Traditionally, community colleges offer an education for everyone with a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) diploma; however, many students are required to take developmental reading courses. This study used a quasi-experimental comparative study model in a quantitative design to examine the effects of the strategic…

"Prentice Hall/Pearson Literature©" (2007-15) is an English language arts curriculum designed for students in grades 6-12 that focuses on building reading, vocabulary, literary analysis, and writing skills. It uses passages from fiction and nonfiction texts, poetry, and contemporary digital media. The curriculum is based on a textbook.…

The purpose of this study was to test whether co-teaching had an impact on special education students achievement in the areas of reading comprehension and fluency. The study was conducted in a south-west suburban Chicago elementary school, and data from special education students at the school were discrepant from their nondisabled peers. This…

A study involving 75 Spanish-speaking fifth graders from a school in the Chicago area investigated whether a peer-led, open-format discussion approach, known as Collaborative Reasoning, would accelerate the students' English language development. Results showed that, after participating in eight discussions over a four-week period, the CR group…

The SuccessMaker[R] program is a set of computer-based courses used to supplement regular classroom reading instruction in grades K-8. Using adaptive lessons tailored to a student's reading level, SuccessMaker[R] aims to improve understanding in areas such as phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and concepts of…

Student achievement has been low in language arts in Suburban Chicago, Illinois school districts. This action research project was designed to determine the effect of incorporating multiple intelligence strategies into the language arts curriculum. The targeted students were in the second, third, and fifth grades, in a western suburb of Chicago,…

This report describes a program for improving reading comprehension in seventh graders by focusing on higher order thinking and metacognitive skills. The targeted population was in a growing, middle class community located in northern Illinois. The problem of below grade level reading comprehension was documented by Illinois Goals Assessment…

An action research study described and evaluated a program for improving the reading comprehension of targeted first, second, and third grade students, in a progressive suburban community in northern Illinois. The problem was noted by the researchers, who in recent years had observed a need for improvement in reading comprehension as indicated by…

This report describes a program for improving reading comprehension skills in order to heighten understanding of materials covered in class and performance on activities and exams. The targeted population consisted of first-, fifth-, and eighth-grade students in a large, lower- to middle-class community located in central Illinois. The problems in…

This report describes an intervention to aid students in demonstrating their comprehension of reading material through an alternative instrument. The target population consisted of fifth grade students in a middle class community in central Illinois. Problems in comprehension were revealed through declining district test scores and teacher…

A program was designed to improve the reading skills of the second grade at-risk students in a suburban K-6 elementary school located northwest of Chicago, Illinois. The second grade at-risk students could not read fluently at the conclusion of the academic school year, and consequently did not exhibit strong reading comprehension skills. A…

This paper describes a program for using higher order thinking skills to improve reading comprehension. The targeted population consists of seventh- and eighth-grade junior high school students in a stable middle class community, located in a southwestern suburb of Chicago. Reading comprehension difficulties were documented through data obtained…