This study investigated the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension to determine if environmental factors might be contributing to a possible change in the equalization age for these two comprehension modalities from what was theorized by Thomas Sticht. The study employed a counterbalanced design to measure the…

Music education has been shown to be related to a variety of positive outcomes, including student achievement in math. This study was conducted to examine the effect of integrating Hip Hop Literacy songs on fourth grade reading achievement scores. The framework for the study was Miendlarzweska and Trost's model of musical instrument training.…

Accountability policies assume that educators will use student data to improve student learning, but data use in practice has turned out to be harder than theorized. The purpose of this article was to examine how science teachers in Grades 5 to 8 used data in their classrooms. Utilizing sensemaking theory, we found that teachers decided how to use…

Dual language programs are a form of bilingual education in which emergent bilingual students receive instruction for content and literacy in two languages (Thomas & Collier, 2019). Dual language programs are developed from policies founded on ideologies that are based on instruction for monolingual students, therefore favoring predominantly…

Reading Apprenticeship is a model of academic literacy instruction designed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) at WestEd to improve student literacy skills and academic achievement. Based on understandings of the close relationship between curricular reform and professional development, Reading Apprenticeship includes an instructional…

This experimental study examined the efficacy of a multicomponent reading intervention compared to a business-as-usual comparison condition on the reading comprehension and content area vocabulary outcomes of adolescent students with low reading comprehension. We randomly assigned 9th-grade students with low reading comprehension to a…

This study examined the effects of Reading Intervention for Adolescents, a 2-year extensive reading intervention targeting current and former English learners identified as struggling readers based on their performance on the state accountability assessment. Students who enrolled at three participating urban high schools were randomly assigned to…

Universal screening is the first mechanism by which students are identified as at risk of failure in the context of multitiered systems of supports. This study examined the validity and diagnostic accuracy of a reading computer-adaptive test as a screener to identify state achievement test performance for third through fifth graders (N = 1,696).…

Background: Reading instruction begins at the primary level with reading comprehension issues manifesting themselves by the 3rd-grade and becoming more pronounced by fourth-grade. While primary teachers often teach narrative comprehension skills, middle school teachers have the responsibility to teach both narrative and expository comprehension…

Reading Apprenticeship is a research-based professional learning model and instructional framework designed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) at WestEd to improve student literacy and learning. Based on understandings of the close relationship between curricular reform and professional development (Heller & Greenleaf, 2007), Reading…

English language learners struggle to read and comprehend the work of William Shakespeare in secondary schools across the country. Yet, these students from diverse backgrounds continue to be required to read this literature. This article offers a review of arguments made to remove Shakespeare from the curriculum as well as reasons for the…

Word problems require students to read a language-based problem, identify necessary information to answer a prompt, and perform calculation(s) to develop a problem solution. Solving word problems proves particularly challenging for students with mathematics difficulties because skill in reading, interpretation of language, and mathematics is…

"Xtreme Reading" is a supplemental literacy curriculum designed to improve the literacy skills of struggling students in grades 6 to 12. The curriculum is primarily designed to help students improve their vocabulary, decoding, fluency, and reading comprehension skills. To ensure a productive learning environment, students initially learn…

To address the needs of middle school students who experience difficulty with reading, students are often placed in reading intervention programs to improve literacy skills. This study explores the question: in what ways do students successfully and unsuccessfully use self-initiated comprehension strategies in their efforts to engage with…

English learners with learning disabilities (LD) have well-documented difficulties comprehending text. This study examined the effects of an intensive reading intervention (Reading Intervention for Adolescents [RIA]) on reading outcomes (word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension) for ninth-grade ELs with LD (n = 85). In the RIA, students…