This article is a response to "Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS): A Tool for Evaluating Student Learning?" by Kamii and Manning (2005). The intent of their study was to evaluate how DIBELS and a writing test predict reading achievement, which was measured by scores on the Slosson Oral Reading Test (SORT) as well…

This essay raises concerns over the future direction for educational aid designed to promote literacy in developing countries. The essay focuses on the EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) initiative in Africa. At one level, this essay challenges the claims for empirical and research-based support for the EGRA. At a broader level, this essay…

This Collection contains three seminal modules by Authors Ana Rojas-LeBouef and John R. Slate, professors and researchers from Sam Houston State University in Texas. They are nationally recognized scholars in the area of the academic inequity between White and Non-White students. This paper is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1--The…

This paper is the first to examine the Reading and Writing Self-Efficacy Scale among incarcerated adults. The aim was to examine whether performance of reading and spelling tests (Reading Speed, Nonsense Words and Spelling) explained individual differences in the participants' efficacy beliefs in reading and writing. Six hundred subjects rated…

Connectives (e.g., although, meanwhile) carry abstract meanings and often signal key relationships between text ideas. This study explored whether understanding of connectives represents a unique domain of vocabulary knowledge that provides special leverage for reading comprehension, and whether the contribution of knowledge of connectives to…

Seventy-six fifth-year students from low-socioeconomic status backgrounds participated in three different instructional conditions in an intervention study. The first combined strategy training in top-level structuring and interrelated motivational support; the second implemented the strategy training only; and the third was a control condition…

This study examined reading performance of 102 Chinese Mandarin-speaking 4th graders in their second language (L2, English) as a function of performance in their first language (L1, Chinese). The results revealed that for Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) and Rapid Alternating Stimulus (RAS) measures, the mean naming time decreased monotonically in…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the current school computer access rates of elementary school students and to determine the extent to which school computer access relates to academic achievement among Grade 5 students in the state of Texas. Specifically, the relationship of school computer access to student passing rates on the…

This mixed-methods study was designed to compare the achievement in mathematics and reading to that in science since the enactment of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002. The literature discussed that due to the increased emphasis in mathematics and reading due to NCLB, science education was impacted. Science instruction has endured reduced…

In the current educational climate, school districts and states are being held accountable for the progress of all students. Students who speak another language at home and have limited English proficiency, known as English Language Learners (ELLs), continue to underperform when compared to English proficient peers. The purpose of the study was to…

Many of today's students are reading below grade level and schools are investigating methods for increasing student achievement in the area of reading. This mixed method research study investigated the achievement of students who were reading below grade level. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading response…

With the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001), schools have become aware of the consequences of successfully teaching children to read. A major building block in early childhood education includes the decoding of phonemes, rhymes, and the rhythm of spoken and written word. As reading is crucial to success in any subject area or career…

This study investigated the effectiveness of the S.P.I.R.E.® reading intervention program for struggling readers in grades 2-10. Specifically, the study examined the program's impact on students identified as English Language Learners (ELL) and Special Education students. Seventy-five students from the Whitehall City School District (Ohio)…

Parent tutoring offers potential as a means for assisting the large percentage of students who need to improve their reading skills. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a reading fluency intervention program when used by parents in the home during the summer months. Specifically, this study evaluated the effects of the…

Authentic learning experiences are those in which students engage with texts as well as the behaviors of reading and writing within contexts of real-world use beyond traditional academic use. This study provides quantitative analysis of how students (n = 200) engaged with an adult pen pal in a shared literacy experience. Findings indicate that…