Researchers have identified effective practices that allow schools to "beat the odds" and close the reading achievement gap. Although identifying these practices is important, researchers have paid little attention to the work it takes to implement them. Through interviews with teachers who work at schools identified as beating the odds, this…

Struggling readers are more likely to learn essential reading skills and strategies if the direct or explicit model of instruction is part of the teacher's repertoire of teaching methods. Directly/explicitly teaching reading means imparting new information to students through meaningful teacher-student interactions and teacher guidance of student…

Ecological validity is an important construct in the assessment of young children. The argument is made that using environmentally based assessment practices as well as understanding the child's ecology will help assure that assessments are carried out in an ecologically valid manner. The discussion focuses on play-based assessment,…

Reading fluency has been identified as a key component in reading and in learning to read. Moreover, a significantly large number of students who experience difficulty in reading manifest difficulties in reading fluency that appear to contribute to their overall struggles in reading. In this article we explore the nature of effective instruction…

The relationship of reading performance to difficulty level of material was the focus of this study. Participants in the study were 83 fourth graders from four urban schools. Each student was administered passages at different levels of challenge (independent, instructional, frustration) based on word identification accuracy. Passages were scored…

This article explores the reading and written language competency of incarcerated youth and examines the role that literacy plays in recidivism. Suggestions for practice include reading and written language curricular strategies that have empirical validation with this population. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

For well over a century, behavioral researchers have attempted to understand the relation between juvenile delinquency and academic achievement. The authors review current literature pertaining to academic achievement and its effect on delinquency. While researchers have not yet been able to establish a direct causal relation between these two…

Students "doing" mathematics ultimately results in students reading mathematics. This reading of mathematics is manifested in students reading words, symbols (including numerals), and visuals such as diagrams and graphs. Furthermore, students' successful response to word problems engages them in reading mathematics in the context of real-life or…

Vocabulary development and the role it plays in reading skills acquisition have received much less attention than decoding and comprehension strategies. There is a close relationship between vocabulary and comprehension; hence, individuals with poor vocabulary have difficulty understanding written text. Further, students with poor vocabulary…

The effects of tutor- or computer-assisted word recognition were assessed in a sample of third grade children. At pre-test, students' reading accuracy and fluency were evaluated on a training word list, generalization word list, and reading passages. Students were then randomly assigned to one of three group conditions--control (students practiced…

Improving the reading outcomes of children with concomitant emotional and behavior disorders (BD) and phonological processing deficits represents one of the greatest challenges facing educators today. For example, the results from a meta-analysis indicated that problem behavior (Z[sub r]=.46) was as important as phonological processing skills in…

This study examined the effects of the Waterford Early Reading Program on reading achievement gains across the first-grade year. The results of this longitudinal analysis demonstrated meaningfully greater gains on reading achievement for those with access to the Integrated learning system (ILS) (n[superscript 2] =.10). Furthermore, the positive…

The increasing demand for improved student performance in the context of significant time constraints places considerable stress on educators and administrators to develop innovative strategies that promote literacy acquisition. This article describes the procedures and outlines the evaluative data for Reading Their Way, a literacy acquisition…