My dissertation is structured as follows: introduction, background, methods, findings in the form of a PowerPoint presentation designed for teachers at my school and "Reading Teacher" article, and implications. Introduction: In response to my students underperforming in language arts I developed my research question; How can I use…

This study examined the effect of small class size intervention on student outcomes using reading achievement scores as measured by the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), a standardized, norm-referenced test, while controlling for independent variables inclusive of students' gender, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and environment. This…

Strong reading and literacy skills are essential for students' success in K-12 and beyond by providing the foundation for understanding the world and communicating effectively. This Spotlight will help readers learn how classroom conversations can boost reading proficiency; identify research on how to get students absorbed in reading; examine…

Numerous urban elementary schools have utilized reading intervention programs that provide remedial instruction to improve students' reading achievement levels. However, the success of these programs is contingent on the fidelity of implementation. Educators have long grappled with the best ways to support struggling readers, as they present with…

Reading is an essential foundation for learning. In 2016, Alaska's Education Challenge was developed with five measurable goals. Supporting students to read at grade level by the end of third grade is the priority as the department seeks to meet the goals established in 2016. Reading proficiency impacts students, state, and society far beyond the…

The decades-long and contentious debate over how students are taught to read centers around the role that phonics and alphabetic code-related skills have in reading instruction. Some claim that these skills are not prioritized in most elementary classrooms because teacher education programs do not adequately prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) to…

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between Acadience reading curriculum-based measures (CBMs) and the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) mathematics assessment for students in grades three, four, five, and six. Furthermore, multiple linear regression equations were created from…

The Common Core has emphasized reading for comprehension, including making inferences. However, little is known about the instructional materials included in core literacy programs for teaching inferences. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of background, anaphoric, predictive, and retrospective inferences in instructional…

Across the U.S., educators face a common challenge: How can we help all students become strong readers and writers? In the author's state of Tennessee, many educators believe they have a reading crisis. Two-thirds of 3rd graders do not read and write on grade level as measured by the statewide assessment (Tennessee Department of Education, 2019a).…

The importance of alignment between identification processes and program design is widely noted in gifted and talented education literature. We analyzed publicly available district gifted program plans (Grades 3-5) from two states to examine the extent to which district identification practices matched intervention strategies. Our team developed a…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among (1) special education teachers' knowledge for teaching reading fluency, (2) the specific instructional practices they used in fluency instruction, and (3) gains of students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) on a performance measure of oral reading fluency (ORF). Analyses…

Over 18 million children in Ethiopia are enrolled at the primary level with a net enrollment rate of 100 percent. Unfortunately, the positive achievement of getting more children into school has strained the capacity of the system, and student learning has suffered. USAID's 2018 Early Grade Reading Assessment suggests that only 40 percent of…

This investigation explored the relationship between educator preparation programs and teachers' perceptions of instructional readiness in foundational literacy skills. This study also examined the impact that early childhood, elementary, and specialty endorsement education programs of study, reading methods courses, and clinical field experiences…

Students learn to read and write best when their teachers balance literacy instruction. But how do you strike the "right" balance of skills and knowledge, reading and writing, small and whole group instruction, and direct and dialogic instruction, so that all students can learn to their maximum potential? The answer lies in the…

One of the most essential academic skills to be attained in school is reading comprehension; consequently, the comprehension instruction provided by teachers is of extreme importance. This study examined instructional strategies of eleven third grade reading teachers employed by the same district who attributed to 75% of students scoring in the…