Questionnaire data from the PIRLS 2006 study in Italy provided a number of indices in order to summarize factors of educational context influencing reading achievement. The aim of the present paper is to study the relationships between school factors, teacher factors, family factors, student factors and reading achievement by means of multilevel…

The study uses a quasi-experimental comparison group design to test the effectiveness of "Treasures" by comparing outcomes for students who used "Treasures" to those who did not use "Treasures", adjusting for differences between the "Treasures" and comparison groups on baseline characteristics. The study…

Despite a quarter-century of reform, US schools serving students in poverty continue to lag far behind other schools. There are proven programs, but these are not widely used. This large-scale experiment evaluated a district-level reform model created by the Center for DataDriven Reform in Education (CDDRE). The CDDRE model provided consultation…

Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) students continue to fare well on the SAT test as compared with students in the state and nation. While there was a decline in average test scores in 2009-10 as compared with the prior year, the posted scores continue a trend of measurable improvement over time. Over the past 20 years, the average SAT…

Randomized field trials were used to examine the impact of the Teacher Study Group (TSG), a professional development model, on first grade teachers' reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction, their knowledge of these areas, and the comprehension and vocabulary achievement of their students. The multisite study was conducted in three large…

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…

In this study, the authors examined the college-ready graduate rates of all students (n = 1,099 high schools) in the State of Texas for the 2006-2007 school year. Data were analyzed for students' scores in reading, in math, and in both subject areas combined. Approximately one-third of all students were determined to be college-ready in both…

The current study examined the predictive validity of oral reading fluency measures across first, second, and third grades for two reading achievement measures at the end of third grade. Oral reading fluency measures were administered to students from first grade to third. The "Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills" and the…

Family literacy studies have shown that the role of parental storybook reading has an impact on children's success in school-based literacy instruction. Storybook reading is when adults read an appropriate text to their children. This review describes studies in which parents and children engage in storybook reading. It specifically reports…

In this qualitative study, the author examined the ways middle school literacy teachers responded to their boys' dialogue journals. The participants were 3 middle school literacy teachers and 19 middle school boys. The findings of this study indicated that the teachers took 4 roles (teacher as reader, teacher as responder, teacher as facilitator,…

The purpose of this study was to extend the Great Leaps Reading Program (GLR) knowledge base by combining the fluency intervention of the GLR Program with a comprehension strategy. The participants were 59 first, second, and third grade students who were randomly assigned to one of two treatments. The Treatment group one received the GLR Program…

It is established that the socio-economic status (SES) of individual students is strongly associated with academic achievement but less is known about this relationship when both student and school socio-economic status are considered. To examine these associations at a finer grain, with the intent of informing educational funding policy, we…

Background/Context: Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) provide a test case through which to investigate psychosocial school compositional effects. Characterized by developmentally atypical levels of inattention, activity, and impulsivity, the condition often manifests itself, and is identified, in school settings and is…

The present study examined the associations of 2 indicators of homework quality (homework selection and homework challenge) with homework motivation, homework behavior, and mathematics achievement. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data from a representative national sample of 3,483 students in Grades 9 and 10; homework effects…

"Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition"[R] is a reading and writing program for students in grades 2 through 6. It has three principal elements: story-related activities, direct instruction in reading comprehension, and integrated language arts/writing. Daily lessons provide students with an opportunity to practice comprehension…