reading…

Across the U.S., educators face a common challenge: How can we help all students become strong readers and writers? In the author's state of Tennessee, many educators believe they have a reading crisis. Two-thirds of 3rd graders do not read and write on grade level as measured by the statewide assessment (Tennessee Department of Education, 2019a).…

English Language Learners (ELLs) are among the fastest-growing demographic group in U.S. public schools. There are numerous recent reports documenting this phenomenon. Some reports estimate the numbers of ELLs enrolled in U.S. public schools, and other reports approximate the growth in ELL enrollment over the past five to ten years. Still, there…

Addressing the academic needs of a growing student population with culturally and linguistically diverse characteristics is one of the challenges facing educators. This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study to test for differences in patterns of mathematics growth (e.g., high, middle, and low performance groups) in Latino…

Studies evaluating the graphics in science textbooks have recommended that teachers use eye-catching visuals to reinforce student learning objectives. Similarly, the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) suggest that science teachers use visuals to teach English Language Learners (ELLs). However, little research has…

Science educators have suggested that, for minority and low-income students, gaps between home and school science cultures necessitate "border crossing" for successful learning in science. Our analysis used National Assessment of Educational Progress 2000 and 2005 data to assess the impact of U.S. state-level policy regarding…

Situated in the context of U.S. educational outcomes, education policy in California, and UNESCO's definition of inclusive education, we examine how schools have addressed student diversity. Methods of identifying students with disabilities are not adequately designed to identify English learners with disabilities. In part to address that problem,…

In this study, we examined the degree to which the requirements in each state's teacher education programs reflect current theory and practice for teachers of ELLs in their coursework, and how these requirements in turn are related to 4th grade Hispanic ELL's reading outcomes on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. We found that…