University educators have observed the concurrent problems of student attrition, higher than normal or desired failure rates and students struggling to complete assessable and non-assessable work, for instance, set readings. Recent public commentary has pointed to the widening participation agenda with its lowering of university entrance scores…

This narrative literature review evaluates the effectiveness of synthetic phonics in comparison with analytic phonics. It presents the key research findings and offers a critical appraisal of this research. Primary schools have developed a variety of assessment processes which assess pupils' knowledge and skills in synthetic phonics. It is through…

Video games are a significant cultural and creative force, often involving a number of art forms, including narrative, design and audio composition. They have been the subject of a large-scale exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museums in London and Dundee, while the British Games Institute (BGI) was set up to support video game culture in…

This manuscript examines how national reading policies in the United States shape specific kinds of civic identities for K-12 students. We engage in a thematic discourse analysis of two contemporary national policy documents--the "Common Core State Standards" ("CCSS") and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)…

Eye tracking methodology offers insights into human attention, decision-making processes, and user behaviours. In the context of teacher learning, data generated from eye-tracking technology has the potential to provide important information about teachers' behavioural patterns and cognitive processes that may or may not be occurring during…

In this article, the "Ologies" series of books are interrogated with a focus on whether they present new challenges for the reader or merely require previously acquired skills. The multimodal texts are unusual in that they combine non-fiction with fantasy while including tactile elements such as flaps, pull-outs and items to stroke. Ways…

Future Forward is an early primary literacy program that pairs one-on-one tutoring with family engagement. Future Forward's approach is informed by both systems theory and a school-family-community partnership model. Future Forward understands that schools are not solely responsible for developing student literacy. Instead of viewing families and…

This integrative text spotlights what educators need to know about children's cognitive development across grade levels (PreK-12) and content areas. The book provides a concise introduction to developmental neuroscience and theories of learning. Chapters on general cognitive abilities probe such crucial questions as what children are capable of…

This special issue of "JREE" ["Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness"] features studies from three of the teams (Barnes, Stuebing, Fletcher, Barth, & Francis; Language and Reading Research Consortium, Arthur, & Davis; LaRusso et al.) supported by the Institute of Education Sciences--Reading for Understanding…

This paper examines the different views about the definition of "literacy" and how it is applied in the Zambian context. It argues that the absence of a contextual definition of literacy or illiteracy has raised some doubt on the magnitude of the problem and the extent to which success has been achieved through various literacy…

We introduce a special issue featuring four theoretical models of multiple text comprehension. We present a central framework for conceptualizing the four models in this special issue. Specifically, we chart the models according to how they consider learner, texts, task, and context factors in explaining multiple text comprehension. In addition,…

Twenty-first century education has undoubtedly witnessed changes of the definition of literacy to cope with the economic, social, and intellectual trends. Technological advances, which include skills of communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration have become key in education, especially when dealing with literacy and reading…

Reading for academic purposes in both first language (L1) and second language (L2) contexts has long been the subject of research using measures such as reading strategy inventories, reading recall protocols, and a variety of experimental designs aimed to examine the relative contribution to their reading ability of the readers' L1 or L2, type and…

Every year in England, thousands of children leave primary school without the confidence and fluency in reading they need. This has a significant effect on their learning, life chances and engagement with reading, and it also has a long-term economic and social impact. The Read On. Get On. (ROGO) campaign was launched in 2014 to address this…

The Early Intervention Reading Software Program (EISP) encourages literacy growth and achievement in students in grades K-3. The program addresses early reading through the use of computer-based literacy software which provides individualized instruction designed to supplement students' classroom learning. During the 2017-2018 school year, these…