The purpose of this study was to determine if ongoing, sustained professional development in the area of reading resulted in an increase in student achievement on reading scores using i-Ready reading comprehension data. For the purpose of this study, students were divided into two groups: Group 1 was taught by teachers who received ongoing,…

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Heggerty Bridge to Reading program for first-grade students compared to a business-as-usual reading program by employing a mixed-methods approach encompassing a matched quasi-experimental design, teacher surveys, and interviews. In light of the learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19…

This ex post facto, quasi-experimental quantitative study investigated the impact of the implementation of student voice conferences on reading assessment scores and equitable differentiated instructional tasks designed for a productive struggle during teacher lesson planning. Six teachers and 132 students from one suburban elementary school…

The Question-Answer-Relationship (QAR) strategy has been suggested to improve EFL students' reading comprehension. Nonetheless, disappointing outcomes when using the QAR instruction were noted. The current study seeks to: (1) add the Review (R) component to the instruction; and (2) assess the effectiveness of the developed…

EFL Learning is considered an enriching and rewarding experience for most 'normal' learners. However, for learners with neurological differences/learning disabled, it can be a stressful and unpleasant experience. Students with learning disabilities (SLD) are often mistaken for slow, behind, incapable, and failures as there is a lack of awareness…

In 2009 President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Dragoset, et al., 2017). The Recovery Act served as the financial umbrella which helped to allocate $3 billion to fund School Improvement Grants to support states and school districts in championing original, innovative programs as well as to hire staff to…

Improving students' achievement scores has been a critical issue for both educators and legislators. Eliminating or reducing recess to increase instructional time has become a common practice. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of recess on the academic achievement in reading and mathematics among third and fourth grade students.…

In a Southern state at a rural high school, leadership staff implemented phonics-based strategies with 9th grade English teachers to improve students' Lexile reading scores. The absence of formative data related to program implementation left stakeholders without a clear understanding of the influence of the phonics-based strategies. The purpose…

Considering instructional time is one of the most valuable and expensive resources in public education, there is nominal research examining the effectiveness of its use (Farbman, 2015). The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between the amount of extended learning time provided to eligible students at least one grade level…

The ability to read proficiently is a comprehensive skill necessary for success at all academic levels. Students who consistently read below grade level continue to struggle throughout their school years with little chance of recovery. The administrative leaders of the Ocean View School District (a pseudonym) noticed a decline in reading scores…

The problem investigated in this quantitative study was that schools in a small, rural East Texas town were falling below acceptable ratings in reading on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Researchers have found that constructive-based learning environments (CBLEs)…

As federal mandates continue to emphasize the use of standardized tests, academic research is needed to determine if reading intervention programs are helping to close the achievement gap between struggling readers and their grade level peers. Although previous research indicated that reading intervention can be an effective tool for increasing…

Although the use of literacy coaches is becoming more common, few research studies have shown positive effects of coaching on teacher practices and student achievement. In the current study, a cluster randomized design was used to evaluate usefulness of coaches for teachers of struggling high school students. High schools were randomly assigned…

Across one school year, in which I coached a fourth-grade teacher, she and I took an inquiry stance investigating how we could come to understand the reading identities kids held relative to Stephens' (2013) list of characteristics of effective and efficient readers. We also sought to understand how we could help kids develop, sustain, or extend…

Literacy, the ability to read and write, is of great importance to the success of students throughout their lives. The problem the study addressed was low literacy achievement levels of third and fourth grade students. The information gained from this study was important because it helped staff members at the research site identify the impact of…