This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool that will determine the readiness of parents of students starting the first grade of primary school to support their children during the first formal teaching of reading and writing skills. The sample consisted of 524 parents of students starting the first grade in the provinces of…

Background: This study presents the findings of the first administration of a revised "Teachers' Sense of Efficacy for Literacy Instruction" ("TSELI") scale that reflects the changing landscape of 21st-century literacy instruction. Items include such aspects as reading, writing, viewing, listening, communicating using visual,…

The authors of the Common Core State Standards and publishers of literacy programs focus on an essential aspect of comprehension, the process of drawing inferences. An inference refers to any piece of information that an author does not include in text but expects readers to use to make meaning. Four common inference types are anaphoric,…

This paper describes "the development and technical adequacy of the Classroom Observations of Student Teacher Interactions (COSTI) instrument," a tool for measuring the frequency and rate of explicit instructional interactions, such as those used in Direct Instruction curricula, for teaching children basic reading and math skills.…

Reading self-efficacy performs a fundamental role in gaining academic achievement in college education. Review of the related literature unveils that it needs to be enriched by conducting further research on college students' reading self-efficacy. The paucity of investigations into college students' reading self-efficacy could have a connection…

A one-size-fits-all model of instruction cannot provide equitable access to education for all students. Research demonstrates that thoughtfully changing instruction to support student learning during a lesson, known as adaptive teaching, is an important component of effective literacy instruction. To understand this dynamic dimension of effective…

In this study, we developed a Reading for Meaning special education teacher observation rubric that detailed the elements of evidence-based comprehension instruction and tested its psychometric properties using many-facet Rasch measurement. We collected video observations of classroom instruction from 10 special education teachers across 3 states…

In this study, we developed a Reading for Meaning special education teacher observation rubric that details the elements of evidence-based comprehension instruction and tested its psychometric properties using many-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM). Video observations of classroom instruction from 10 special education teachers across three states…

In this paper, we report on 2 studies developing, testing, and using an observation tool for measuring primary literacy instruction, the Developing Language and Literacy Teaching (DLLT) rubrics. In Study 1 (an instrumentation study), we show that the DLLT has a high level of internal consistency, that there are high levels of inter-rater…

This dissertation is developed around two studies created with the goal of describing and quantifying current educators' knowledge and perceptions of reading assessment and subsequent data-based instructional decision making. Unique to the field, a critical component of this study is an emphasis on educators' development of "data…

The implementation of effective instructional materials, such as a core reading program, by a qualified teacher is an important part of improving students' reading achievement. But selecting those instructional materials can be time-consuming. Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast created this rubric for evaluating reading/language arts…

The Community of Inquiry model provides a framework for recognizing and evaluating interpersonal behaviors in online educational settings. One of its three components, teaching presence, describes behaviors that are under the auspices of the online instructor. By examining behaviors through the theoretical lens provided by teaching presence, and…

Provides a description and a rationale for the Shapiro Dyslexia Test, designed to measure poor and nonreaders' alphabet knowledge, letter-sound abilities, letter sound/sequence memory, blending/syllabication prowess, and position-in-space skills. (FL)

Concludes that the "Inventory of Teacher Knowledge of Reading" is valid in discriminating between the specialist and non-specialist in reading, but that it fails to verify the seven components that the authors claim to measure. (RB)

Reports progress made toward developing a scale for measuring the reading attitudes of college students. Presents the scale, along with an answer key and a worksheet for scoring and interpreting results. (FL)