This study aimed to investigate the impact of LETRS professional development on reading proficiency. I used ANOVA tests to analyze third- through fifth-grade EOG assessment scores for changes in proficiency from 2021-2023. The results indicated a statistically significant change in the means for all grades. Third-grade results reflected the most…

Learning to read by the end of third grade is a pathway to a successful life (Keesler, 2019). Research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows that students who are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school and are ineligible for a majority of jobs in the United States (Hernandez,…

Success in social studies is imperative, as civic literacy skills are used by students to become critical consumers of information and support making informed decisions. The problem is that teachers are making instructional shifts to support literacy performance and provide instruction for struggling readers in third and fourth grade to read,…

Research examining reading abilities among Black children diverges significantly from prior literature, which either lacked focus or lacked substantial representation of Black children. Black students, particularly boys, tend to exhibit lower academic achievement compared to their peers. The problem addressed in this study is that Black boys, in…

The purpose of this study is to investigate if a mindfulness mandala coloring activity reduces a student's anxiety about reading. Reading is a fundamental skill for all other academic success, making proficient reading skills necessary. This study investigates if a reduction in a third grade student's reading anxiety results in changes to oral…

Little is known about what contributes to individual differences in reading fluency after accounting for accuracy. Previous research has shown individual differences in the relative growth in word and nonword reading, specifically a pattern in which students who start lower on reading grow more in word than nonword reading ability. The purpose of…

Sixty-eight percent of fourth-grade public school students in the United States performed below the National Assessment of Educational Progress proficient level on the 2022 reading assessment, yet Massachusetts fourth-grade students demonstrated better reading outcomes. The problem addressed through this study was a lack of knowledge regarding the…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in education across the United States. Prior to the pandemic, students in third grade struggled with low reading proficiency, a difficulty that predicts persistent academic struggles, school dropout, and even delinquency. Districts in South Carolina and around the United States adapted to the…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether there is a correlation between English language proficiency level (ELP) and growth in reading for English learners (ELs) in first, second, and third grade in suburban Virginia. In order to develop language skills, it is important to take the four language domains into consideration,…

Reading performance in third grade has significantly declined across the United States in recent years, suggesting a critical problem that was addressed in this study. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of K-3 teachers working in a rural elementary school district regarding a decline since 2018 in the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study explores how teachers described their perceptions within a mandated reading program, as the program supported reading comprehension skills for students in second, third, and fourth grade at three public elementary schools in Upstate New York. The theoretical foundation of this study was established…

It has long been suggested that contextual facilitation effects (hereafter, context effects) reflect the interaction between the construction of an internal representation of context and the processing of a semantically related word (Kuperberg & Jaeger, 2016; Stanovich, 1980). Listening and reading studies have constantly replicated the…

In order to effectively teach reading, it is not enough for a teacher to possess knowledge and skills alone. It is equally important to use evidence-based instructional approaches and interventions, especially when working with at-risk or struggling students. Without appropriate instructional materials and contexts, even the most competent teacher…

Measuring reading engagement is critical for monitoring student involvement in academic tasks, as it predicts student reading achievement and further academic success (Anderson et al., 2021; Guthrie et al., 2012). As a multidimensional construct, researchers have employed various methods to assess reading engagement (Gill & Remedios, 2013; Lee…

Public elementary schools in the Republic of Korea (Korea) do not reliably include phonics in their third and fourth grade English language curriculum. Therefore, examining how teachers are currently including phonics instructions in the classroom could significantly impact the level of reading skills acquired in English as a Foreign Language…