Promoting Adolescents' Comprehension of Text (PACT) is a text- and discourse-based set of instructional practices that engage students with disciplinary texts as a means of building content knowledge and improving reading comprehension. PACT)s "efficacy" has been the subject of extensive previous trials. The purpose of this study was to…

This study documented an interdisciplinary team of grade 8 teachers' utilization and implementation of research-based reading strategies introduced through collaboration during a Professional Learning Community (PLC). This study also investigated the teachers' perspectives on the implementation of research-based strategies, including the factors…

This case study describes how culturally relevant pedagogy can be used in disciplinary rigorous ways in an urban middle school history classroom. The focus is on a unit about the Johnstown Flood of 1889, which provided a setting for teaching about the event as well as the historical thinking practices of contextualizing, sourcing, and…

We examined the influence of teachers' use of instructional time on students' learning within the context of a randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of a content-area reading comprehension intervention. Participants were 8th grade social studies teachers who had their classes randomly assigned to either Promoting Acceleration of…

If teachers have a deeper comprehension of their students' reading ability, it may lead to students' improved literacy and understanding of the subject. The account presented in this article of the author's growing interest in mathematical literacy specifically involves mathematical reading. This shift in interest began with a six-week…

For content area teachers trying to embrace the incorporation of the Common Core Learning Standards for Reading and Literacy (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2018) into their classrooms, understanding the best practices for accomplishing this task while enhancing presentation of content specific material can be challenging. According to…

Deficits in academic vocabulary knowledge plague students who struggle with reading and impact their reading comprehension and performance in content area courses. Experts have developed interventions aimed at improving vocabulary instruction. However, questions remain concerning the effects of vocabulary gains on reading comprehension and content…

This study examines the relationship between types and sequences of self-regulated reading activities in task-oriented reading with quality of task achievement of 51 low-achieving adolescents (Grade 8). The study used think aloud combined with video observations to analyse the students' approach of a content-area reading task in the stages of…

This study investigated the effects of Promoting Adolescent Comprehension Through Text (PACT), a content knowledge and comprehension treatment for English learner and non-English learner students with disabilities who were provided instruction in general education social studies classrooms. Eighth-grade students with disabilities in the treatment…

This study investigated the effects of Promoting Adolescent Comprehension Through Text (PACT), a content knowledge and comprehension treatment for English learner and non--English learner students with disabilities who were provided instruction in general education social studies classrooms. Eighth-grade students with disabilities in the treatment…

We examined social studies teachers' use of text and supports for reading text during their instruction as well as how their practices related to students' content acquisition. A total of 37 social studies teachers and their students (n = 572) participated and recorded their instruction during 3 instructional units. We documented the amount of…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to understand the beliefs held by content area social studies teachers who teach reading. The rationale for this study is that students in the 21st century must be able to meet the demands of disciplinary literacy to compete in the workforce. The data from the semi-structured interviews and classroom…

For any student, middle and high school can be challenging. But for an English learner or striving reader--and the myriad words, phrases, syntax, texts, and concepts they must negotiate on a daily basis--the stakes seem a whole lot higher. Fortunately for content-area teachers, Margarita Calderón and Shawn Slakk make available in a single resource…

It is critical that students possess content knowledge. After all, content knowledge is predictive of reading comprehension among elementary school students [1], middle school students, and high school students [2, 3]. Social studies classes provide a unique opportunity for students with and without learning disabilities (LD) to gain this…

This study explored the differential contribution of cognitive and motivational factors on the comprehension of an expository text in secondary school students. One hundred and fifty-five 7th and 8th grade students were assessed in prior knowledge, inferences, metacognition, reading motivation, topic interest, and reading comprehension of history…