Reading in Arabic is a vital skill for academic success and progress in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) elementary schools and beyond. However, there is substantial evidence to suggest that a significant number of UAE children in lower elementary grades experience difficulties in reading school-related materials. Research in reading has clearly…

No Child Left Behind Act created a paradigm shift in the education field for all students including students with disabilities. The act impacted students with disabilities because the expectation of education changed in many areas. The expectation of highly qualified teachers teaching utilizing research based strategies and the requirement of…

When students read more, vocabulary knowledge increases (Cunningham & Stanovich, 2003; Krashen, 2004). Out of every 100 unknown words that students encounter while reading, they learn an average of 15 of them from text alone (Swanborn & de Glopper, 1999). In addition, as students age, they are more likely to infer word meanings, indicating…

This article describes the importance of vocabulary knowledge in adolescents' reading comprehension, particularly for students with disabilities. Students with stronger vocabularies tend to have better background knowledge and improved understanding of content-area texts. We describe evidence-based vocabulary instructional practices that…

This study took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and examined the impact of explicit instruction and fluency practice of letter/sound combinations on reading Amharic letters and words. First grade students at risk for reading difficulties were assigned via stratified random assignment to treatment or control condition. Students in the treatment…

Children with disabilities often demonstrate difficulties in code-focused and meaning-focused domains of literacy. Best practice indicates that skills within these domains should be taught together. The current study used principles of ABAB single-case experimental design to monitor the development of narrative retelling and phonemic awareness in…

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…

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of met cognitive strategies on reading comprehension among Jordanian university students. The participants of this research consists of two classes of English Course , Level one with 60 students, 30 in the control group and 30 in the experimental group. Then, Metacognitive reading…

Knowing the meaning of academic vocabulary words helps adolescents understand content-area text and improves their academic achievement. To demonstrate deep understanding of words, students reading below grade level and students with learning disabilities must be explicitly taught word meanings, encounter target words in illustrative contexts, and…

Nearly one-quarter of U.S. eighth graders score below basic on national assessments of reading (NCES, 2013) and are poorly equipped for the reading demands of secondary school. Struggling adolescent readers cannot summarize a simple passage, use context to determine word meanings, and have difficulties making text-based inferences. In addition,…

This case study explored professional development centered on explicit teaching strategies with in-service first-grade teachers as they engaged beginning readers to consider stronger self-awareness of their thinking processes as they read. In this paper, we report on how teacher beliefs shifted regarding the impact of explicit versus implicit…

Literacy instruction is once again at the forefront of school reform throughout North America. Numerous federal and state initiatives in the United States, such as Reading First and Response to Intervention, have either recommended or required that educators use research based curricular materials and instructional practices. This study is reports…

"Reading Mastery," one of several curriculum components that constitute the "Direct Instruction" program from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K-6. "Reading Mastery," which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement to a…

The purpose of this study was to (a) describe the specific kinds of services provided by itinerant teachers to deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students in general education settings, (b) examine the relationship between student academic performance and instructional support provided by the itinerant teacher, and (c) examine how service provision…

An objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of employing the SRA Decoding Strategies text on word recognition for a ninth grade male with a learning disability. The student was enrolled in a high school special education resource room in a large urban school district in the Pacific North west in a direct instruction reading resource…