In this study, we examine preschool storybook apps to identify the types of characters represented in these stories and how they relate to design quality and opportunities for children to build their vocabularies -- a significant predictor of later success in learning to read. Specifically, we sought to understand (a) how storybook apps portray…

This research investigated the concurrent association between early reading skills and phonological awareness (PA), print knowledge, language, cognitive, and demographic variables in 101 five-Year-Old Children with prelingual hearing losses ranging from mild to profound who communicated primarily via spoken language. All participants were fitted…

Research Findings: Research on early literacy development within the family focuses primarily on parent-child interactions as they use literacy materials, typically books. However, features of the home environment and organization of family life, which provide the framework within which these interactions occur, are rarely investigated. These…

Early intervention to mitigate special education and reading risk is especially critical for low socioeconomic and minority learners. This study examined the lasting effects of an early reading intervention package of phonemic awareness on the reading skills of 38 second-grade students one and two years after intervention ended. The participants…

This article describes the design and implementation of a program that incorporates a response-to-intervention (RTI) framework for promoting the development of early literacy and language skills among low-income minority children. The early literacy program, called the Exemplary Model of Early Reading Growth and Excellence, or EMERGE, combines…

Alternatives to the standard statewide assessment often are necessary for valid measurement of students with significant disabilities. These alternate assessments must be carefully developed and evaluated with respect to generally accepted psychometric standards. Ideally, these measures should be sensitive to growth and scaled to state tests that…

Media reports are rife with claims that students in the United States are overtested and that they and their education are suffering as result. Here I argue the opposite--that students would benefit in numerous ways from more frequent assessment, especially of diagnostic testing. The regular assessment of students serves critical educational and…

It is argued that attention to effective evidence-based early reading interventions are a co-requisite to genuinely inclusive education, with implications not only for reading acquisition, but also for a range of other social and academic domains. This paper briefly describes some of the recent developments in reading research that have the…