Teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents recognize the importance of providing deaf and hard of hearing children with full access to the languages around them. Without full access, reading and academic achievement remain far below intellectual capabilities. This article describes the Continuum of Reading Activities, which provides strategies that…

Over the past 23 years, the national average for reading achievement among learners has ranked below grade level (Learned et al., 2019). The research focus was to understand why struggling readers' reading skills improved. Two research questions, two hypotheses, and two null hypotheses were developed for this study. No participants participated in…

As more challenges occur to erase LGBTQ identities in the classroom, it is essential for educators to learn ways to become more inclusive. Using children's literature is a powerful way to include and center all identities. In this article, we share the journey and work of 1 s-grade teacher on a path to become more LGBTQ-inclusive with read-alouds.

Recently, school districts have relied on professional learning (PL) to help teachers adopt curricula and implement practices aligned with the science of reading and to help students recover from learning interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Elementary English Language Arts teachers in Cecil County Public Schools are adopting Bookworms…

This essay aims to continue a conversation initiated in the 1980s about the contrasting terms "peer" and "tutor." This essay begins with a brief history of the terms, and applies Kenneth Burke's concept of identification to peer tutoring to attempt to explain these contradicting terms. Burke's theory of identification…

Research has demonstrated the positive effects of systematically teaching phonemic awareness and phonics in kindergarten and first grade, but many commonly used reading curricula do not adequately incorporate these foundational skills. In this study, we examined the efficacy of an instructional program ("UFLI Foundations") in…

Educators have many questions about phonics instruction centering on topics including programs, approaches, assessment, transfer, and differentiation. We propose 8 principles to (1) help answer these common questions, (2) tackle current misconceptions, and (3) discuss research-based practices about phonics instruction.

Despite metacognition's profound effects in research classrooms, such research might have a very limited influence on mainstream classrooms. This may stem from a lack of comprehensive and practical pedagogy that classroom teachers can adapt for metacognition instruction as researchers do. To address this problem, this study developed a pedagogy of…

We are in the midst of yet another battle in the reading wars. Before the fog of war overcomes us yet again, we should recall recent history where an attempt at a resolution--Reading First--mostly left ambiguity in its wake. Moving forward, there is a foundation upon which to build. But doing so will require learning from the past, addressing…

Through juxtaposing images and text, picturebooks have the unique power to facilitate critical reading and critical literacy. This article presents three analytical approaches to develop critical reading and critical literacy skills through picturebooks: (1) critically analyzing broad representation, (2) critical visual analysis, and (3) analyzing…

Helping students learn how to interpret themes in text can be, without a doubt, challenging. Students benefit from knowing different aspects/textual elements within stories to look for when constructing themes. In this teaching and learning guide, we share seven concrete ways to help students anchor their theme thinking. These seven elements can…

For states to succeed in their efforts to improve reading instruction, they must ensure teachers are prepared to implement and sustain scientifically based reading instruction. The states most successful in leveraging policy to improve reading outcomes for students have taken a cohesive and comprehensive approach focused on improving teachers'…

More than two-thirds of middle school students do not read proficiently. Research has shown that targeted interventions using explicit instruction methods can improve reading outcomes for struggling readers. A central feature of explicit instruction is the systematic implementation of instructional interactions, but it is not clear what specific…

Reading fluency has been a tenacious problem in our schools. Studies have addressed the national decline in reading fluency in elementary schools. Tennessee's data outlines a similar pattern of findings. Approximately one third of Tennessee students complete third grade without becoming fluent readers (Tennessee Department of Education, 2023). New…

Increasing numbers of researchers in the field of higher education research are searching for meaning rather than metrics: something in their data that call to them and that make their hearts soar. This paper leans into post-qualitative approaches and attempts to resist methodological arrest, drawing on the disciplinary language of literary…