Adolescence is a critical time period when it comes to fostering lifelong interest and practices in reading, yet a decreasing number of middle school students are performing at Proficient and Advanced levels in reading. The purpose of this study was to examine whether providing middle school students with an increased level of choice in their…

The Science of Reading era has (re)ignited conversations about equitable literacy instruction. Conflicting literacy research and literacy media reports complicate matters further. Guided reading, a ubiquitous form of small group instruction designed to meet readers' needs through individualized conferring and independent reading with…

This qualitative case study explores the practices and perceptions of key stakeholders (administrators, educators, parents, and students) in the development of the elementary reader within the context of 100 Book Challenge. Studying the most influential stakeholders will provide a holistic understanding of the events and beliefs around developing…

In the United States, research on reading difficulties is predominantly carried out by scholars who project findings on L1 English reading difficulty to generalized difficulty in learning a second language (L2; e.g., Galuschka et al., 2020; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2020; cf. Sparks, 2023). This research extrapolation creates a negative feedback…

Telepractice holds substantial promise in facilitating equitable access and cost-effective services for all school-age children, regardless of geographic locations, physical conditions, or socioeconomic status. The overwhelmingly positive evidence on telepractice intervention outcomes has been called into questions by several study limitations:…

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine what correlation exists between a student's poverty coefficient and the daily number of minutes provided for independent reading and third grade reading achievement level as measured by California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in small, rural school…

Research has shown a strong positive relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension (Elleman, Lindo, Morphy, & Compton, 2009; Crosson & Lesaux, 2013; Lubliner & Smetana, 2005). Vocabulary acquisition is possible for all learners through explicit vocabulary instruction and incidental word learning (Cunningham,…

Independent Reading (IR) is a reading intervention that many schools implement to help students develop essential reading skills and improve academic achievement on various standardized assessments. However, recent IR studies have yielded mixed findings on the effectiveness of IR as a reading intervention to help struggling students increase…

The hypothesis of the study was explicit gradual release of responsibility comprehension instruction (GRR) (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983; Fisher & Frey, 2008) with the researcher-created Story Grammar Code (SGC) strategy would significantly increase third graders' comprehension of narrative fiction and nonfiction text. SGC comprehension…

Four case studies informed by phenomenology were conducted using classroom observations and interviews with children, parents, and teachers to explore how children experienced the phenomenon of learning to read in one first-grade classroom defined by RTI policy. Charmaz's (2006) grounded coding model involving initial, focused, and theoretical…

This dissertation study examines the effects of four teacher-led reading activities recommended by the reading teaching policy and student independent reading activity on the development of English language learners (ELL) reading proficiency at fourth grade in U.S. elementary schools. In this study, I first introduce the significance of studying…

This qualitative study examined the amount of time that fourth and fifth grade teachers devoted to literacy instruction within the time allotted to them within the daily literacy block. Prior research of the literacy block focused largely on primary grades (Allington, McGill-Franzen et a1.,2010; Cunningham & Allington, 2003; Morrow, 1992);…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate if students who read decodable books during independent reading time improved word reading and decoding skills more than students who read authentic literature during independent reading time but received the same instruction. The study was conducted for 10 weeks with 62 second-grade…

This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate improving the reading performance of fifth-grade students through an afterschool reading program to determine whether it was effective in teaching Native American and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). This study compared the reading performance of fifth-grade students who struggle…

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of second grade students about reading, themselves as readers, their motivation to read, and their subsequent reading achievement. Allowing students time to read independently during the school day and providing various reading materials in the classroom are options that some school…