For the 2013 study, "Evaluation of the i3 Scale-up of Reading Recovery Year One Report, 2011-12," researchers examined the Year 1 impacts of the Investing in Innovation (i3) scale-up of "Reading Recovery"®, a short-term intervention for struggling readers, on the reading achievement of first-grade students. The analytic sample…

The authors describe an independent evaluation of the READ 180 Enterprise intervention designed by Scholastic, Inc. Despite widespread use of the program with upper elementary through high school students, there is limited empirical evidence to support its effectiveness. In this randomized controlled trial involving 312 students enrolled in an…

This report presents early findings from the Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study--a demonstration and rigorous evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth-grade readers. focuses on the first of two cohorts of ninth-grade students who will…

Investigates the effects of explicit story structure instruction on below-average fourth and fifth grade readers' narrative writing performance. Finds that explicit story structure instruction positively influenced the narrative writing performance in terms of both quality and quantity of their writing. (MG)

Studies indicated that a single experience of retelling a story after listening produced a small improvement in kindergarten children's comprehension and that this effect could be increased by frequent practice and guidance in retelling. Appended are a story reading and retelling guidesheet for students and directions for guiding retellings for…

Two studies evaluated the use of the Student Team Reading (STR) and Student Team Writing (STW) program in urban middle schools. The first study investigated the use of STR in 20 experimental sixth-grade classes in three schools matched with 39 classes in three control schools. The second study investigated the use of STR and STW in sixth, seventh,…

A prereading strategy designed to predict events and provide practice in answering questions requiring inferences between text and prior knowledge were used with elementary school students. The performance of experimental groups surpassed that of the control groups on some measures while results were mixed on other measures. (MKM)

Among 68 rural learning-disabled students in grades 5-7 having moderate decoding fluency and high decoding accuracy, a paraphrasing cognitive strategy increased reading comprehension of main ideas more effectively than repeated readings or control training. Paraphrasing plus repeated readings was no more effective than paraphrasing alone. Contains…

Investigates the effectiveness of instruction in story mapping as a means to promote first-grade students' comprehension of central story elements in children's literature. Concludes that instruction in story mapping is an effective instructional strategy for promoting first-grade students' ability to identify central narrative elements in…

Investigates the effectiveness of a direct instruction model for teaching children to comprehend anaphoric relationships. The results provide further support for the efficacy of a direct instructional model for teaching children reading comprehension skills. (HOD)

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, nearly 4 in 10 fourth graders read below the basic level. These literacy problems get worse as students advance through school and are exposed to progressively more complex concepts and courses. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of four remedial reading programs…