A 7-month study of 178 students in grades 1-4 at two Blue Ribbon schools compared two daily 20-minute treatments. Eighty-eight students used the 2000-2001 version of Project LISTEN's Reading Tutor (www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen) in 10-computer labs, averaging 19 hours over the course of the year. The Reading Tutor served as a computerized implementation…

"A picture is worth a thousand words." In a modern-day classroom, students are surrounded by visual imagery through textbooks, notice boards, television, videos, or computers. Many middle school classrooms are filled with colorful pictures and photographs. However, it is unclear how--or if --these images impact the middle school ESL…

Why has large-scale standardised testing attracted such a bad press? Why has pedagogic benefit to be derived from test results been downplayed? The paper investigates this question by first surveying the pros and cons of testing in the literature, and goes on to examine educators' responses to standardised, large-scale tests in a sample of low…

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…

This qualitative comparative case study identified factors that distinguish between high and low-performance on reading achievement in elementary rural Appalachian schools. This study determined the most effective instructional reading strategies, as well as other influential factors, implemented by school districts in the rural Appalachia area…

This study examines one part of a validity argument for portfolio assessments of teaching practice used as an indicator of teaching quality to inform a licensure decision. We investigate the relationship among portfolio assessment scores, a test of teacher knowledge (ETS's Praxis I and II), and changes in student achievement (on…

Because developing reading literacy ability is vital to every student's growth and maturation, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, more widely known as IEA, has been conducting regular international assessments of reading literacy and the factors associated with its acquisition in countries around the world…

This study developed a new survey of teachers' knowledge about early reading and examined the effects of teachers' knowledge on students' reading achievement in Grades 1 to 3 in a large sample of Michigan schools. Using statistical models that controlled for teachers' personal and professional characteristics, students' prior reading achievement,…

This report presents estimates from a large-scale, multi-district RCT (randomized controlled trial) on the effectiveness of a summer reading program on improving student reading comprehension for economically disadvantaged grade 3 students reading below the 50th percentile nationally. This study focused on the summer between grades 3 and 4 for…

In America, there is a growing consensus that educational video games should be used in the classroom to meet the needs of 21st Century learners. According to the American Federation of Scientists (2006), students that "have grown up with digital technology and video games are especially poised to take advantage of the features of educational…

This study of advanced readers in Reading First (RF) classrooms was part of a larger evaluation of one state's RF implementation. The study's purposes were to (a) assess the longitudinal growth of advanced primary readers as compared with their non-advanced-reading peers over a 3-year timeframe and (b) determine the degree to which RF classrooms…

The SELF Foundation engaged 287 students at Key, Revere, and Welch middle schools in afterschool tutorials and enrichment activities to support their academic, social, and emotional development. Program impact was measured using reading and math performance, attendance, and disciplinary actions of SELF Foundation students compared to…

Locus of control, a psychological construct, has been the focus of attention in recent decades. Psychologists have discussed the effect of locus of control on achieving life goals in social/psychological interactions. While learning a foreign language involves both social interactions and psychological processes, the role and relation of locus of…

Academy of READING (AoR) is designed to improve students' foundational reading skills; it is used in almost all Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) secondary schools. Central staff recommended students with prior End of Grade/Course (EOG/EOC) scale scores placing them high in Level II or low in Level III have first priority for service; many…

This study was an investigation of the impact of motivation to read on reading gains of struggling readers with and without specific learning disabilities (LD) who were exposed to a structured, research-based daily reading program over an 18-week period. Participants included 13 students with LD and 25 students without disabilities from two middle…