The problem that the researcher addressed through this study was that third- to fifth-grade teachers found it challenging to incorporate explicit comprehension strategies to reading in an elementary school in southeastern Virginia. The purpose of the study was to examine third- to fifth-grade teachers' perceptions of and experiences when…

Educators and researchers have been fighting the reading wars for the last century, with battles see-sawing literacy instruction in American schools from phonics to whole language and, most recently, back to phonics again. Over the last decade, 32 states and the District of Columbia have adopted new "science of reading" laws that require…

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…

Students with learning disabilities (LD) often face significant difficulties in reading. Research has found a variety of different evidence-based practices to support the reading development of students with LD in areas such as word work, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. However, these practices are most often intended for use in traditional…

This article discusses use of a multicomponent intervention to develop the reading skill and performance of grades 4 to 8 students identified with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Reading intervention targets for this population are vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Reading intervention elements involve explicit vocabulary…

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…

Interactive Writing (IW) is a powerful support for language and literacy development; however, its emphasis on using oral language to construct written language can present challenges for deaf/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) students due to their unique and diverse language experiences. Teachers (n = 14) using Strategic and Interactive Writing…

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…

This study explored outcomes related to students' participation in a Houston Symphony (HS) partnership at a targeted HISD elementary school. Students received weekly in-school core enrichment instruction and after-school violin instruction by Houston Symphony Community-Embedded Musicians throughout the 2018-2019 academic year. The study found that…

The authors report the effects of a single-case, multiple-probe design investigation for students with learning disabilities (LD) in Grades 4 and 5. Seven students classified as LD and with persistent difficulty with informational-text comprehension from two elementary schools participated. The study compared social studies learning across two…

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…

"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…

Update your vocabulary practices to meet the Common Core and improve students' word knowledge! This new, clearly-structured guide shows you how. It's packed with engaging, research-based, classroom-ready strategies for teaching vocabulary. Topics include: (1) Selecting meaningful words for direct instruction; (2) Strategies for engaging students…

"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,…