Student engagement is a multidimensional construct believed to be a critical component for understanding school dropout (Christenson et al., 2008). The majority of related research has focused primarily on overt (academic and behavioral) rather than covert (psychological and cognitive) subtypes of engagement; however, there is evidence to suggest…

This study examined the effects of an intensive remedial program, Wilson Reading System (WRS), on 43 struggling readers from second to twelfth grade. The students, who attended a large southwestern urban school district, were all at least two grade levels below their peers in reading. Participants received 20 hours of WRS instruction over the…

This study explored the relationships among formative curriculum-based measures of reading (CBM-R), student engagement as an extra-academic indicator of student motivation, and summative performance on a high-stakes reading assessment. A diverse sample of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students and their teachers responded to questionnaires…

Extensive reading (ER) is an effective way to provide large amounts of comprehensible input to foreign language learners, but many teachers and administrators remain unconvinced, and it has been argued that there is still insufficient evidence to support the claims that have been made regarding its benefits. Few studies have looked at ER's effect…

Monitoring the learning progress of at-risk students positively affects learning growth. This study transfers the approach of learning progress assessment (LPA) to general education in Germany and investigates the effects of information about reading progress and additional teacher training on student achievement. Classes (n = 43) were assigned to…

The use of oral reading fluency (ORF) as a predominant measurement tool for identifying struggling readers has grown exponentially over the past 30 years. ORF growth using curriculum-based measures (CBM) has also become an important practical and empirical issue influencing the field. Although fluency scores have shown to be reliable predictors of…

Students with ASD present as unique learners with individual characteristics which may impact their reading performance, particularly related to word reading and comprehension. While a relatively new area of research in reading, students with ASD demonstrate a pattern of below average performance on standardized measures of reading achievement,…

In order to identify students at risk of failing the Tennessee high-stakes achievement test known as the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), early literacy skills are monitored using reading assessments. Common reading assessments are based upon varying theories of reading development and do not reflect the necessary reading…

Alternate assessments have been used for the last 10 years to evaluate schools' efforts to teach children with significant cognitive disabilities. However, few studies have examined the reading skills of children who participate in these assessments. The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of the reading skills of this population by…

This article provides an extensive review of the literature on the use of repeated reading to improve the reading fluency and comprehension skills of elementary-age students with learning disabilities. A systematic review of the published literature from 2001 to 2011 was conducted and nineteen (N = 19) research-based repeated reading studies were…

The purpose of this qualitative heuristic case study (supported by quantitative data) was to investigate the change in reading comprehension after implementation of a fluency intervention. The study participants were five students on tier 2 of the Response to Intervention pyramid. The study was guided by three research questions. RQ1: Why does…

This study examined the predictive relationship between adult literacy students' reading assessments in four component sub-skills (phonological decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and spelling) and their gains in reading comprehension from pretest to posttest. Additionally, the adult literacy instructors' content knowledge in reading…

Switch-on Reading is an intensive 10-week literacy intervention. It is delivered on a one to one basis by staff, most commonly teaching assistants, who have been trained in the approach. The purpose of Switch-on is to achieve functional literacy for as many pupils as possible, and so to close the reading achievement gap for vulnerable children…

This study examined the predictive validity of curriculum-based measures in reading for Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) at various levels of English proficiency. Third-grade Spanish-speaking EL students were screened during the fall using DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) and Daze. Predictive validity was examined in relation to spring…

Reading comprehension requires thoughtful interactions between the reader, the text, and the author. The author may assist the reader in building meaning by creating purposefully crafted conversations that are organized into predictable patterns also known as patterned books. In this article, three predictable patterns found within children's text…