The validity of assessments, including grading, is paramount to education considering the high stakes decisions and inferences that are made based on grades. This investigation examined the validity of grading practices for middle school teachers in a large, suburban school district in the southeast. In this study, 118 reading and mathematics…

This qualitative case study uses observations and interviews to examine the practice of differentiation by twelve collaborative middle school reading teachers in a school that has shown a decrease in the achievement gap for students with disabilities on end of year tests on state standards. Observations and interviews were analyzed to determine…

Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) offers the promise of increased success for underserved students in urban schools. This qualitative case study examines a middle school reading teacher's understandings and implementation of CRP and the researcher's supportive role over a three-semester collaboration. Two categories of results are described:…

This paper reports findings from a case study of the amount of explicit vocabulary focus (EVF) that occurred in a week of classes for one group of upper intermediate students in an intensive English program (IEP). To assess EVF, instruction from a total of 25 hours of classes was analyzed to see if the number of EVF events was more connected with…

Tests require a special kind of savvy, a kind of critical thinking and knowledge application that is not always a part of classroom reading experiences. Who better to teach you how to prepare your students for reading tests than someone who has written them? Charles Fuhrken has spent years working with several major testing companies and…

An essential literacy skill is asking questions. Because reading comprehension strategies should be taught directly and explicitly, students need to be told that they should ask questions throughout their research and that all questions are valid. While library media specialists are not reading teachers, the work they do with students in the…

Special reading certification in the state of Missouri requires a candidate to complete coursework that involves two three hour practicum experiences. These experiences must entail working with students in kindergarten through grade 12. The practicum experiences are designed to provide significant instruction in the area of reading strategies for…

Efficacy is created early in a career and not easily influenced over time yet states and school districts loose tremendous amounts of money annually educating and training teachers who elect to leave the profession as a result of low self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived levels of self-efficacy of middle school…

This study combined both qualitative and quantitative research to determine the impact of instructional practices on comprehension improvement in second grade Guided Reading groups. Four second grade teachers and their 73 students ages seven through eight years old participated in this study. Additionally, the study examined the effects of Guided…

This column brings to the attention of "RT" readers the hot topic of redesigning teacher education programs. Featured are interviews with professionals involved in a statewide redesign initiative in Tennessee, the Ready2Teach (R2T) program. The interviews highlight major changes in how teacher education programs are being transformed to…

This study investigated the student-student interactions, attitudes toward reading and engagement during literacy events in a second grade classroom. The literacy environment and the teacher's conceptualization of her role as a reading instructor were also part of this investigation. Five second grade struggling readers and their teacher,…

The purpose of this study was to examine if there was a difference between mean measures of preliteracy skills of preschool children who participated in Creating Young Readers, a volunteer based reading program, and a control group who had not. Unpaid community volunteers were trained in a modified dialogic reading technique, focusing on…

The Illinois Striving Readers (ISR) Project had two purposes: (1) implement a supplemental reading intervention for students in ninth grade who were reading below grade level; and (2) study the impact of the intervention on students' performance on standardized assessments using a randomized control trial design. The Illinois Striving Readers…

There is a significant body of international research indicating that reading instruction does not consistently occur in the final years of primary schooling and progress drops-off as students move through the schooling system. This paper uses case study research to investigate the interactions and the self-perceptions of five literacy leaders,…

This quantitative study examined the effectiveness of pairing preservice teachers with young readers during a 9-week reading methods course to participate together in reading-related activities and partner journaling. It was hypothesized that these preservice partnerships would strengthen preservice teacher perceptions about their ability to…