Evidence is growing that physical activity can impact cognitive functioning. This study examined the associations between physical activity, sedentary behavior and attitude toward physical activity on measures of literacy. Community literacy center participants (n = 20, mean age = 9.5 yrs.) wore accelerometers for three days and completed the…

This case study examined the effectiveness of three fluency interventions (i.e., repeated reading, audio listening passage preview and teacher modeled listening passage preview) with a fifth grade student struggling with fluency skills. When compared to baseline, each intervention increased oral reading fluency by the end of the 7 weeks of…

Over a 12-week period, the researchers implemented explicit and systematic reading instruction using grade-level fiction to evaluate the effects on the oral reading fluency and comprehension of seventh and eighth grade urban students at risk of academic failure. Ten students in the experimental group were provided systematic instruction consisting…

This study examines the value of a professional collaborative partnership between college faculty and middle school teachers in improving students' literacy skills and teachers' instructional practice. Three college faculty and two middle school teachers engaged in a collaborative effort to design and implement evidence-based strategies to promote…

The research base on how to effectively intervene to improve the reading fluency of students with academic and behavioral disabilities at the middle school level does not provide a strong support for evidence- based practices with this age group. The purpose of this study was to extend the body of research on reading fluency interventions to…

The relationship between the intentional teaching of reading strategies and the increase in reading comprehension was studied. The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) reading pretest and posttest scores of 57 subjects were analyzed to see if there was a significant increase in performance after the reading strategies were taught. The study…

This study determined the effectiveness of a parent support intervention to improve parental involvement and students' scores in reading. During the past 4 years (2006-2010), the students' seventh-grade reading scores at the study site on the state end-of-grade (EOG) reading test declined from 71.1% to 28.1%, which represented a decrease of 43.0%…

A fourteen-item test designed to measure knowledge of the meanings of words used in directions for non-prescription medication was constructed to illustrate the use of criterion-referenced measurement in reading. (TO)

Reports that when given only the choices to reading comprehension items, some students are able to identify the correct choices without reference to the associated passage or the item stems, a characteristic that threatens the validity of reading comprehension tests. (Author/FL)

Discusses passage content and style, accessibility of the passages, their completeness, the extent to which the items are passage-dependent, and the extent to which additional knowledge is required to answer the questions on reading comprehension tests and exercises. (TO)

Indicates that the assessment of reading comprehension should be evaluated in the light of potentially differential benefits resulting from the test form and its interactive effects on children with particular trait dispositions. (Author)

Discusses study which supported the Piagetian theory concerning the cognitive functioning of the concrete operational child. (JM)

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reading achievement and parental involvement for sixth grade middle school students. The participants were forty-eight sixth grade students who completed parental involvement surveys. The parents of these students also completed a parental involvement survey. The results of the…

Suggests that verbal aptitude may be a factor that affects the degree of students' test wiseness and may vary with the reading test that is administered. (Author)