This paper describes a problem of practice that arose from a lack of consistent, systematic phonics instruction within a small rural school with a large percentage of students not mastering skills in a way that builds the needed foundation for reading. To address this problem, action research was conducted through a mixed methods approach to…

Students who develop proficient reading skills are more likely to experience positive outcomes both in and beyond the school setting. If students start developing strong literacy skills at a young age, they are more likely to perform well in school and achieve academic success. Despite ongoing efforts to support students' development of reading…

This qualitative case study examined two first-grade teachers' scaffolding within daily small-group reading instruction for students identified as having the most difficulty with reading and how the scaffolds supported students' reading. This research occurred in two first-grade classrooms at Springville Elementary School, a school in a rural town…

Teachers' implementation of differentiated supplemental instruction is critical to help students with or at risk for reading-related disabilities acquire early reading and vocabulary skills. This study represents an initial investigation of whether classroom teachers' intervention fidelity (exposure, adherence, and quality) of targeted reading…

The authors examined the associations between observed classroom management and teacher-child relationships with individual children during kindergarten and Grade 1. We used a sample of nonstruggling and struggling readers and their teachers in rural schools in the Southeastern United States to examine whether gender and struggling reader status…

This study used secondary data to test the double-deficit hypothesis that rapid automatized naming (RAN) deficits and phonological awareness (PA) deficits are 2 core reading-related deficits and that students exhibiting deficits in both areas would be the most severely impaired in entry-level reading ability. Specifically, this study investigated…

The targeted reading intervention (TRI) is a professional development program for rural kindergarten and first grade classroom teachers to help them provide effective reading strategies with struggling readers. In two randomized controlled trials, the TRI was delivered two ways: (1) literacy coaches provided support for classroom teachers through…

Early literacy and reading skills are both important predictors of an individual's future success in school and employment settings (Moats, 1999). Moreover, poor reading performance in elementary school has been associated with future conduct problems and juvenile delinquency by age fifteen (Williams, 1994). Research supports the notion that…

This study evaluated whether the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), a classroom teacher professional development program delivered through webcam technology literacy coaching, could provide rural classroom teachers with the instructional skills to help struggling readers progress rapidly in early reading. Fifteen rural schools were randomly…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a classroom-teacher-delivered reading intervention for struggling readers called the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), designed particularly for kindergarten and first-grade teachers and their struggling students in rural, low-wealth communities. The TRI was delivered via an innovative…

In the action research project report, the teacher researchers found that many kindergarten and first-grade students did not have the reading readiness skills to be reading at their benchmark target. The purpose of the project was to improve the students overall reading ability. The dates of the project began on September 8 through December 20,…

With the advent of "Response to Intervention" there has been emphasis on preventing reading disabilities. This study examined the effectiveness of a classroom teacher Tier II intervention for struggling readers in kindergarten and first grade called the Targeted Reading Intervention. Three rural schools were randomly assigned to…

This study utilized early reading assessment data from a randomized trial of 210 urban and rural schools in Texas to examine contextual effects on risk prediction in first and second grade. The primary objective was to examine the roles of (a) individual differences, (b) the grade 1 classroom, and (c) the pairing of first and second grade teachers…

The main objective of the overall Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI) was to help the classroom teacher acquire the key reading diagnostic strategies (e.g., Cooter, 2003; Desimone, 2009; Garet et al., 2001; Timperley & Phillips, 2003) relevant to K-1 struggling readers (e.g., Desimone, 2009; Garet et al., 2001; Guskey, 2002; Joyce &…