Teacher professional learning is of increasing interest as one way to support the increasingly complex skills students need to learn in preparation for further education and work in the 21st century. Sophisticated forms of teaching are needed to develop student competencies such as deep mastery of challenging content, critical thinking, complex…

The article describes a reading fluency intervention called Reading Together that combines the method of repeated readings (Samuels, 1979) and the Neurological Impress Method (Heckelman, 1969). Sixteen volunteers from various backgrounds were recruited and trained to deliver the Reading Together intervention to struggling readers in third through…

With the emergence of response to intervention as a key element for supporting school success for all students, there is a need for teachers to know which interventions have been found to be effective. Some interventions have been validated with a number of research studies, but new interventions also need such validation. This study was a program…

Research concerning technology-based reading intervention is limited and additional studies are needed in this area of study. This study examined the individual intervention programs (Read 180 and Thinking Reader) for diverse 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in order to determine the gains per grade level on state standardized reading tests. This study…

This study examined the effects of the "READ 180"[R] program on the reading achievement levels of fourth grade students who participated in the "READ 180"[R] program (Scholastic Incorporated, 2005) compared to fourth grade students who were reading below grade level but who were not participating in the "READ 180"[R]…

National testing standards have increased pressure on school personnel to identify and implement instructional practices that facilitate the academic achievement of at-risk students. No Child Left Behind legislation currently mandates that reading programs at the middle school level receiving federal funding must use scientifically validated…

Although literacy skills needed to engage in the economy and public life have grown, the literacy skills of many adolescents remain low. One popular approach to improving student literacy is using school-based reading coaches; however, there is little empirical evidence regarding the nature of coaching and its effectiveness in changing teacher…

Are programs that emphasize systematic phonics instruction truly superior to other types of programs for young readers, as the National Reading Panel claims? The authors conducted a study of three different programs to see what kinds of readers are actually emerging from them. Two were commercial programs that used explicit and systematic phonics…

This study examined the effects of the Waterford Early Reading Program on reading achievement gains across the first-grade year. The results of this longitudinal analysis demonstrated meaningfully greater gains on reading achievement for those with access to the Integrated learning system (ILS) (n[superscript 2] =.10). Furthermore, the positive…

Low-performing districts have sought to raise student achievement through adoption of schoolwide models for the reform of literacy instruction, a trend that has intensified under the Reading First Act. This study examined literacy achievement for first graders in a large urban district that offered its schools a choice of literacy reform models.…

The reading performance of Hispanic children in the U.S. is becoming a central concern in education policy and reform. This paper reports the results of a study designed to evaluate the impacts of a form of the Success for All beginning reading program modified to meet the needs of Hispanic students, particularly those who are English language…

Background: We evaluate the effectiveness of three theoretically motivated programmes for the teaching of reading to four-year-old children. Method: Four hundred and ten children, of pre-kindergarten age, in 20 UK Reception-year classrooms were divided into four matched groups and randomly assigned to one of three experimental teaching conditions,…

This article reviews experimental studies comparing bilingual and English-only reading programs for English language learners. The review method is best-evidence synthesis, which uses a systematic literature search, quantification of outcomes as effect sizes, and extensive discussion of individual studies that meet inclusion standards. A total of…