What is the relationship between literacy skills and implicit learning? To address previous mixed findings, we compared school-aged readers, typical (CON, n = 54) and with dyslexia (DYS, n = 53), in relation to their performance on a serial reaction time task. For the first time, we also included an isolated spelling deficit group (ISD, n = 30) to…

Research Findings: This study used data from a large-scale kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) to understand how well two state screening measures, administered at school entry, predicted the first-grade reading outcomes of a large sample of first-time kindergarteners (N=5,480) at high risk for future reading failure. We examined young children's…

In the United States, approximately 2.5 million students are diagnosed as having a learning disability and the majority of those children are placed in special education because of an inability to read as expected. As a result of this diagnosis, these children may be placed in special education classrooms--classrooms that are separate from the…

Concerns regarding literacy levels in the United States are long standing. Debates have existed for decades regarding the most effective ways to teach reading, especially the polarizing dilemma of how much to focus on decoding versus code-emphasis and whole language instruction. Fortunately, as a result of concentrated research efforts and…

Purpose: This prologue reiterates the case for the narrow view of reading as a solution to the persistently high levels of reading failure that occurs in our schools and provides a brief summary of the 5 response articles. Method: The arguments that support the narrow view of reading are presented and the respondents are introduced. Conclusion:…

Reading Recovery (RR) is a short-term early intervention designed to help the lowest-achieving readers in first grade reach average levels of classroom performance in literacy. Students identified to receive Reading Recovery meet individually with a specially trained Reading Recovery (RR) teacher every school day for 30-minute lessons over a…

Effective reading interventions for students struggling in the early grades have been a focus of considerable research over the past 20 years (Foorman, Francis, Fletcher, Schatschneider, & Mehta, 1998; Foorman & Torgesen, 2001; Geva & Siegel, 2000; Klingner & Vaughn, 1996). Comparable research targeting older struggling students has only recently…

Improving the literacy skills of struggling high school readers remains one of the greatest challenges educators face today. Students who are two or more years behind grade level in their language arts skills have little chance of successfully completing a rigorous program of studies in high school and are the most likely to drop out. Accelerating…

In this study, we explored 3 Grade 4 English Language Learners' (ELLs) perceptions of teacher autonomy-supporting practices in literacy instruction in science. The support of autonomy in literacy classes is central to students' internal motivation for reading. Given that many ELLs are at risk for reading failure, understanding autonomous learning…

Rigorous research provides information that will allow ECE (Early Childhood Educator) programs to select interventions that have a scientifically based track record of effectiveness in increasing teachers' skills and teaching quality. This paper shares implementation and impact results as well as the lessons learned in conducting an evaluation of…

This article investigates the practice of heterogeneous grouping for reading and literacy instruction through a detailed interactional analysis focused on the least proficient readers in two mixed-ability group contexts. The resulting analysis suggests that struggling readers in heterogeneous groups may encounter the same problems often associated…

Current policy, media and curriculum initiatives across western nations are drawing literacy and literacy pedagogy toward enticingly simplistic understandings of literacy as commodity. Increasingly they focus on "fixing" perceived literacy problems by assuming the primacy of early years literacy and "top-up" intervention…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that an Individualized Education Program (IEP) be developed for each child that receives special education services. To develop the most effective IEP, information is gathered from everyone who has worked with the child. In many schools the child receives early intervention services prior to…

The authors, both of whom are outside the network of scholars and practitioners typically associated with Reading Recovery, describe the instructional and teacher professional development components of the program and review related research. They then explore the theory and instructional assumptions on which RR is based, positing that both have…

This study investigated the effects of a supplemental early reading intervention program on the phonemic awareness and alphabetic principle skills of students identified as at risk for reading failure. Seven kindergarten students and one first-grade student received 20 min of supplemental reading instruction 3 days a week for 16, 12, and 8 weeks.…