This study examined the generalized effects of three treatment conditions (performance based, skill based, and a combination of the two) on oral reading fluency by an elementary school student. Results indicated equal effectiveness of all treatments, maintenance, and possible evidence of generalization across passages.

This article describes the findings of our review process for core reading programs and provides a preliminary rubric emanating from this process for rating core reading programs. To our knowledge, this is the first published review of the current "Reading First" guidelines and includes all five components of scientifically based reading…

This study examined young children's growth, over time, in phonics knowledge, word-recognition, and fluent oral reading. Correlations and causal relationships among these variables were explored in an attempt to identify the foundational knowledge and skills needed for reading fluency. Measures of phonics knowledge, word-recognition development,…

The purpose of these two studies was to redirect interest to the Neurological Impress Method, a multisensory approach to reading instruction that occurs between a teacher and a student, which has been largely forgotten in mainstream and special education circles over the past decades. In addition to its emphasis on oral reading, we included a…

Reading fluency has been identified as a key goal for the elementary school reading curriculum. Despite its theoretical importance in reading development and research that has demonstrated its effectiveness in improving reading performance, many teachers are not familiar with effective methods of instruction for reading fluency and ways for…

Literacy scholars appear to have reached consensus that a balanced approach to reading instruction holds the greatest promise for improving reading achievement among students. Following the lead of the National Reading Panel (2000), curricular manifestations of a balanced reading program include instructional components in phonics or word…

Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment (SLI) were for many years treated as distinct disorders but are now often regarded as different manifestations of the same underlying problem, differing only in severity or developmental stage. The merging of these categories has been motivated by the reconceptualization of dyslexia as a…

This executive summary describes results of the "Reading First Impact Study: Interim Report." The report presents preliminary findings from the Reading First Impact Study, a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government initiative to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The No Child…

U.S. social programs, set up to address important problems, often fall short by funding specific models/strategies ("interventions") that are not effective. When evaluated in scientifically-rigorous studies, social interventions in K-12 education, job training, crime prevention, and other areas are frequently found ineffective or…

Poor reading ability is associated with numerous negative consequences. School psychologists should provide teachers with resources and support to improve student reading ability and prevent these negative outcomes. This paper offers a guide for school psychologists to use in the consultation process when working with teachers to address students'…

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…

Reading was, is, and always must come first in the early school years. Without a firm basis in reading, children are going to have a tough time in school and, later, in the world beyond the elementary school doors. Children need math and all the other wonderful things they are exposed to in school, but without some degree of success in reading,…

If reading is understood as consisting of multiple kinds of thinking, then listening is one of the most important forms of mental action in which readers engage. Readers must hear sentences in order to make sense of nested syntactic relationships. They also must hear sounds that occur within the text in order to participate in its world, and they…

This study explored third-graders' oral reading fluency (ORF) in easy text in relation to their third- and fourth-grade reading comprehension. It also examined the children's performance on two different measures of text exposure, a self-report questionnaire and a title-recognition test. Although third-graders' ORF related significantly to their…

This study examines how rapid automatized naming (RAN) components-articulation time and pause time-develop from kindergarten to the end of first grade and how RAN components are related to different reading measures and to RAN total time. Sixty-two children were administered RAN tasks in kindergarten and at the beginning and end of Grade 1.…