Nowadays, Malaysian ESL students struggle to read English texts, particularly narrative texts. Lacking in utilising and applying the suitable reading strategies are among factors that hinder reading comprehension. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) strategy on ESL pupils' narrative reading and…

Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking en Español, or iSTART-E, is a new intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that provides reading comprehension strategy training for Spanish speakers. This paper reports on studies evaluating the efficacy of iSTART-E in real-world classrooms in two different Spanish-speaking countries. In…

This paper provides a secondary analysis of the May, Sirinides, Gray, and Goldsworthy (2016) evaluation of the Reading Recovery scale-up. We extend their findings to include analysis of the six subscales of the "Observation Survey (OS) of Early Literacy Achievement" (Clay, 2013) that the What Works Clearinghouse has previously used to…

Although Extensive Reading (ER) has been shown to increase reading fluency and comprehension, such benefits are generally slow to appear. The present study investigated the possible contribution of ER to single-semester Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) reading gains. The participants were 497 first-year students from two…

This study documents the process of implementation of an adolescent reading intervention. Using data from observations of teachers (n=17) during the 2013-14 school year, I conducted a nuanced descriptive analysis of fidelity of implementation (FoI). I also analyzed weekly logs completed by literacy coaches (n=3) to examine variation in quantity…

This study evaluated the efficacy of the Word Learning Strategies (WLS) supplementary program designed to develop upper-elementary students' vocabulary skills in order to improve reading comprehension. The study used a true, group-randomized, experimental design, which randomly assigned 46 4th grade classrooms (n=1324 students) from 12 districts…

Game-based practice within Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) can be optimized by examining how properties of practice activities influence learning outcomes and motivation. In the current study, we manipulated when game-based practice was available to students. All students (n = 149) first completed lesson videos in iSTART-2, an ITS focusing on…

Hong Kong attained champion of the PIRLS 2011 that aroused keen interest in understanding the underlying reasons of a non-alphabetic language. The study aimed at unravelling various aspects of the student and home factors which contributed to remarkable Chinese reading performance. Totally 3,875 students from 132 primary schools completed the…

Background: The relationship between physical activity (PA) and academic achievement has received much attention given the recent push to increase children's PA levels through Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAP). Methods: In this study we followed 214 urban elementary students through an 8-month healthy school transformation…

The article begins with setting the South African educational context for a postgraduate early literacy research project in the foundation phase (ages 4-9). The research examines how philosophy with children (P4C) might be part of a solution to current problems in reading comprehension. The second author reports on her P4C action research with her…

This study considers the issue of weak literacy development and early school leaving in Malta. In spite of a lack of a direct or indirect causal link between the two, in the case of Malta these issues seem to be almost exclusively specific to children attending the State school. Children from the Church and the Independent sectors are minimally…

The purpose of this study was to examine the difference between students' scores in comprehension (English Language Arts) tests when they are led in Brain Gym® activities before class instruction and when they are taught using traditional teaching strategies. The sample for this study consisted of 11 males and 9 females. Data were collected by…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between mathematics and reading/language arts Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores at a selected elementary school. The sample consisted of 12 randomly selected males in a third grade classroom. Data were collected for this study using the overall reading/language arts subtest…

Using an experimental research design, this project investigated the effects of teacher read-alouds when students did, and did not, have access to companion texts. Based on Connectionist theory, the researchers hypothesized that students in the Companion Text group would outperform students in the Listen Only group on the three examined variables:…

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine graduate students' reading comprehension and reading vocabulary, by comparing scores of graduate students on a standardized reading test to scores obtained by a large normative sample of undergraduates. Participants were 59 graduate students from various disciplines, enrolled in three…