Accelerated Reader (AR) is a whole-group reading management and monitoring program that aims to foster the habit of independent reading among primary and early secondary age pupils. The internet-based software initially screens pupils according to their reading levels, and suggests books that match their reading age and reading interest. Pupils…

This study examined the impact of independent practice of multiple-criteria text that targeted high-frequency words, decodability, and meaningfulness. Second-grade students, including at-risk students, were randomly assigned within classroom to a treatment group that read multiple-criteria text ("n" = 34), or contrast group that read…

Middle and Secondary teachers often find it difficult to help their students read textbooks and other instructional materials. In order to ensure they read the text, teachers may rely on "round robin reading" and other ineffective strategies. In this article, the authors explain why this strategy hinders comprehension, fluency and development of…

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…

This mixed-methods study combined the use of qualitative, comparative case study methods with other data analysis procedures to investigate an afterschool enriched reading program for academically gifted students who had also been identified as talented readers. The Schoolwide Enrichment Model-Reading Framework (SEM-R) was used to provide…

The purpose of this study was to document teachers' use of and student responses to a set of early literacy texts designed as a school-home literacy project. Participants in this study were 23 children from six urban kindergarten classrooms and their kindergarten teachers; 11 with high letter identification at entry (HLID) and 12 with low letter…

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a district-wide professional development effort based on a modified Ramp-Up Program, designed to help high school teachers improve the reading skills of their students. Ramp-Up is a two-year course that seeks to accelerate the learning progress of entering high school students who…

Compared 20 good and poor readers in a second-grade French immersion program to 20 good and poor readers in regular English second-grade classes on various indexes of reading accuracy and speed. Found that English-only students achieved independent reading in greater numbers than French immersion students did in either French or English. (MDM)