Despite an abundance of research centered on reading and applied behavior analysis, minimal literature exists on the use of applied behavior analysis methodologies to treat reading disabilities. This dissertation-in-practice action research study examined the extent to which a behavior-analytic intervention infused with the science of reading…

The goal of a Comprehensive K-3 Reading Policy is to ensure all students read on grade level by the end of third grade. This document shows why a K-3 reading policy is necessary, discusses evidence and research, and explains the fundamental principles of a comprehensive early literacy policy.

Measuring reading engagement is critical for monitoring student involvement in academic tasks, as it predicts student reading achievement and further academic success (Anderson et al., 2021; Guthrie et al., 2012). As a multidimensional construct, researchers have employed various methods to assess reading engagement (Gill & Remedios, 2013; Lee…

Despite the use of literacy coaching to help improve the instructional practices of teachers and increase reading achievement, data of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) indicate that Florida's students are averaging about 60% below NAEP proficient level. This dissertation reported the results of a nonexperimental study that…

This study aimed to describe 1-year changes in students' vocabulary in written narratives. Secondary aims included examination of accuracy and the relationship between lexical diversity and achievement. Participants included 749 students in first through eighth grades. Within-subjects 1-year change in diversity, productivity, and accuracy was…

Children should develop literacy skills that progress from learning to read to reading to learn as they move from kindergarten through early elementary. These skills support reading proficiency and build knowledge in all subject areas. Students who struggle with literacy skills as early as kindergarten often continue to read below grade level…

This i3 scale-up study examined the implementation and effectiveness of a 3-year literacy intervention developed by the Children's Literacy Initiative (CLI). The study was a school-level cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 55 elementary schools from four states. Implementation results showed a high level of fidelity of intervention…

The objective of this study was to determine the latent profiles of reading and language skills that characterized 7,752 students in kindergarten through tenth grade and to relate the profiles to norm-referenced reading outcomes. Reading and language skills were assessed with a computer-adaptive assessment administered in the middle of the year…

The goal of the present study was to test three competing hypotheses about the nature of comprehension problems of students who are poor in reading comprehension. Participants in the study were first, second, and third graders, totaling nine cohorts and over 425,000 participants in all. The pattern of results was consistent across all cohorts:…

Exploring the relationship between early oral reading fluency ability and reading comprehension achievement among an ethnically and racially diverse sample of young learners from low-income families, attending elementary school within a large public school district in southeast Florida is the purpose of this longitudinal study. Although many…

This study, framed by the component model of reading (CMR), examined the relative importance of kindergarten-entry predictors of first grade reading performance. Specifically, elements within the ecological domain included dialect, maternal education, amount of preschool, and home literacy; elements within the psychological domain included…

Background: Cluster-randomized experiments that assign intact groups such as schools or school districts to treatment conditions are increasingly common in educational research. Such experiments are inherently multilevel designs whose sensitivity (statistical power and precision of estimates) depends on the variance decomposition across levels.…

The study examined whether providing summer reading books to economically disadvantaged first- and second-grade students for three consecutive summers improved reading achievement. The study analyzed data on about 1,300 students from 17 high-poverty elementary schools in two large districts in Florida. Student-level reading achievement was…

Improving student performance for high-need student populations by improving the use of data in decision-making for early reading intervention programs in northwest Florida is the focus of this research to practice effort. The study is conceptually based on using a relational-feedback intervention (RFI) database model in early learning…

Many children fail to reach proficient levels in reading only because they do not receive the amount and type of instruction they need (Foorman, Francis, Fletcher, Schatschneider, & Mehta, 1998; Morrison, Bachman, & Connor, 2005 2005; Vellutino, Scanlon, Sipay, Small, Pratt, Chen, & Denckla, 1996). However, providing effective…