This study aimed to investigate the impact of LETRS professional development on reading proficiency. I used ANOVA tests to analyze third- through fifth-grade EOG assessment scores for changes in proficiency from 2021-2023. The results indicated a statistically significant change in the means for all grades. Third-grade results reflected the most…

Learning to read by the end of third grade is a pathway to a successful life (Keesler, 2019). Research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows that students who are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school and are ineligible for a majority of jobs in the United States (Hernandez,…

Background: Learning Progress Assessments (LPA) have been developed to help teachers individualize their curriculum. The use of LPA is facilitated by an increasing number of computerized LPA tools. However, little is known about student factors that influence the effectiveness of computerized LPA. Objectives: In this study, we explored whether a…

The assumption that multi-grade learning enhances and sustains positive self-concept is widespread, although neither theory nor empirics have yet allowed for firm conclusions. This paper reports on a representative longitudinal study of multi-grade learning in grades 3 and 4 comparing the development of students' self-concept in reading in…

Research examining reading abilities among Black children diverges significantly from prior literature, which either lacked focus or lacked substantial representation of Black children. Black students, particularly boys, tend to exhibit lower academic achievement compared to their peers. The problem addressed in this study is that Black boys, in…

In recent years, many states have adopted policies to ensure students are reading proficiently by third grade. This kind of policy transfer across states is not a unique phenomenon; researchers have documented analogous proliferations of similar policies both in and outside the field of education. However, there has been little attention paid to…

The aim of the research is to identify the peculiarities of building reading skills in junior schoolchildren with ASD. The study involved the use of parent questionnaire survey to confirm the diagnosis of ASD (the Social Communication Questionnaire, SCQ), diagnosis of reading skills (the Standardized Assessment of the Reading Skills (SARS), Test…

Reading motivation is an important factor that can predict reading performance in elementary school. The present study aimed to investigate whether reading motivation could mediate the relationship between reading skills at the beginning of school and reading performance in the middle of elementary school. Longitudinal data from 979 students (52%…

Little is known about what contributes to individual differences in reading fluency after accounting for accuracy. Previous research has shown individual differences in the relative growth in word and nonword reading, specifically a pattern in which students who start lower on reading grow more in word than nonword reading ability. The purpose of…

Literacy is essential to the development of any nation. Despite foreign aid to support education initiatives in Africa, high rates of illiteracy persist. This synthesis examined the extent to which early literacy intervention research has been conducted in Africa and the effects of these interventions on reading outcomes for students in…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in education across the United States. Prior to the pandemic, students in third grade struggled with low reading proficiency, a difficulty that predicts persistent academic struggles, school dropout, and even delinquency. Districts in South Carolina and around the United States adapted to the…

A Comprehensive K-3 Reading Policy establishes support and intensive reading interventions for K-3 students to ensure they read on grade level by the end of third grade. The policy also requires third grade students to demonstrate sufficient reading skills for promotion to fourth grade. For students severely below grade level and who do not…

The role of children's receptive vocabulary knowledge in word and nonword reading (decoding) in an orthographically transparent language is debated. Moreover, we have little understanding of how the role of vocabulary might differ between monolingual children and bilingual children from immigrant families (or language minority bilingual children…

Reading performance in third grade has significantly declined across the United States in recent years, suggesting a critical problem that was addressed in this study. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of K-3 teachers working in a rural elementary school district regarding a decline since 2018 in the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study explores how teachers described their perceptions within a mandated reading program, as the program supported reading comprehension skills for students in second, third, and fourth grade at three public elementary schools in Upstate New York. The theoretical foundation of this study was established…