In this technical report, we present results of classification accuracy analyses to identify cut scores to optimize sensitivity and specificity for the easyCBM literacy assessments in Kindergarten through Grade 2. In conducting these analyses, we used the following approach: We kept sensitivity above 0.80 and maximized specificity from there. If…

Do students learn better with texts that are "slightly harder to read" (i.e., disfluent)? Previous research yielded discrepant findings concerning this question. To clarify these discrepancies, the present study aimed at identifying a boundary condition that determines when disfluent text is, and is not, beneficial to learning. This…

Recently, Diemand-Yauman et al. "Cognition," 118, 114-118 (2011) demonstrated that learning with disfluent (hard-to-read) materials is more effective than learning with easy-to-read materials--a study that has since stipulated a number of follow-up studies (with mixed results). However, there is a potential confound in the original…

Reading fluency undoubtedly underlies reading competence; yet, the role of executive functions (EFs) is less well understood. Here, we investigated the relation between children's reading fluency and EF. Children's (n = 82) reading and language performance was determined by standardized assessments and EF by parental questionnaire. Results…

In this article, a three-phase mixed-methods study was conducted to investigate timed reading effects on Chinese university students' English as a foreign language (EFL) reading rate. First, two equivalent reading rate tests were designed and validated with 30 participants. Second, 81 university students from two intact classes participated in the…

Students native to the Arabian Gulf region often struggle with reading skills. The purpose of this study was to explore the reading habits and reading culture of Emirati undergraduate students and to investigate the use of a particular reading strategy (Listening While Reading) on undergraduate Emirati students reading rate and comprehension. This…

This study investigates the utility of existing measures of Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), reading retell, and language proficiency for predicting reading achievement among Spanish speaking English language learners in the United States. Consistent with previous findings, ORF predicts a large proportion of the variance in reading achievement.…

This study aimed to determine the effects of nursery rhymes, entertaining and prominent products of Turkish folk literature, on improving reading fluency of fourth-grade primary school students. The sample consisted of 44 fourth graders, attending a public primary school in Vakfikebir County of Trabzon province (Turkey) in the 2015-2016 academic…

Fluency with skills that operate below the word level (i.e., sublexical), such as phonemic awareness and alphabetic knowledge, may ease the acquisition of decoding skills (Ritchey & Speece, 2006). Measures of sublexical fluency such as phoneme segmentation fluency (PSF), letter naming fluency (LNF), and letter sound fluency (LSF) are widely…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine if there is a significant difference in oral reading fluency and retell of third through sixth grade EL students taught using mobile devices versus no mobile devices when adjusted for pretest scores. The study examined the effect of mobile device use for ELs receiving reading intervention…

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE), a content literacy intervention, on first graders' science domain knowledge, reading engagement, and reading comprehension. The MORE intervention emphasizes the role of domain knowledge and reading engagement in supporting reading comprehension. MORE lessons…

Lack of students' abilities in reading Al-Qur'an hampers the learning process of Islamic Religious Education (PAI -- "Pendidikan Agama Islam") in universities. Ironically, this fundamentalism has not been able to be resolved at the previous level of education. Various methods of reading Al-Qur'an have been compiled, but in fact, there…

This study examined how children's and adolescents' with Type 1 diabetes mellitusglucose levels during and prior to academic assessment contributed to performance on reading, writing, and mathematics tasks. Participants had a mean age of 13.69 (SD = 2.10); 44.6% were female and 58.1% reported their ethnicity to be Hispanic, Latino, or Mexican.…

This study set out to design and implement an approach to Tanakh education that would help students become expert decoders of the Biblical Hebrew text as they became expert interpreters of it. The goal, following existing, research-based best instructional practices from literacy, was to create a curriculum in which language skills and meaning…

This study explored how one district-community partnership, comprised of seven nonprofit community partners that serve five elementary schools in a single urban school district, improved community literacy. This collective case study used semi-structured interviews to investigate the perspectives of 17 partners and analyzed student assessment…