PIRLS is the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. This rigorous international survey compares the reading attainment and attitudes to reading of over 200,000 9- and 10-year-old children in 41 countries. It is the only international study to provide information on the reading habits of primary-aged children: the survey collects…

This exploratory study examined the contribution of the "RC" Approach over a two-year period. The "RC" Approach integrates social and academic learning in order to produce classroom environments that are conducive to learning by integrating social and academic learning. Two questions are addressed. First, how does teachers' use of "RC" practices…

A diverse, Midwestern, high-poverty urban school district, under the guidance of a university reading professor with expertise in research-based instruction and reading intervention, began a professional-development initiative that resulted in improved reading achievement for its students. This article presents the background, rationale, and…

Purpose: The major goal of this study was to specify the developmental trajectories for phonics and early text comprehension skills of children from kindergarten through third grade. Method: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (N = 12,261) were used in this study. The participants were divided into 3 school readiness groups based on…

In this article, Marilyn Chapman provides educators and others interested in early literacy with important information about phonemic awareness to help them make decisions about what to do in their schools. She begins with an explanation of phonemic awareness and how it relates to other aspects of literacy development such as phonological…

Many states now use large-scale testing programs as a major mechanism in their educational accountability efforts. With the mandated participation of students with disabilities in large-scale testing programs, it is possible to use large-scale testing results to examine special education efficacy at the school level. We used special and general…

Reading problems are among the most prevalent concerns for general and special educators who teach culturally and linguistically diverse students with learning disabilities. In this study, 60 students with serious reading problems were taught word recognition and comprehension skills using the Failure Free Reading Program. This intervention is…

This study measured the effects of increasing levels of intervention in reading for a cohort of children in Grades K through 3 to determine whether the severity of reading disability (RD) could be significantly reduced in the catchment schools. Tier 1 consisted of professional development for teachers of reading. The focus of this study is on…

A proximal cause of reading disabilities is a deficit in phonological processing. A consequence of this deficit is inferior performance in one or more cognitive operations that use phonological information, including phonological awareness, lexical retrieval, and verbal memory. Some assert that these phonological processing difficulties are the…

The development of highly effective teachers is of interest to school systems because the quality of the teachers is associated with students' success. This study explored the relationship between teachers' participation in a job-embedded model of professional development and students' achievement in reading. Teachers in the third grade and fifth…

This study examined the reading achievement scores of 66 third- and fourth-grade students who were referred by their general education teachers on the basis of a suspected reading disability. Before a reading disability diagnosis was conducted, each student was reviewed by an Intervention Assistance Team and intervention assistance was provided.…

The authors examined the progress made toward equitable technology access and use over children's first 4 years of school. The sample consisted of 8,283 public school children who attended kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd grades. In 3rd grade, high-poverty schools had significantly more computers for instruction and a smaller ratio of children to…

To help inform policymakers and the public about the progress of education in the United States, Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report, "The Condition of Education." This year's report presents 42 indicators on important topics and trends in U.S. education. These…

This is the 12th annual report on conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District (RUSD). This year, the analysis again focuses on the long-term historical trends in RUSD. The analysis compares RUSD data to data of nine peer school districts as well as statewide data. The peer districts are defined as those Wisconsin districts with…

The primary purpose of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The "Digest" includes a selection of data from both government and private sources, and draws especially on the results…