Schools have become more diverse; the number of English Language Learners has increased from two million in 1993-94 to over four million in 2006 (Echevarria, Vogt, and Short, 2001). Most English Language Learners in U.S. schools are of Latino descent. Recent national tests of reading and writing (i.e., the National Assessment of Educational…

According to a 2010 report by ACT, "Only 31 percent of students are performing at a college-and-career reading level with respect to successfully understanding complex text" (p. 5). This statistic demonstrates what educators know: Middle and high school students face numerous challenges in reading, understanding, connecting to, and…

Research on early adolescence reveals significant declines in intrinsic motivation for reading and points out the need for metacognitive strategy use among middle school students. Research indicates that explicit instruction involving motivation and metacognitive support for reading strategy use in the context of a discipline is an efficient 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 middle school level. During the 2008-2009 school year, six teachers at Goshen Middle School participated in independent action research studies regarding the extent to which a six step approach to direct vocabulary…

The Louisiana Striving Readers evaluation assessed the implementation and effectiveness of the Voyager "Passport Reading Journeys" (PRJ), a widely used supplemental literacy intervention for struggling adolescent readers that reflects the research-based practices recommended by the National Reading Panel (2000) and other more recent…