Knowing the meaning of academic vocabulary words helps adolescents understand content-area text and improves their academic achievement. To demonstrate deep understanding of words, students reading below grade level and students with learning disabilities must be explicitly taught word meanings, encounter target words in illustrative contexts, and…

This research replicates an earlier study (O'Connor, Beach, Sanchez, Bocian, & Flynn, 2015) and extends it by shifting instructional responsibility from researchers to special education teachers, who implemented reading instruction that included multisyllabic word decoding, academic vocabulary, and three comprehension strategies (generating…

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 purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), a professional development and early reading intervention program delivered via webcam technology, could support the early reading progress of English learners (ELs). Participants for the current study were drawn from a larger three-year randomized…

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…

Although a general limited availability of expository texts currently exists in preschool special education classrooms, expository tests offer speech-language pathologists (SLPs) a rich context for addressing the language goals of preschool children with language impairment on their caseloads. Thus, this article highlights the differences between…

Better understanding the mechanisms underlying developing literacy has promoted the development of more effecting reading interventions for typically developing children. Such knowledge may facilitate effective instruction of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. Hence, the current study examined the multivariate associations among phonological…

In this meta-analysis of 45 studies involving students in grades 2-12, the authors present evidence on the effects of text structure instruction on the expository reading comprehension of students. The meta-analysis was deigned to answer two sets of questions. The first set of questions examined the effectiveness of text structure instruction on…

Reading comprehension is multidimensional and complex. The persistent challenges children, adolescents, and even adults face with reading comprehension call for concerted efforts to develop assessments that help identify sources of difficulties and to design instructional approaches to prevent or ameliorate these difficulties. Doing so requires…

This synthesis extends a report of research on extensive interventions in kindergarten through third grade (Wanzek & Vaughn, 2007) to students in Grades 4 through 12, recognizing that many of the same questions about the effectiveness of reading interventions with younger students are important to address with older students, including (a) how…

Many American students struggle to perform even basic comprehension of text, such as locating information, determining the main idea, or supporting details of a story. Even more students are inadequately prepared to complete more complex tasks, such as critically or analytically interpreting information in text or making reasoned decisions from…

This meta-analysis extends previous work on extensive Tier 3 type reading interventions (Wanzek & Vaughn, 2007; Wanzek et al., 2013) to Tier 2 type interventions by examining a non-overlapping set of studies addressing the effects of less extensive reading interventions for students with or at risk for reading difficulties in Grades K-3. We…

The Native Community strongly recommends integrating Native language and culture (NLC) into reading instruction to improve outcomes for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students. However, little is known about the extent to which recommended practices are used and what might facilitate their implementation. The National Indian Education Study…

The best way to teach children how to read has been debated for more than a century. Accumulating research now shows that there is no one best way to teach reading. The effect of various types of instruction depends on the constellation of skills learners bring to the classroom. In this article, we discuss the idea of…

Tier 3 interventions are necessary for students who fail to respond adequately to Tier 1 general education instruction and Tier 2 supplemental reading intervention instruction. We identified 8 students in 3rd and 4th grade who had demonstrated a slow response to Tier 2 reading interventions for three years. Students participated in a…