Teaching linguistic aspects relevant to text construction is an essential component of any thorough writing instruction program, despite the conflicting evidence regarding its effectiveness. In this study, 889 second- and fourth-grade students were assigned to one of three conditions: Self-Regulated Development (SRSD), SRSD-connectors (SRSD-C),…

Little-to-no research examines the provision of targeted mathematical interventions to students struggling with mathematics in a virtual environment. And yet, the global pandemic of 2020--extending into 2021--found schools in such a scenario. This article reports two studies in which researchers explored the intervention package of explicit…

Providing group instruction with high levels of opportunities to respond, including unison responding, is critical to maximize the educational instruction of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in public schools. Direct Instruction (DI) has shown promise in teaching skills to students with ASD. DI is generally taught to small groups…

English Language Learners, such as my Hutterian students, struggle to overcome a variety of learning barriers. I examined a variety of instructional methods to determine what would help them. The first aspect I explored was how English Language Learners acquire literacy skills. I also investigated how to expand my students' background knowledge.…

This study investigated the implementation of a primary mathematics initiative in an Australian Indigenous community school designed to improve students' mathematical proficiency. Throughout the 7-month initiative, four classes ranging from Year 2 to Year 6 participated in the initiative. Findings indicated an increase in mathematics achievement…

There is limited research demonstrating Direct Instruction (DI) as an effective reading comprehension intervention for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DD). Previous research has shown that DI, when portions of the program were implemented, resulted in increased skills (Flores & Ganz, 2007; Flores…

Both exploration and explicit instruction are thought to benefit learning in many ways, but much less is known about how the two can be combined. We tested the hypothesis that engaging in exploratory activities prior to receiving explicit instruction better prepares children to learn from the instruction. Children (159 second- to fourth-grade…

"Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition"[R] ("CIRC"[R]) is a reading and writing program for students in grades 2-6. It has three principal elements: story-related activities, direct instruction in reading comprehension, and integrated language arts/writing. Daily lessons provide students with an opportunity to practice…

"Spelling Mastery" is designed to explicitly teach spelling skills to students in grades 1 through 6. One of several Direct Instruction curricula from McGraw-Hill that precisely specify how to teach incremental content, "Spelling Mastery" includes phonemic, morphemic, and whole-word strategies. The What Works Clearinghouse…

"Reading Mastery" is designed to provide explicit reading instruction to students in grades pre-K-5. One of several Direct Instruction curricula from McGraw-Hill, "Reading Mastery" is available in two versions: (1) "Reading Mastery Classic" (for grades pre-K-2) aims to help beginning readers identify letter sounds,…

This study investigated whether the use of "Spelling Through Morphographs" (Lessons 1-45) designed for grade 3-adult students could be effective when implemented in an above-average educational setting with grade 2 students. Using a cross-grade, longitudinal design, designed to provide a methodological foundation for addressing the acceleration of…

"Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition"[R] is a reading and writing program for students in grades 2 through 6. It has three principal elements: story-related activities, direct instruction in reading comprehension, and integrated language arts/writing. Daily lessons provide students with an opportunity to practice comprehension…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact (positive, negative, or neutral) of Accelerated Readers (AR), a standard based intervention, on the academic achievement of English Language Learners at Carolina Herrera Elementary School. Carolina Herrera Elementary School, was analyzed using these specific lenses: (1) curriculum and…

"Reading Mastery," one of several curriculum components that constitute the "Direct Instruction" curriculum from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K-6. "Reading Mastery," which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement…

This report describes the findings of an analysis of a series of action research projects conducted by Goshen Community Schools at the elementary school level. During the 2008-2009 school year, 26 teachers at 7 elementary schools participated in independent action research studies regarding the extent to which a six step approach to direct…