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…

Educators have been faced with increasing demands to not only achieve, but also improve reading scores across the nation. Educational research of literacy abilities and reading achievement performance on state assessments have been researched and documented for decades. However, there has been little research on middle school literacy and state…

The present study aimed to explore the relation between students' oral reading efficacy, reading comprehension, and academic performance on a nationwide high school placement exam (TEOG). The students were selected from a public middle school. The students' oral reading efficacy, comprehension, and TEOG achievement scores were obtained to figure…

Students with and without learning disabilities often struggle to learn a foreign language (FL). Teachers could benefit from a measure designed to screen and identify students at risk for FL learning difficulties. In this study, we examined the reliability and validity of scores from four curriculum-based measures (CBM) as potential indicators of…

Informal reading inventories (IRI) and curriculum-based measures of reading (CBM-R) have continued importance in instructional planning, but raters have exhibited difficulty in accurately identifying students' miscues. To identify and tabulate scorers' mismarkings, this study employed examiners and raters who scored 15,051 words from 108 passage…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reading skill and reading modality (oral versus silent) on reading comprehension. A normative sample of sixth-grade students (N = 74) read texts aloud and silently and then answered questions about what they read. Skill in word reading fluency was assessed by the Test of Word Reading…

Recent legislation such as No Child Left Behind and the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) increasingly pressure teachers and schools to be accountable for instructional time in the form of improved test scores. As a result, students are given an increasing variety of assessments in a given school year in an attempt to measure academic…

To provide timely and effective supports for students reading below grade level, schools require methods for quickly and accurately identifying those students in need. One method for identifying those students is through universal screening. Assessments such as oral reading fluency (ORF) and Maze reading comprehension are commonly used as…

The use of oral reading fluency (ORF) as a predominant measurement tool for identifying struggling readers has grown exponentially over the past 30 years. ORF growth using curriculum-based measures (CBM) has also become an important practical and empirical issue influencing the field. Although fluency scores have shown to be reliable predictors of…

The purpose of this action research study was to examine Reader's Theater as an instructional and motivational strategy for underachieving students (N = 24) in a ninth- and tenth- grade Literacy for Life classroom. The Literacy for Life course was designed to assist high school students reading below an eighth-grade level. The research took place…

This study presents secondary analyses on a 2-stage test of reading comprehension for students with reading-based learning disabilities (RLD). The present paper describes student perceptions of the test and its features as well as analyses focused on the routing test and associated cut score. The routing test contained typical state assessment…

This exploratory study investigated how reading comprehension was conceptualized on the new high-stakes test, the 2011-2012 State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Specifically, comprehension, rate, and accuracy scores on the Gray Oral Reading Test 4 (GORT-4) from a group of struggling, low-SES, Hispanic middle school students (n…

Summer setback, which is defined as a decline in academic achievement over the summer months, occurs in many academic areas but seems especially problematic in reading. We assessed students from a midwestern parochial school serving predominantly students from a low--socioeconomic status background for their reading achievement before they left…

This mixed method study examined the use of repeated reading with eighteen, eighth grade special education and regular education students. The purpose was to study use of repeated reading's structured, systematic, oral reading intervention while also seeking to further analyze LaBerge and Samuels' "Theory of Automaticity"…

Implementing effective reading instruction is critical for schools. This study examined the effects of the Corrective Reading (CR) program on junior high students with learning disabilities (LD) and students with learning disabilities and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (LD/ADHD). The research questions were: What differences exist…