An experiment examined whether metalinguistic awareness involving the detection of semantic ambiguity can be taught, and whether this instruction improves students' reading comprehension. Lower SES third graders from a variety of cultural backgrounds (M = 8 yr. 7 mo., N = 46) were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Those receiving…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine whether teachers with high value-added scores (as a measure of teacher quality) stay or left test grades and subjects in a medium-sized school district. Design/methodology/approach: Panel data for this paper encompass teachers providing math and reading instruction and link to individual students…

This mixed-design investigation examined the social experiences of beginning braille readers who were initially taught contracted or alphabetic braille in literacy activities as part of the ABC Braille Study. No differences in the quality or quantity of social experiences were found between the two groups over time. (Contains 4 tables.)

As teachers, our most important mission is to turn our students into readers. It sounds so simple, but it's hard work, and we're all on a deadline. Kittle describes a class in which her own expectations that students would become readers combined with a few impassioned strategies succeeded ... at least with a young man named Alan.

Academic tasks that include easy responses increase the probability that less preferred and/or more challenging tasks will be performed. The current study applied the process of arranging easier stimuli within reading word lists with behavioral momentum and an interspersal technique. We hypothesized that the behavioral momentum condition, which…

This article describes instructional practices with blogs in elementary classrooms. Schools need to prepare students for the new literacies required when reading on the Internet; blogging is an easy way to begin. A theoretical rationale for blogging with elementary students is provided. Learning from the examples of successful blogs by elementary…

The author explores how the use of joke books can promote fluency in young readers. One young girl's fluency improved measurably, and her engagement and motivation to read the particular kind of text involved played a significant role. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: This commentary is a personal reaction to A. G. Kamhi's (2007) article on the "narrow view" of reading and his suggestion that this view be adopted as a way to address the reading problems of children and adolescents. Method: In this article, I consider the narrow view of reading from an adolescent literacy perspective and discuss the…

In order to systemically improve student achievement in elementary literacy, a large urban school district partnered with a local university to develop a model for high-quality professional development that hopefully would result in long-term changes in teachers' literacy instructional/practices. Schools were selected based on their Adequate…

The improvement in the ability to process sounds in oral language (phonological awareness) through the contribution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is reported by many researchers. However, deficits in phonological awareness may persist despite intervention. There is increasing research interest on how educational technology…

The purpose of this study was to provide resources for families such that they would be well equipped to provide academic support at home; hence examining the impact of providing said resources and the subsequent impact on a first grade child's reading development. In this study, the researcher took a group of twenty students and divided them into…

With a unique focus on grades 4 and 5, this book explains how to design and implement a research-based reading program that helps all students build major literacy skills (word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). The expert authors present ready-to-use activities, strategies, and lesson plans, along with detailed guidance for…

This Brief summarizes a study that addresses the impact of remedial and developmental courses on students with a range of levels of preparedness. Using longitudinal data from Tennessee, the authors estimate the effects of placement into varying levels of mathematics, reading, and writing courses for students attending public two- and four-year…

It has been well established in the literature that the acquisition of literacy presents a significant challenge for most students who are deaf or hard of hearing (Allen, 1986; Babbini & Quigley, 1970; Holt, 1993; Lane & Baker, 1974; Marschark, Lang, & Albertini, 2002; Moog & Geers, 1985; Traxler, 2000; Trybus & Karchmer, 1977). Vocabulary, which…

The purposes of this study were to identify the attitudes and beliefs content teachers have concerning teaching reading in the content area to below level readers and to identify specific instructional strategies that are used to teach students who are below grade level the content area material. Twelve participants were selected, using maximum…