There have been numerous recent calls in literacy research and teacher education to disrupt the 'struggling reader' label, but a dearth of empirical studies on the topic. This qualitative analysis explores the complex issues preservice teachers (PSTs) faced as they examined young readers' sense-making through a reading assessment assignment. Our…

Background: Reading comprehension is an essential skill not only during learning but also to successfully navigate everyday life. However, reading comprehension is a task that is challenging even among some adept readers. Thus, in the present investigation, we explored how to improve reading comprehension skills among a sample of middle school…

Although there is evidence that academic registers of English are important for hearing monolingual and multilingual learners as they develop through adolescence, there has been less research in this area with deaf and hard of hearing students. The current study sought to determine whether students who were exposed to American Sign Language (ASL)…

The author, a professor of English education, reads to his nine-year-old son nightly, and has for many years. The mutually cherished and fulfilling routine is strained to the breaking point because of the author's growing concern about his son's prospects for being admitted into a "good" public middle school. The narrative offers…

Reading is a vital skill for functioning in society. People need to read road signs, prescription labels, restaurant menus, and job applications just to make it through everyday life. Unfortunately, approximately 20% of the population (Washburn, & Joshi, & Binks-Cantrell, 2011) are said to be dyslexic which means they will struggle…

The current study attempted to investigate the contribution of an intervention program to fostering Arabic academic vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension skills among seventh grade Arabic native speaking pupils. For this purpose, 247 pupils from four schools in northern Israel have participated in the study. Arabic literacy units that…

During the 2011-2012 academic year, Texas public schools began administering the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) in grades 3-8, replacing the old testing system, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The TAKS-STAAR transition is a unique contextual backdrop for studying the role of state-mandated reading and…

We used a design-based research model to examine a historical literacy intervention in Grade 6 classrooms. This article describes the results across 2 separate instructional cycles and for students grouped into 4 categories: (a) high-achieving students (n = 23 and n = 24 for Cycle I and Cycle II, respectively), (b) average-achieving students (n =…

This study examined the contributions of decoding, language, spelling, and motivation to the reading comprehension of elementary school readers in a high-poverty setting. Specifically, the research questions addressed whether and how the influences of word reading efficiency, semantic knowledge, reading self-concept, and spelling on reading…

This paper provides causal evidence to answer the question, "Does the application of a double dose of literacy instruction in middle school improve student performance on subsequent academic outcomes?" The focus of this paper is on an intervention where the second dose of literacy instruction uses research-based instructional strategies,…

It is essential for learners to develop foundational literacy skills, ideally, in the first grade of formal education. These skills are then firmly entrenched and can be expanded in the following grades to form a basis for all future academic studies. Appropriate assessment practices and tools to aid this process can inform the achievement of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of two innovative, art-and-literature-based approaches to teaching writing (Picturing Writing: Fostering Literacy Through Art and Image-Making Within The Writing Process) on elementary school students' writing, visual literacy, and reading skills. RMC Research Corporation of Portsmouth, New…

This study investigated the effects that critical literacy instruction had on comprehension in a seventh grade reading class. Numerous studies have examined critical literacy instruction in the classroom, as well as effective methods of comprehension instruction; however, few studies have combined these two lines of inquiry. Therefore, the purpose…

This report examines the implementation and effects of the academic summer program for middle school students offered by Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL). BELL's middle school program serves rising sixth- through eighth-grade students who are performing one to two years below grade level. The goals of the program are to increase students'…

Authentic learning experiences are those in which students engage with texts as well as the behaviors of reading and writing within contexts of real-world use beyond traditional academic use. This study provides quantitative analysis of how students (n = 200) engaged with an adult pen pal in a shared literacy experience. Findings indicate that…