The purpose of this manuscript was to describe information about an animal-assisted therapy, specifically the Reading Education Assistance Dog (R.E.A.D.) program. In this manuscript I provide information about R.E.A.D. programs in general. Next, I share perspectives solicited from R.E.A.D. participants, specifically teachers, parents, students and…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading success of children in the elementary grades: reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria included use of…

State education departments, in discussions with Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast, identified low reading achievement as a critical issue for their students and expressed an interest in identifying effective strategies to promote the foundational skills in young students that might improve reading achievement. The Mississippi…

In this study we investigated reading development from kindergarten to third grade for 1,913 economically disadvantaged children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort. Characteristics of the child, the family, classroom instruction, and school composition were used to model influences from multiple levels of children's…

The Accelerated Reader/Reading Renaissance program (now called Accelerated Reader Best Classroom Practices) is a guided reading intervention in which teachers direct student reading of text. It involves two components. Reading Renaissance, the first component, is a set of recommended principles on guided reading (or teachers' direction of…

Although over 15 years have passed since Witt (1990) noted that no empirical evidence exists to support the contention that a collaborative approach to consultation leads to more positive outcomes than a hierarchical or expert driven approach, this issue generally remains unaddressed (Schulte & Osborne, 2003). While the literature documenting…

We examined the effects of a three-tier strategic model of intensifying instruction using "Reading Mastery Plus" in grades K-3 at a Title I school. Teachers received training and coaching before and during the program evaluation. They were assessed on their satisfaction with the program as well. The "Diagnostic Indicators of Basic…

This study examined the effects of individual reading tutoring on the time-on-task and student-teacher interactions of students displaying early signs of academic and behavior problems. Participants were 17 students in Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 who were rated by classroom teachers as below average in academic skills and above average in…