This article reports impacts of action research-oriented upgrading training given to teachers on early reading performances of Grades 2 & 3 students. Initially a baseline assessment was conducted to determine the initial reading performances of the students, and a survey was conducted to identify the training and experience teachers had in…

Evidence based reading instruction and intervention are essential for students with disabilities. The authors recommend that elementary special education teachers emphasize both code-based and meaning-based skills as part of delivering intensive reading interventions, including providing explicit and systematic decoding and vocabulary instruction.…

Existing literature acknowledges the potential variances between home and school in the values, priorities, aspirations, and practices surrounding literacy. Some researchers have approached this dilemma by offering programs to educate parents in ways of the school. Other researchers suggest that schools need to be more inclusive of home practices…

This book provides a holistic overview of what leads to success in foreign language learning at an early age and deepens our understanding of early foreign language learning. The studies use an array of methodological approaches to research learners aged between three and ten, as well as their parents and teachers, in instructional, minimal-input…

In July 2012 the National Literacy Trust were commissioned by Oxfordshire County Council to deliver the Oxfordshire Reading Campaign, a two-year initiative targeting Oxfordshire primary schools and the wider community, with the aim of substantially improving reading levels at Key Stage 1 and to increase the number of pupils reaching level 2b+.…

Success for All (SfA) is a whole-school approach to improving literacy in primary schools. Teachers receive training in areas including group learning strategies, phonics, and assessment, and are provided with structured daily lesson plans and teaching materials. There is also support for school leadership in areas such as data management, ability…

In two experiments, we examined fourth and fifth graders' comprehension of the source of information in texts presenting controversial issues. In Experiment 1, participants read short texts in which two people presented different arguments regarding an issue. Participants identified who said what and evaluated each source's knowledge of the issue.…

Research indicates that the most effective instruction in basic reading skills and reading comprehension should take place in the classroom. For some students, however, additional reading instruction outside of the regular classroom may be needed and should begin early in a student's educational career. Since reading comprehension is the goal of…

Purpose: To examine the efficacy of Fast ForWord Language (FFW-L) and 2 other interventions for improving the phonemic awareness and reading skills of children with specific language impairment with concurrent poor reading skills. Method: A total of 103 children (age 6;0 to 8;11 [years;months]) with language impairment and poor reading skills…

Despite impressive advances in the science of reading intervention, how to best help at-risk readers remains a point of contention. Because reading represents the synthesis of background factors and language and reading skills--all of which develop with age and experience--this meta-analysis investigated whether development (as approximated by…

This article reports on a reading intervention project undertaken in a high poverty primary school in Gauteng where reading levels in both the home language, Northern Sotho, and in English were very low. Some of the factors associated with school effectiveness (SE) are first examined and thereafter the nature of the reading intervention programme…

"Reading Mastery," one of several curriculum components that constitute the "Direct Instruction" curriculum from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K-6. "Reading Mastery," which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement…

Reviews the development of Recovery Reading. Addresses two questions: (1) which features of the program embody Vygotskian notions? and (2) how effective is the program at improving literacy skills? Finds that Reading Recovery increased reading attainment and argues that future research should address the sociocultural context of the program. (DSK)

Examines the utility of brief teaching probes as an assessment for students referred due to poor academic performance. Reading-decoding skills as assessed by students' oral reading rate on probes containing letters, words, or prose were examined. Ten of the 12 assessments identified one or both interventions as promising, based on a 20% or greater…

Examines the effectiveness of Teach Baltimore, a program (using trained college student volunteers) to prevent summer learning loss, for a group of 300 low-income, public elementary students, compared with 135 control students. Except for low-achieving kindergarteners, results show consistent, if statistically insignificant, positive effects for…