Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a set of research-based strategies designed to improve reading comprehension, enhance students' content area learning, facilitate access to higher-level texts, and to promote student engagement. The present study examines how fidelity of implementation of CSR is associated with reading outcomes for students…

"Reading Edge" is a middle school literacy program that emphasizes cooperative learning, goal setting, feedback, classroom management techniques, and the use of metacognitive strategy, whereby students assess their own skills and learn to apply new ones. The program is a component of the "Success for All"[superscript 2]…

Despite the current theoretical momentum for the importance of academic English and the acknowledgment that academic materials increase in complexity through the grades, little empirical attention has been devoted to the role of academic English in academic achievement. This study examined the amount of variance in academic achievement explained…

We conducted a randomized field trial to test an academic vocabulary intervention designed to bolster the language and literacy skills of linguistically diverse sixth-grade students (N = 2,082; n = 1,469 from a home where English is not the primary language), many demonstrating low achievement, enrolled in 14 urban middle schools. The 20-week…

We conducted a randomized field trial to test an academic vocabulary intervention designed to bolster the language and literacy skills of linguistically diverse sixth-grade students (N = 2082; n = 1469 from a home where English is not the primary language), many demonstrating low achievement, enrolled in 14 urban middle schools. The 20-week…

Evidence suggests that middle school students are spending insufficient school time in reading and writing activities, with little comprehensive literacy training from their teachers. To address that gap in practice, this quasi-experimental study addressed the impact of a 12-week treatment program on the reading comprehension and vocabulary mean…

The authors examined the role of an intervention designed to increase reading comprehension, reading self-efficacy beliefs, and engagement in social studies for middle school students of varying language backgrounds. Thirteen sixth- and seventh-grade teachers implemented the United States History for Engaged Reading (USHER) program with their…

The effect of electronic books on the reading comprehension of middle and high school students was examined using an experimental posttest-only control-group design. A convenience sample of 140 randomly assigned middle and high school English students at an independent school in eastern North Carolina participated. Half of the students used…

This article examines how 3 sixth-grade social studies teachers increased struggling readers' participation in text-based discussions and changed how they applied reading comprehension strategies. Students worked in small groups with peers who read above, on, or below grade level but shared similar beliefs about themselves as readers. Discussion…

In October 2009, The New York State Education Department (NYSED), in partnership with the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), was granted funding as part of the "Striving Readers Project" to address the literacy needs of adolescent struggling readers early in middle school. The goal of the project was to implement and examine…

In an effort to improve student achievement, a group of middle-school teachers at an underperforming school developed a schoolwide literacy plan. As part of the plan, they agreed to model their thinking while reading aloud. Eight teachers were selected for coaching related to think alouds in which they exposed students to comprehension strategies…

In 2009, the United States Department of Education conducted a competition for a second round of Striving Readers grants. Its dual purpose was to: (1) Raise middle and high school students' literacy levels in Title I-eligible schools with significant numbers of students reading below grade level; and (2) Build a strong, scientific research base…

I examined the perceptions of parents, students, and teachers of Saturday Academy, an intervention for students who are at risk of failing academically. The problem is that nearly half of students who attend high school may be at risk of dropping out before they graduate. The purpose of this study was to describe, evaluate, and analyze the…

A study examined the effects that a metacognitive strategy, self-questioning prediction, had on the improvement of reading comprehension. The sample included 17 eighth-grade students in a South Amboy, New Jersey middle school. The Gates MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Tests were administered as both pre- and posttests. There were three weekly…

A study focused on 41 eighth-grade students from a south Texas middle school who read self-selected books for 30-minute periods 5 times weekly from October 1996 to May 1997 to determine if increased reading time and book self-selection would improve their reading achievement. The study also sought to determine the students' attitudes towards…