Reading Horizons partnered with LearnPlatform by Instructure to investigate the relationship between teacher implementation of Reading Horizons Discovery (RHD) and student literacy outcomes. The study involved 83 educators and 1,242 students across seven elementary schools in North Carolina during the 2022-23 school year. Researchers used mCLASS…

Since the implementation of No Child Left Behind in 2001, high-stakes testing has become a mandatory practice across all 50 states. High-stakes testing is currently being used as a way to hold teachers and schools accountable for student success. In order to enforce these policies, the federal government has created sanctions that have serious…

This mixed-methods research examined student achievement in reading comprehension as measured by the North Carolina End-of-Grade Test for Reading Comprehension, and specific reading strategies (Frayer Model & Summarization/Paraphrasing strategy) in Grades 6-8 classrooms. The purpose of this research was to determine if a difference exists in…

This study explored print-processing and vocabulary differences among a group of 5th- and 6th-grade students who had scored below the 50th percentile on a standardized reading test. Guided by the simple view of reading, we applied cut scores (low/high) to the students' performance on print-processing and vocabulary tasks. The design allowed for…

School districts across the United States have increasingly adopted information and communications technology (ICT) in an attempt to improve student achievement across a wide range of educational settings. This paper examines the impacts of Achieve3000, an early literacy program that differentiates non-fiction reading passages based on individual…

Third grade is a critical checkpoint in a child's educational journey. By the end of third grade, children need literacy skills that prepare them for increasing curriculum demands in fourth grade and beyond. Students who are not reading on grade level by this point are significantly more likely to drop out of high school or fail to graduate on…

Research has found that peers influence the academic achievement of children. However, the mechanisms through which peers matter remain underexplored. The present study examined the relationship between peers' reading skills and children's own reading skills among 4,215 total second- and third-graders in 294 classrooms across 41 schools. One…

The problem of summer reading loss among low-income children has been amply documented by researchers. Over time, income-based disparities in reading achievement appear to grow more rapidly during the summer months than the academic school year. This paper describes two experiments in which teachers scaffold summer book reading with two different…

Research has shown that there is a strong link between reading comprehension and vocabulary, yet many children lack the required vocabulary needed to perform adequately on reading comprehension assessments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the teaching of Larry Bell's 12 Powerful Words vocabulary program in order to raise third, fourth…

In 2013-14, Letterland had strong implementation, with moderate to high fidelity within approximately 90% of Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) K-1 classrooms. The impact of Letterland on students' reading achievement was neutral to positive. A significantly higher percentage of WCPSS kindergarten students were at or above benchmark mid-year…

Many middle school students are not achieving the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) at individual schools in North Carolina. A consequence of continual failure to reach AYP goals is the withdrawal of Title 1 funding. Since federal funds are an integral part of nearly half of the public schools in North Carolina, it is imperative that students improve…

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent struggling readers in the middle school (Grades 6-8) respond to interventions implemented through the response to intervention (RtI) model after being identified as having deficits in reading comprehension and fluency. The study examined progress of struggling sixth-grade students…

Nationally, Hispanic achievement lags behind non-Hispanic peers in reading proficiency scores. The gap in achievement persists through subsequent grade levels for Black, Hispanic, and poor students of all races. Current school environments present evidence of dissimilar levels of minority and poverty in schools. Identifiable differences in…

The disparity between the results of state accountability tests in reading and the fourth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has left many educators dismayed and concerned. In this article the authors describe a comparison of assessment approaches evident in NAEP to the approaches taken in a sample of state tests. The authors…