Adolescents in the care of the state have complex developmental needs that include low academic attainment. The aim of this study was to describe the language and literacy profiles of adolescents (aged 13-19) in out-of-home care ('looked after children'). Mental health status, biopsychosocial history, and education and employment histories were…

Reading and telling stories to children improves their narrative skills, which is well-documented for monolinguals, but not for bilinguals. We investigated whether bilingual narratives improve when the child is provided with a model story. We studied the narratives of Polish-English bilingual children (n = 75, mean age 5;7 years; months) raised in…

The present study explores possible relations between students' epistemic perspective, learning strategies and text comprehension. In Study 1, 79 sixth graders completed paper-and-pencil instruments to measure their epistemic perspective and learning strategies. Students' epistemic perspective was assessed using a scenario-based instrument, the…

Paraphrasing is a productive exercise for students at the intermediate level because it develops capability in both directions: the cognitive capability to comprehend and the linguistic capability to express ideas autonomously--that is, without needing to copy from the original or from a model. However, for students at this level, paraphrasing is…

Children with reading difficulties (RD) share challenges in executive functions (EF). Neurobiological correlates provide evidence for EF challenges during reading among these readers, but an online cognitive load detection mechanism has yet to be developed. Nevertheless, eye-movement tracking can provide online data of reading patterns (pupil…

This study compared language minority bilingual (LMB) second graders with two groups of monolingual peers (with comparable low SES or with high SES) in a set of literacy skills (reading fluency, spelling, reading and oral comprehension) tested in the target school language (L2 for bilinguals). The aim was to disentangle the roles of bilingualism…

This paper reports on the development and piloting of a new model of multiplechoice question (MCQ) assessment used in two undergraduate degree modules at a tertiary university. The new model was purposefully designed to promote deeper learning closely aligned with the SOLO taxonomy. Students were invited to participate in an exploratory…

The assessment of screening accuracy and setting of cut points for a universal screener have traditionally been evaluated using logistic regression analysis. This analytic technique has been frequently used to evaluate the trade-offs in correct classification with misidentification of individuals who are at risk of performing poorly on a later…

Some states require physical education (PE) to be in a school's curriculum. Some people feel that it is a time to play and it is not an important subject in a school's curriculum. This study aims to shed light on the potential effects of PE on students' performance in language arts as subject matter. The purpose of this study was to examine the…

A rich home literacy environment (HLE) fosters students' academic achievement. However, the link between HLE and children's reading comprehension is unclear. This study examined the effects of HLE factors on children's reading comprehension through a meta-analysis of 59 studies conducted between 1998 and 2018. Results of the meta-analysis…

Oral reading fluency (ORF) deficits are a hallmark of reading difficulties. The impact of fluency struggles extends beyond word-level difficulties to include deficits in reading comprehension. Sixteen empirical studies conducted in 2000-2019 that examined ORF interventions among elementary students identified as having reading difficulties were…

Morphological awareness is regarded as a significant predictor of vocabulary acquisition, reading comprehension, and the advancement of various literary competences. Thus, the present study sought to investigate tertiary EFL students' morphological awareness of English in terms of morphological identification and morphological structure awareness.…

This study investigates how interactive features embedded in the illustrations of storybook apps influenced young readers' story enjoyment and comprehension. Kindergartners and second graders (N = 91) were randomly assigned to read storybook apps in an interactive or noninteractive condition. Findings showed that children's self-reported enjoyment…

Learning science is important for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as knowledge of science allows students to understand their natural world, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is increasingly emphasized in schools. Reading to learn science is, therefore, a vital skill in today's schools for all…

This research investigates critical thinking skills in reading comprehension of English as Second Language (ESL) students in an Australian context and proposes a number of pedagogical methods for ESL teachers and educators. The research has two aims: (1) to gain a thorough understanding of ESL students' ability to read English critically in their…