According to the National Reading Panel's (2000) report, there was not enough evidence in previous reading research to recommend the instructional practice of having students spend classroom time reading independently. The 2019 National Assessment of Education Progress report, however, reported that more than half of fourth grade and eighth grade…

This study examines the effectiveness of cooperative reading teaching activities and independent reading activities for English language learner (ELL) students at 4th grade level. Based on simple linear regression and correlational analyses of data collected from two large data bases, PIRLS and NAEP, the study found that cooperative reading…

This study tested the effects of a Sustained Silent Reading program on reading achievement and reading attitude. The study accessed scores from the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (Good, Kaminski, & Dill, 2007) to measure reading achievement. This measure was given before and after a twelve week period, during which the treatment group…

A discrepancy exists on both state and local assessments between economically disadvantaged and noneconomically disadvantaged 4th grade students in the area of reading. As students enter the intermediate grades, their motivation to read begins to dwindle. This lack of motivation can ultimately put the academic career of these students in jeopardy.…

A 7-month study of 178 students in grades 1-4 at two Blue Ribbon schools compared two daily 20-minute treatments. Eighty-eight students used the 2000-2001 version of Project LISTEN's Reading Tutor (www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen) in 10-computer labs, averaging 19 hours over the course of the year. The Reading Tutor served as a computerized implementation…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the impact that a teacher-guided library selection program had on overall reading scores and how this program may or may not promote reading improvement of fourth-grade students at a small suburban school in western New York. Forty fourth graders were used as the sample population, which was…

Due in part to conflicting opinions and research results, the practice of sustained silent reading (SSR) in schools has been questioned. After a frustrating experience with SSR, the author of this article began a data-driven decision-making process to gain new insights on how to structure silent reading in a classroom, including a comparison…

The "Child-Library Readers, Book Four," is planned to provide abundant material, rich in interest, for extending the literature course of the fourth grade. Schools using "The Elson Readers, Book Four," will appreciate the total absence of duplicated selections in the present volume. Moreover, the fresh, unhackneyed nature of…

The purpose of the present investigation was to sample the range of texts selected by 21 students in sustained silent reading in a single fourth-grade classroom. Using a sampling technique developed by French and Foster (1992), single pages from sampled texts were evaluated. The evaluation found that most students were reading fiction (n = 14),…

Children from non-English-speaking homes are doubly disadvantaged when learning English in school. They enter school with less prior knowledge of English sounds, word meanings, and sentence structure, and they get little or no reinforcement of their learning outside of the classroom. This article compares the classroom standard practice of…