Early reading skills are strongly associated with long term academic and life achievement. Despite the recognized importance of literacy, indicators point to a literacy crisis in the United States. Research and policies have highlighted the necessity of selecting reading programs with documented effectiveness and implementing them with fidelity.…

In 2019, declines in reading achievement across Texas motivated changes for teacher recertification, which required 60-hour professional development in the science of teaching reading (STR). The problem this study addressed was the challenges K-Grade 3 reading teachers encountered when implementing the recently adopted Reading Academy content at a…

In an effort to provide intervention for struggling adolescent readers, schools are turning increasingly toward computer-assisted reading intervention programs. This case study analyzes the perceptions, and contradictions, that exist between students, teachers, and administrators of the intervention tools used at one urban middle school. The…

Aim/Purpose: IStation is an adaptive computer-based reading program that adapts to the learner's academic needs. This study investigates if the IStation computer-based reading program promotes reading improvement scores as shown on the STAR Reading test and the IStation test scaled scores for elementary school third-grade learners on different…

This article presents findings on teachers' implementation of a reading reform in an urban school district. Findings are based in observation, interview, and document data related to 12 elementary teachers' responses to a new reading program, the Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop. Utilizing coupling theory and the concept of routines,…

The school in which this research project took place, Papatoetoe Central, was concerned about research evidence that indicated students' reading achievement dropped after long summer breaks. This drop in achievement, known as "the summer effect", has been reported in schools in New Zealand and internationally (Alexander, Entwisle, &…

Background/Context: The pressure to understand "what works" to advance adolescents' reading development has increased as the Common Core State Standards' call for youth to grapple with a range of complex texts. While we have learned more about promising reading programs and interventions for adolescent students in schools, few…

Reading coaches have become a strategic tool to impact student achievement in elementary schools. Understanding the effectiveness and the necessity of coaches is critical as schools are facing greater accountability. Are reading coaches impacting student achievement scores effectively and are they necessary within today's elementary school? This…

This qualitative study focused on how teachers in a small, urban elementary school in Pennsylvania negotiate their beliefs and instructional delivery the classroom. In the area of literacy instruction, there has been an increased reliance on Core-reading programs in elementary school. Classroom teachers, caught in the middle, are charged with the…

In "Reading First" schools throughout the United States, literacy coaches administer the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) as the sole measure of fluency and then offer instructional recommendations for students with reading difficulties based on those results. However, critics of DIBELS question its accuracy for…

There is a critical need, according to national policy statements in the United States, to integrate information and communication technologies into instruction, and yet research about the effect of such integration on the literacy learning of at-risk populations is scant. In addition, barriers exist that prevent teachers from realizing the goal…

The purpose of this evaluation of Scholastic's "System 44" conducted by RMC Research was to expand the existing research on students with learning disabilities by conducting a randomized study of struggling readers with approximately half of the sample comprised of students with learning disabilities. Specifically, this evaluation…

The purpose of this case study is to describe the challenges one coach faced during the initial implementation of a coaching initiative involving 33 teachers in an urban, high-poverty elementary school. Reading coaches are increasingly expected to play a key role in the professional development efforts to improve reading instruction in order to…

Describes three studies funded by the ALAN Foundation: the first study examines the potential impact that young adult literature has on a group of high school students; the second examines use of young adult literature in middle school classes in New York City; and the third study surveys 60 professors about their young adult literature courses.…

Alfred E. Blalock Elementary School was the recipient of local and compensatory funds during the 1972-73 school year. Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act contributed a lead teacher and educational aides for more individualized reading instruction for the lowest one-third achievers. The Career Opportunities Program allowed some of…