Practical Implications: This chapter contributes to the literature on phonics and phonemic awareness by clearly explaining the differences between the two concepts and their necessary inclusion in any beginning reading program. It includes practical activities teachers can use to develop these understandings in the classroom and provides research…

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…

The purpose of this research study was to prove if students who are intellectually disabled can obtain phonemic awareness and the ability to read independently with the use of Wilson's Fundations. This study aims to investigate if students who have been identified as intellectually disabled are able to gain phonemic awareness by using Wilson's…

Background: The need to examine teachers' learning activities in reading literacy instruction arises from concerns about reading proficiency levels in the Namibian Junior Primary phase, where reading literacy is a fundamental skill crucial for academic success. Aim: The study examined the learning activities used for reading literacy instruction…

This study examined a combined reading curriculum (CRC) containing all the essential reading components of phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. The CRC combines a word study curriculum with a specifically designed supplemental reading curriculum to create a developmental, systematic, and comprehensive…

Researchers have found that summer reading loss contributes to the reading achievement gap between low and high socioeconomic (SES) children. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a 3-week summer intervention in addressing this slide for 36 low SES children compared with another 36 children in a matched control group from one New…

This program evaluation took place in Harnett County Schools, North Carolina. This study evaluated two common reading intervention programs currently used in the Harnett district. This evaluation compared and examined the effectiveness of Reading Recovery and Leveled Literacy Intervention on a subset of students at Highland Elementary School, a…

Early literacy skills are essential to later reading success, yet minimal empirical understanding exists about preparing students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to read. Since 1 in 59 children are currently diagnosed with ASD, understanding how to teach reading to this population in critical. Decoding is necessary for successful reading, per…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a supplemental reading program that emphasizes phoneme awareness and phonics with small groups composed of both at-risk native English-speakers and at-risk English language learners (ELLs) whose first language is not Spanish. A multiple-baseline-across-participants design was utilized to investigate the…

Students who display reading difficulties/disabilities at the end of third grade are less likely to succeed in content areas and graduate from high school than their reading-proficient peers. Literature suggests that students in rural school districts lag behind their suburban peers in terms of their reading levels and accessibility to resources.…

In many U.S. states, legislation seeks to define effective instruction for beginning readers, creating an urgent need to turn to scholars who are knowledgeable about ongoing reading research. This mixed-methods study considers the extent to which recognized literacy experts agreed with recommendations about instruction that were included on a…

Reading Recovery, a meaning-based reading program designed for young children at risk of reading failure, is widely implemented across the United States. We discuss the recent Reading Recovery $45 million four-year i3-funded scaleup study that was designed to "cover the expansion of Reading Recovery around the U.S." (May, Sirinides,…

The purpose of this paper is to tabulate the usage and analyze the impact of Reading Plus on the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) students who used it during the 2016-2017 school year. Reading Plus is an online application comprised of a series of modules that bolster word recognition and recall, teach phonemic awareness, phonics,…

This study addresses the effectiveness of a widely used core reading program that reflects the research-based practices recommended by the National Reading Panel. This and other similar programs are increasingly used to prevent reading difficulties and ensure that all children are reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade.…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of the types and occurrences of explicit instructional moves recommended for teaching five essentials of effective reading instruction in grades 1, 3, and 5 core reading program teachers' editions in five widely marketed core reading programs. Guided practice was the most frequently…