Despite the billions of dollars spent in the last forty years, America's efforts toward closing the achievement gaps among diverse learners and their receptive counterparts have not been realized. Limitations noted in previous research discussed the need to examine the unique contributions of diverse learner variables as a way of determining their…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of three computerized interventions on the reading skills of children with reading disabilities in Grade 2. This longitudinal intervention study included five test sessions over 1 year. Two test points occur before the intervention, and three afterwards. The last follow-up was conducted 1…

Elementary, middle, and high school teachers are encountering greater numbers of students who read fast, and many times accurately, but who do not comprehend what is read. The current widely used practice of using one-minute timed passages to practice and assess oral reading fluency may have limitations which will be viewed by considering rate,…

Although reading fluency is one of the five essential early-reading skills students must develop, many elementary-aged students in the United States do not read age-appropriate material fluently. As such, small-group interventions are practical and often more time efficient than individualized interventions aimed to address this problem. However,…

Local school districts are under pressure to have elementary reading teachers understand how phonics, during teacher-led small group literacy instruction, can help students who read below grade level. Elementary teachers need research-based strategies regarding which reading instructions of letter-sound components are necessary to help students…

Current legislation (IDEA, 2004; NCLB, 2001) mandates all students, including students with disabilities, demonstrate progress toward the same standards. However, students continue to struggle with attainment of statewide academic standards as measured by high-stakes assessment. The purpose of the current study was to examine the degree that…

The purpose of the study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of word callers related to the concepts of reading fluency and reading comprehension. To this end, second-grade students (N = 408) completed a series of reading fluency and reading comprehension assessments, and their teachers (N = 31) completed word caller nominations and a…

Using a cross-sectional design and five Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills measures, researchers tested for gender differences in reading skills for 1,218 kindergarten through fifth-grade students. A series of two-way repeated measures analyses of variance with time of year (fall, winter, and spring) serving as the within-subjects…

This study examined the impact of a read-aloud accommodation on standardized test scores of reading comprehension at grades 4 and 8. Under a repeated measures design, students with and without reading-based learning disabilities took both a standard administration and a read-aloud administration of a reading comprehension test. Results show that…

"I was grabbed early [by vocabulary] and never let go. That's why it's difficult to explain why I enjoy working in this area. I just love doing it," said Paul Nation (in Coxhead, 2005, p. 46). How many people get grabbed by an area of research, teaching, and learning that continues to engage interest and cause excitement after 30 years? In this…

Paul Nation's talents and interests extend well beyond vocabulary to include research on speaking, writing, classroom learning and teaching, reading, and fluency. In keeping with Nation's interests in fluency, extensive reading, and reading instruction, I outline current perspectives on reading fluency and its role as a key component of reading…

Despite advances in the science of teaching reading, there still exists a small percentage of students who fail to make the expected progress in reading-related skills, notwithstanding attempts at intervention. Even if these struggling readers learn to decode adequately, fluency remains a problem for many, and little is known about the…

Self-modeling can take different forms but is described as a process where one observes one's own successful behavior and learns from it without dependence on any particular medium. In this study, two separate experiments were conducted to evaluate a video self-modeling (VSM) feedforward intervention. VSM feedforward (independent variable, IV),…

This study investigated oral reading fluency development among Hispanic high school English-language learners. Participants included 11 males and 9 females from first-year, second-year, and third-year English language arts classes. The pre-post experimental study, which was conducted during a four-week ESL summer program, included a treatment and…

The twin objectives of the series Psychological Perspectives on Contemporary Educational Issues are: (1) to identify issues in education that are relevant to professional educators and researchers; and (2) to address those issues from research and theory in educational psychology, psychology, and related disciplines. The present volume, consisting…