Learning to read is a critical but often challenging academic task for young children. In the current study, we explore the relation between children's reading affect--particularly anxiety--and reading achievement in the early years of reading acquisition. We hypothesized that reading anxiety would relate to reading achievement across the school…

Despite the importance placed on reading in the classroom, an unacceptable number of students lack the literacy skills essential to succeed in today's knowledge-based economy, putting them at greater risk of persistent unemployment and other forms of economic hardship. The problem is that public charter elementary (K-4) school intervention…

Many primary grade students are not afforded nonfiction-rich opportunities, with fiction comprising the majority of books read aloud in classrooms. With the Common Core Standards recommending that half of the texts made available to students be nonfiction, educators are increasing their use of informational text. The present study explored the…

Various studies have found that electronic books (e-books) promote learning, but few works have examined the use of e-books along with an adaptive reading strategy for children. The current study implemented a method to extract keyword cues from e-books to support e-book reading with the read, recite and review (3R) strategy, and then examined the…

This qualitative study used a sociocultural lens to examine how two bilingual Hispanic first-grade girls demonstrated bilingual reading practices (i.e., heteroglossia and translanguaging) as they discussed and read texts in Spanish and English. One girl predominantly received school reading instruction in Spanish, while the other received school…

Childhood reading levels are important predictors of later childhood academic success. A child's reading ability and reading attitude is a strong indicator of future academic success and lifelong reading (Kush & Watkins, 1996; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). There is a strong correlation between a child's reading attitude and their actual…

African American male students in elementary schools are scoring approximately 30% lower than their peers in reading and content areas. There are many factors causing the discrepancy; indeed, the complexity of the problem has inhibited a clear solution. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine factors associated with low…

Researchers have long acknowledged the important role that vocabulary plays in assisting reading comprehension. Because of the importance of vocabulary, it is necessary to determine how to ensure that all students are making adequate vocabulary gains. The research base for the best ways to instruct students in robust vocabulary is strong. The…

Improving student performance for high-need student populations by improving the use of data in decision-making for early reading intervention programs in northwest Florida is the focus of this research to practice effort. The study is conceptually based on using a relational-feedback intervention (RFI) database model in early learning…

This study evaluated the relative effects of Tier II computer-assisted tutoring in small groups (Team Alphie) and one-to-one tutoring provided to struggling readers in 33 high-poverty Success for All (SFA) schools. In this year-long study, struggling readers in the Team Alphie schools were tutored in groups of 6. In the control schools, students…

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the use of Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) to investigate the effects of school and children's attributes on children' reading achievement. In particular, this study was designed to: (1) develop the HLM models to determine the effects of school-level and child-level variables on children's reading…

The universality of reading comprehension strategies across languages is a view generally accepted. What has not been clearly established, however, is the degree to which specific comprehension strategies are used by skilled L1 and L2 readers in the early grades. To investigate this issue, similarities and differences in the reading strategies of…

Examines the effect of teaching at-risk first graders paraphrasing and self-verbalization techniques to enhance metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Finds that treatment groups performed at statistically higher levels than the control group. (RS)

A study examined the position of phonics instruction or direct skill instruction within the context of a whole language, meaning-based approach to reading instruction. A total of 22 first-grade students participated--12 students received instruction in phonics while 10 followed a meaning based curriculum. All were administered a phonics test and a…

Describes how one teacher infused reading strategy instruction into her first-grade classroom literacy program. Discusses strategic literacy instruction, noting independent reading strategies. Describes the variety of approaches the teacher uses to foster emerging students' development as strategic readers (including demonstrations/modeling,…