This article introduces Critical Literature Pedagogy (CLP), a pedagogical framework for applying goals of critical literacy within the context of teaching canonical literature. Critical literacies encompass skills and dispositions to understand, question, and critique ideological messages of texts; because canonical literature is often…

Reading and spelling are essential skills for a student's educational success. The current literature on spelling instruction has examined a variety of spelling modalities, but has never directly compared written versus oral spelling. There are theoretical and empirical indications that either method may be superior to the other. Thus, study one…

How can student-teachers learn efficient ways to encourage sustainability thinking in their pupils and fulfil the competence aims on sustainability outlined in national subject curriculums as a response to UNESCO's programme on Education for Sustainable Development, ESD? The core hypothesis of this project was that tailored literature circles,…

This study reports on the instruction provided in district-designed intensive summer reading programs. The Tier 3 intervention was provided to 374 students from 24 school districts who were not meeting the end of third-grade reading benchmarks; students were exiting third grade and entering fourth grade. Observations of the 40 classes were…

This paper is about implementing a translanguaging approach to teach reading skills in English with simultaneous bilinguals who speak substantial amounts of Malay and Chinese at home. This new pedagogical approach was tried out with 2nd graders in 3 schools in Singapore: instead of the typical immersion approach to teaching reading skills in…

English Language Learners (ELLs) in the U.S. have recently received growing attention in educational research because of their struggle in academic performance, especially after the launch of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and assessments in 2009. Unfortunately, ELL students are required to take these standardized tests in English language…

Task-based language teaching on the purpose of enhancing students' communicative skills and involving them actively in the authentic context has long been highlighted in recent years in tertiary English language teaching. This paper proposes a framework of task-based teaching approach and language assessment in intensive reading class based on the…

This paper presents a case study that examined and reflected on the relationship between the stated beliefs and observed classroom practices of an experienced EAP teacher in relation to teaching second language (L2) reading. The results of this study revealed that the teacher holds specific beliefs about language teaching and learning in general,…

The current study explored whether a reading intervention combining flexibly applied multisyllabic word-decoding strategies with evidence-based fluency strategies was effective in improving the science text reading skills of upper-elementary struggling readers. Four students, three in fourth and one in fifth grade, participated in the study. A…

This three-year longitudinal study tracked the reading performance of 68 kindergarten students from low SES backgrounds. These students received instruction with a blended learning program--Lexia® Core5® Reading--from the start of kindergarten through second grade. During each school year the students made significant gains on a standardized…

Metacognitive approaches are important in teaching reading skills, but experts know little about how to develop self-regulation through classroom interventions. This article reports results from a randomized controlled pilot trial in which we investigated whether mindfulness-based training improves literacy scores/attitudes in children with…

Teachers can potentially address reading comprehension deficits in a content area, such as science, by using the students in their classrooms as resources. We examined the effects of a class-wide partner reading intervention with science reading materials on a measure of content comprehension skills. A total of 65 fourth-grade students and 61…

Successive UK government policies have strengthened the phonics element of the National Curriculum for English in England. The policies have included inviting publishers to submit completed self-assessments of their systematic phonics programmes. The self-assessment criteria focus on what is deemed to be 'high-quality provision', as defined in the…

Academic language, which is characterized by the words and structure of the language of schooling, is an important teachable component of academic achievement. When compared to other strong predictors of academic achievement (e.g., decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension), academic language is not as well understood or explicitly taught in…

To effectively teach reading to students with and at risk for disabilities, special and general education teachers depend on principals who support effective specialized reading instruction. Yet, extant research indicates that principals have inadequate preparation for supporting specialized instruction. To address this issue, scholars have…