Developing the high levels of reading proficiency necessary to navigate the secondary curriculum is challenging for ELLs, but it is an essential component of academic success in their secondary and subsequent post-secondary education. Despite the importance of understanding the literacy needs of this population, research documenting the reading…

The present case study illustrates the use of explicit text structure intervention for expository reading comprehension with three adolescents with language learning disabilities (LLD). We investigated whether it was feasible to provide direct instruction on the identification of signal words that denote compare-contrast relations between…

Does reading a lot lead to better reading skills, or does reading a lot follow from high initial reading skills? The authors present a longitudinal study of how much children choose to read and how well they decode and comprehend texts. This is the first study to examine the codevelopment of print exposure with both fluency and comprehension…

The purpose of the study was to determine whether easy or challenging versions of texts, when accompanied by different types of instructional support, improved adolescents' reading comprehension, particularly for students with below-average reading comprehension. The authors examined 293 ninth-grade students' reading comprehension of 24 leveled…

In France, the growing percentage of students with reading problems calls for innovative teaching, particularly for students with serious learning difficulties. The present study was conducted on two classes with comparable reading levels: one standard sixth-grade class and one eighth-grade SEGPA class (those with learning difficulties). This…

With the recent renewed emphasis on the importance of providing instruction to improve expository discourse comprehension and production skills, speech-language pathologists need to be prepared to implement effective intervention to meet this critical need in older children and adolescents with language disorders. The purpose of this review…

In this article, the researchers examined general vocabulary, academic vocabulary, and reading comprehension growth trajectories of adolescent redesignated fluent English proficient (RFEP) students using individual growth modeling analysis. The sample included 1,226 sixth- to eighth-grade RFEP students from six middle schools in an urban school…

This study examined the efficacy of a supplemental, multicomponent adolescent reading intervention for middle school students who scored below proficient on a state literacy assessment. Using a within-school experimental design, the authors randomly assigned 483 students in grades 6-8 to a business-as-usual control condition or to the Strategic…

To graduate from high school and become competitive in the workplace and other postsecondary endeavors, adolescents are required to meet rigorous standards, such as the Common Core State Standards. To meet such standards, teachers must teach students to read and make sense of increasingly complex content-area expository text. Secondary teachers,…

This study used multigroup structural equations to evaluate the possibility that a theory-driven, evidence-based, yearlong reading program for sixth-grade struggling readers moderates the interrelationships among elements of the simple model of reading (i.e., listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension; Hoover & Gough,…

"Academy of READING"® is an online program that aims to improve students' reading skills using a structured and sequential approach to learning in five core areas--phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) identified 38 studies of "Academy of READING"® for adolescent…

Adolescents in the United States and their teachers face an enormous academic challenge with respect to reading comprehension. College and career readiness standards outlined in the Common Core (2012) place increased emphasis on preparing students to read increasingly complex text across a range of disciplinary content areas. At issue is how to…

This document was prepared to assist literacy specialists in the national Regional Comprehensive Center network as they work with states to improve educational policy and practice in the area of adolescent literacy. It comprises three major parts: Part One: "Improving academic literacy instruction for students in grades 4-12." Based on…

This study investigated teachers' efficacy and implementation in the context of a supplemental intervention for struggling adolescent readers. It examined teachers' efficacy at the start of their intervention training and investigated relationships among teachers' efficacy, implementation, and students' reading progress. The efficacy and…

Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have difficulty with reading comprehension. This multiple baseline across participants design with multiple probes study examined the effectiveness of a multicomponent reading comprehension strategy (TWA: Think Before Reading, Think While Reading, Think After Reading) taught…