This article examines how elementary public school teachers in South Texas are implementing a balanced literacy approach in light of the expectations of accountability for student performance. For more than three decades, Texas schools have felt, and continue to feel, the pressure of accountability. Therefore, it becomes essential to investigate…

Using a low-inference observation instrument, we investigated the effect of an ongoing, intensive, and structured virtual professional development (VPD) based on the fidelity of implementation (FOI) across treatment and control conditions in a randomized controlled trial validation study implemented in 116-bilingual classrooms in seven Texas…

The present study examined the amount, type, and quality of Tier 1 and supplemental reading instruction provided to fourth-grade struggling readers and whether specific elements of instruction predicted growth in reading skills. 110 students identified as having reading difficulty, receiving school-based reading instruction in 22 classrooms…

The present study examined the amount, type, and quality of Tier 1 and supplemental reading instruction provided to 4th-grade struggling readers and whether specific elements of instruction predicted growth in reading skills. In all, 110 students identified as having reading difficulty who were receiving school-based reading instruction in 22…

We examined the direct impact of an ongoing, intensive, and structured professional development (PD) within an English-as-second-language (ESL) instructional intervention on (a) teachers' time allocation in cognitive--academic language proficiency (CALP) and (b) Spanish-speaking English language learners' (ELLs) CALP development from the second to…

This study investigated the impact of Readers Theater on eighth-grade students, the majority of whom were reading below grade level. Over six weeks of a short story unit, one class participated in Readers Theater. The comparison group of like-ability students received more traditional literary and vocabulary instruction. Quantitative measures…

Educational leaders need to ask themselves how it is possible that nearly 40% of 329,969 Texas fourth grade students are reading below grade level? With accountability standards rising, how does any school with an at-risk population produce fluent readers and in turn master grade level expectations? Scholars agree that meaning derives from…

Vocabulary acquisition traditionally has been a struggle for students with special learning needs. This study involved an eleven year old fifth grade student with learning disabilities in reading and writing and limited English proficiency. Assistive technology assistance was provided from the Franklin Language Master 6000b and Microsoft's Power…