In this article, the authors examined the effects of 1 year of supplemental instruction on first-grade children considered struggling readers on their phonics and reading comprehension achievement, along with second-grade children considered struggling readers on their reading comprehension achievement. This study included 196 children in 17…

One of the skills that can be taught in an English proficiency class that adopts literary texts for teaching the language is critical thinking. The background, characters and their motives are among those that invite critical inquiry and interpretation. Although it has been claimed that discussing literary texts in the traditional way can help…

We used a multiple baseline across students design to evaluate the effects of an intervention program consisting of vocabulary instruction, error correction, and fluency building on oral reading rate and comprehension of five English-language learners who were struggling readers in a primary school. During the first intervention condition (new…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has mandated sweeping accountability in public education. Low-performing urban schools find themselves in the crossfire of political and educational divergence. Comprehensive school reform (CSR) models predate NCLB, but the impact of their implementation has been even more pronounced since the passage of NCLB.…

Recent scientific advances in early literacy assessment have provided schools with access to critical information about students' foundational beginning reading skills. In this article, we describe how assessment of early literacy skills can help school psychologists promote beginning reading success for all children. First, we identify key skills…

The current study examined the behaviors related to academic engagement exhibited by students with ADHD during instruction in math and reading. A total of 155 students (92 ADHD, 63 recruited controls) in grades 1 through 4 participated in the study. Results revealed that students with ADHD exhibited statistically significant lower rates of…

Research suggests New Zealand has the biggest gap between its highest and lowest achievers, and this is known as the "long tail". The debate over whole language and phonics approaches to reading is unfinished, but must now focus on where the point of difference lies. While reading involves a range of skills, teachers need to model the…

In its position statement, the International Reading Association states that technology needs to be an integral part of literacy instruction. This article describes two ways of integrating technology into an EAP curriculum that focuses on building students' reading and writing skills. In essence, the goal of the article is to demonstrate that…

The influence of social relationships, positive interdependence, and teacher structure on the quality of partner reading interactions was examined. Partner reading, a scripted cooperative learning strategy, is often used in classrooms to promote the development of fluent and automatic reading skills. Forty-three pairs of second grade children were…

In this article, findings from case study research of two effective literacy teachers are presented in order to describe in rich detail the nature of effective scaffolding. The teachers worked one-to-one with first-grade students who were experiencing extreme difficulty in learning to read. The complexity of scaffolding is described in terms of…

This study focused on 27 second graders in one urban school that used SRA Reading Mastery. Children's strategy use, comprehension, and perception of the reading process were appraised using samples of oral reading with retellings; classroom observations; interviews with the children, their teachers, and the principal; and a phonics test. Results…

Drawing on data gathered during a fourteen-month study of reading practices among poor and working-class girls, this essay explores the challenges of creating a responsive and critical reading pedagogy across boundaries of class. Set largely in a summer and after-school reading program for pre-teen girls, the study addressed the question of how a…

Studies of the relationship between policy and practice typically focus on the formal policy system alone. Yet, the public policy system does not exist in isolation. A host of nonsystem actors promote, translate, and transform policy ideas as they carry them to teachers. This study draws on neoinstitutional theories of organization to investigate…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has regularly assessed the reading skills of U.S. fourth-graders since the early 1970s, but few national studies have assessed the reading skills of children when they enter kindergarten and then documented the development of these skills through fifth grade. This analysis uses data from the…

This study investigated differences in vocabulary knowledge as a potential explanation for perceived differences between placed and promoted students in a university EAP reading course. Students in an advanced reading course (N=59) were tested on their vocabulary knowledge using the Vocabulary Levels Test Form B [Nation, I. S. P. (2001). "Learning…