Although academic success among diverse community college students requires effective reading skills, providing support for struggling readers is becoming increasingly more difficult. The problem addressed in this quantitative study was that due to Assembly Bill 705, prohibiting colleges from offering remedial courses without data to substantiate…

In this multi-year study, we taught English/Language Arts teachers of students with learning disabilities in middle school to incorporate 15 min of daily vocabulary activities with students in their intact special education English/Language Arts classes. During Year 1, teachers taught 48 words to their sixth grade students, who learned and…

In this multi-year study, we taught English/Language Arts teachers of students with Learning Disabilities in middle school to incorporate 15 minutes of daily vocabulary activities with students in their intact special education English/Language Arts classes. During Year 1, teachers taught 48 words to their sixth grade students, who learned and…

This study evaluated the efficacy of the Word Learning Strategies (WLS) supplementary program to improve elementary students' vocabulary skills and reading comprehension. The study used a multi-site cluster randomized, experimental design, which randomly assigned 92 4th grade classrooms (n=2558 students) from two cohorts to a treatment or control…

In this article, the researchers examined general vocabulary, academic vocabulary, and reading comprehension growth trajectories of adolescent redesignated fluent English proficient (RFEP) students using individual growth modeling analysis. The sample included 1,226 sixth- to eighth-grade RFEP students from six middle schools in an urban school…

This study focused on the use of a standardized reading assessment to examine reading comprehension among English language learners (ELLs) and English fluent middle school students, focusing on two text genres: informational and narrative. The Common Core State Standards require students to develop skills in both genres. However, ELLs may not…

This longitudinal study used latent growth curve modeling to investigate English literacy development in a sample of Spanish-speaking language minority students from third through eighth grade. This study also compared the sample's literacy development to the entire population of California students using state standardized test data. Second, this…

In this article, the author explores the phenomenon of children's language choice and language use in a Korean-English two-way immersion (TWI) program. She does so by drawing on situations in which the children spoke of the principles guiding their choice of languages, and instances in which they voluntarily adopted Korean as the means of…

This paper first outlines some of the challenges students and teachers are facing in schools around the country. These challenges include social issues such as violence, drugs and bulling. This coupled with the fact that many instructional programs follow the cognitive-only model and the current push for standardized testing has had a negative…

The purpose of this action research project was to study the relationship between Historical Analysis and student performance on the California Standards Test (CSTs), both English Language Arts and History, as well as to study the relationship between Historical Analysis and Reading Comprehension. It was believed that Historical Analysis required…

This study of 1,338 Spanish-speaking 1st graders examined contextual effects of bilingual programs on reading comprehension and the effect of language of instruction within these contexts. The study included 128 classrooms in 32 schools located in border Texas and in urban Texas and California. These classrooms used either English immersion or…

Framed within the growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in urban schools, this study examined the learning experiences of bilingual Latino/a students who were taught to serve as on-site interpreters at their inner-city K-8 school in California. Participants in the Young Interpreters Program had significantly higher scores in…

The Language Profile of Bilingual Students in California was undertaken to determine: (1) students' range of performance on specific language tasks across four age groups in both Spanish and English; (2) the relationship of this performance to proficiency on two tests currently used in California; (3) how the development of the two languages…