The overarching goal to create life-long learners who are enthusiastic readers requires a two-pronged approach: (1) enhancing dispositions; and (2) simultaneously teaching reading skills. This approach is powerfully portrayed in the children's book, "Thank You, Mr. Falker" (Polacco, 1998). This article explores how teachers of young children can…

This article synthesizes the experimental literature that compares the academic, cognitive, and behavioral performance of adults with reading disabilities to those of average-achieving adult readers. The central question posed by this review is to what extent and in what manner do adults with reading disabilities differ from adults without reading…

The paper reports the results of a randomised control trial investigating the use of computer-aided instruction (CAI) for practising phonological awareness skills with beginning readers. Two intervention groups followed the same phonological awareness programme: one group undertook practice exercises using a computer and the other group undertook…

This paper examines whether educational production in secondary school involves joint production among teachers across subjects. In doing so, it also provides insights into the reliability of value-added modeling. Teacher value-added to reading test scores is estimated for four different teacher types: English, math, science and social-studies.…

Current empirical evidence indicates poor learning trajectories for students with early literacy skill deficits. As such, reliable and valid detection of at-risk students through regular screening and progress monitoring is imperative. This study investigated the predictive validity of scores on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy…

Research Findings: An observational study of 60 Head Start teachers and 341 children (177 boys, 164 girls) enrolled in their classrooms found teachers' book-reading practices to predict growth in children's receptive vocabulary. Multilevel growth analyses indicated that children in classrooms where teachers used more book-focused utterances made…

In this randomized field trial of KindergARTen Camp, a 6-week summer enrichment program in literacy and the fine arts, we analyzed the summer learning outcomes of 93 treatment and 35 control students from high-poverty schools in Baltimore, Maryland. This experiment offers evidence concerning the causal effect of the program on 5 measures of…

Schools with primarily indigenous and ethnic minorities in low socioeconomic areas have long been associated with low levels of achievement, particularly in literacy. This is true for New Zealand despite high levels of reading comprehension by international comparisons (e.g., PISA). Recent reviews of schooling improvement suggest small gains over…

Response to intervention (RTI) holds great promise for the early identification and prevention of reading disabilities. The success of RTI rests in part on the accuracy of universal screening tools used within this framework. Despite advancements, screening instruments designed to identify children at risk for reading disabilities continue to have…

This paper adopts the technique of [DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux (1996). "Labour market institutions and the distribution of wages 1973-1992: A semiparametric approach." "Econometrica, 64"(5), 1001-1044.] to decompose differences in the distribution of PISA reading scores in Canada, and assesses the relative contribution of…

A popular approach for improving students' literacy skills is school-based literacy or reading coaches--specially trained master teachers who provide leadership for the school's literacy program and offer on-site and ongoing professional development support for teachers so they can improve the literacy skills of their students. To understand the…

The purpose of this follow-up study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two consultation-based models to enhance the educational functioning of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after 1 year of no treatment. Children (N = 167) meeting "Diagnostic Statistical Manual" (4th ed., text revision; 2000) criteria for attention…

The purpose of this study was to examine the development of English reading achievement among English Language Learners (ELLs) and to determine whether the time that an ELL's family was in the United States and the type of native language spoken affected their reading development. Participants were 300 third-grade ELLs from two different native…

Like a steady drip from a leaky faucet, the experimental studies being released this school year by the federal Institute of Education Sciences are mostly producing the same results: "No effects," "No effects," "No effects." The disappointing yield is prompting researchers, product developers, and other experts to question the design of the…

Schools face many decisions on how to maximize instructional time and provide support for students who are at risk for failure in reading. Instructional grouping plays an important role. The authors used a true group experimental design to compare 2 grouping conditions--1:1 (1 tutor to 1 student) and 1:3 (1 tutor to 3 students)--on the reading…