Phonics and fluency instruction are primarily viewed as elementary-centric skills that do not have a place in middle school, which may neglect the usefulness this type of instruction provides to older students. Literacy centers are one method for successfully teaching these skills in a middle school setting. The purpose of this paper is to provide…

Montessori instructional approach closely aligns with The Science of Reading. Standardized test scores and student background data from statewide data sets were reviewed to produce empirical evidence that students instructed in reading in schools using Montessori methods and curriculum achieve results significantly higher than the state average…

Educational stakeholders are keen to know the magnitude and importance of different interventions. However, the way evidence is communicated to support understanding of the effectiveness of an intervention is controversial. Typically studies in education have used the standardised mean difference as a measure of the impact of interventions. This…

Ofsted's 2021 Curriculum Research Review outlines a language pedagogy predicated on an exclusively cognitivist approach to language learning, which relies on three 'pillars of progression': phonics, vocabulary and grammar. The review makes a brief acknowledgement of the importance of motivational factors, including 'pupils' positive views of…

This authoritative text and PreK-12 teacher resource is now in a substantially revised seventh edition with 80% new material, foregrounding advances in inclusive, equitable instruction. Teachers are guided through every major component of reading, as well as assessment, motivation, teaching bilingual learners, strengthening connections with…

In a Southern state at a rural high school, leadership staff implemented phonics-based strategies with 9th grade English teachers to improve students' Lexile reading scores. The absence of formative data related to program implementation left stakeholders without a clear understanding of the influence of the phonics-based strategies. The purpose…

The theme of this year was educate to liberate. A reminder to the literacy community that education, and literacy extend beyond the content and courses we teach. As Freire puts it, "Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people--they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are…

Now in its fourth edition, the "Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts" -- sponsored by the International Literacy Association and the National Council of Teachers of English -- remains at the forefront in bringing together prominent scholars, researchers, and professional leaders to offer an integrated perspective on…

Students beyond the primary grades who struggle with reading lack basic word attack ability and are thus unable to read new words with accuracy. However, there has been little research that reveals the specific word attack errors students exhibit. In this study, 123 struggling adolescent readers receiving special education services were given the…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has updated its 2009 intervention report for SuccessMaker®, a set of computer-based courses designed to supplement regular K-8 reading instruction. The program is designed to improve skills in areas such as concepts of print, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of high school tutors' implementation of "Great Leaps Reading" (Campbell, 1998), a reading fluency supplementary instructional program. The program consists of three sections: phonics, sight word phrases, and story passages. Daily 15-minute tutoring sessions involved repeated 1-minute timings of…

The SuccessMaker[R] program is a set of computer-based courses used to supplement regular classroom reading instruction in grades K-8. Using adaptive lessons tailored to a student's reading level, SuccessMaker[R] aims to improve understanding in areas such as phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and concepts of…

We report the results of a test-retest and alternate form reliability study of grade 1, 3, 5, and 8 reading measures from the easyCBM assessment system. Approximately 50 students in each grade participated in the study. In Grade 1, we studied the following measures: Phoneme Segmenting, Letter Sounds, Letter Names, Word Reading Fluency, and Passage…

Success for All (SFA)[R] is a whole-school reform model that includes a reading, writing, and oral language development program for students in prekindergarten through eighth grade. Classroom reading instruction is delivered in daily 90-minute blocks to students grouped by reading ability. Immediate intervention with tutors who are certified…

The purpose of this evaluation of Scholastic's "System 44" conducted by RMC Research was to expand the existing research on students with learning disabilities by conducting a randomized study of struggling readers with approximately half of the sample comprised of students with learning disabilities. Specifically, this evaluation…