This quantitative, causal-comparative research study investigated whether school configuration has an impact on the reading performance of sixth-grade students by comparing the End-of-Grade (EOG) reading assessment Grade Level Proficiency (GLP) scores of sixth-grade students in K-8 configured schools to sixth-grade students enrolled in 6-8 grade…

Confirmatory factor analyses of data from 1,501 kindergarten to 5th-grade children who completed 3 measures of decoding, 3 measures of reading comprehension, and 3 measures of listening comprehension as part of a larger study were used to identify the dimensionality of reading skills across elementary school. A 1-factor (reading) model was the…

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…

The current study followed literacy skills development amongst 79 Arabic native speaking pupils from kindergarten to fourth grade. Based on reading comprehension attainments in fourth grade, two groups of skilled and poor readers were identified. Poor readers showed significantly lower performance on measures of phonological and morphological…

English Language Learners, such as my Hutterian students, struggle to overcome a variety of learning barriers. I examined a variety of instructional methods to determine what would help them. The first aspect I explored was how English Language Learners acquire literacy skills. I also investigated how to expand my students' background knowledge.…

Executive function skills have a direct link to reading comprehension (Carretti, Borella, Cornoldi, & De Beni, 2009). Specifically, cognitive flexibility and working memory have been shown as a significant contributor to reading comprehension (Cain, Oakhill, & Bryant, 2004; Cartwright, 2002). Understanding the link between cognitive…

More than 5 million English learners attend U.S. public schools--and yet fewer than 3% of teachers are certified to work with them. Fill that gap in teacher education with this practical and comprehensive textbook, an evidence-based guide to providing English learners in Pre-K-Grade 6 with explicit, systematic instruction on language and literacy…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact a sustained rotational blended learning model on the academic achievement on Title I K-8 elementary school students at a Catholic school in the areas of reading comprehension and mathematics as measured with standardized assessments, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. In response to the first…

This study evaluated the effects of a cross-age peer learning program targeting vocabulary and comprehension in kindergarten and fourth-grade classrooms with substantial proportions of English Learners (ELs). The study followed a quasi-experimental design with 12 classrooms (6 kindergarten and 6 fourth grade) in the intervention group and 12…

As they are naturally curious about the world around them, young children ask lots and lots of questions. In classrooms today, however, there seems to be little space for these student-generated questions as teachers are more likely to pose the questions. Research indicates that question generation is an effective strategy to motivate young…

Purpose: The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether different ways of presenting narrative stimuli (i.e., live narrative stimuli versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) influence children's performances on narrative comprehension and oral-retell quality. Method: Children in kindergarten (n = 54), second grade (n = 74), and fourth…

Purpose: The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether different ways of presenting narrative stimuli (i.e., live narrative stimuli versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) influence children's performances on narrative comprehension and oral-retell quality. Method: Children in kindergarten (n = 54), second grade (n = 74), and fourth…

Reading buddies programs, which pair older and younger students to read books together on a regular basis, are common in many U.S. elementary schools. Yet, the research base on these programs is limited. Therefore, we conducted a quasiexperimental study of a reading buddies program targeting vocabulary and comprehension. The program we studied…

While qualitative research has shown great benefits for teachers who receive coaching, there is a paucity of experimental research examining students' academic outcomes after their teachers received ongoing support from a knowledgeable and experienced coach. Thus, a quasi-experimental design investigated the literacy outcomes of 452 students…

Research shows that peer interaction supports learners in understanding and applying new vocabulary, developing reading skills, and improving reading comprehension. Teachers play a vital role in supporting peer learning, yet we know little about teachers' perspectives on the value of peer learning. This study explores the processes through which…