Implementation of Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts across most of the United States has yielded the rapid creation of new, interconnected literacy assessments, curriculum guidelines, instructional materials, teacher preparation programs, teacher evaluation systems, and professional development. This essay explores two…

African American children continue to lag behind their European American counterparts academically. There is little research on the perspective of teachers in nontraditional classroom settings and their experiences with students and reading literacy. In order to secure support for literacy programs or strengthen existing programs, there is a need…

Adult literacy programs are characterized by high attrition rates. Rigorous exploration of student persistence in adult reading classes is lacking. This study was an attempt to understand the profiles of adults who completed reading classes compared to a group of adults who made it to the midpoint and a group of adults who did not make it to the…

Supplementing classroom reading with smartphones can develop better vocabulary knowledge, comprehension, technology skills, and writing. This article connects smartphones to reading complex, informational text and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The author suggests that smartphones motivate, scaffold comprehension, and invite…

The reading curriculum receives more attention than any other academic discipline. It is true that individuals engage in much reading in school subjects such as word problems in mathematics as well as reading numerals and symbols, science content in doing experiments and demonstrations, social studies with its emphasis upon diverse social science…

For successful reading experiences in native and/or foreign/second language, individuals need to benefit from not only cognitive strategies but also metacognitive strategies. Although research found reading comprehension and performance increase following metacognitive trainings, such findings may not transfer into mainstream classrooms as easily…

Orthographic facilitation refers to the boost in vocabulary learning that is provided when spellings are shown during study periods, but not during testing. The current study examined orthographic facilitation in beginning readers and whether directing their attention to print enhances the effect. In an experiment, first graders (N = 45) were…

The number of K-12 classrooms adopting blended learning models is rapidly increasing and represents a cultural shift in teaching and learning; however, fidelity of implementation of these new blended learning programs varies widely. This study aimed to examine the role of teacher engagement in student motivation and achievement in a blended…

Using sociocultural concepts of authoritative and dialogic discourse, I sought to examine 5th-grade teachers' questioning practices during small-group reading instruction to understand the differences between groups reading text on grade level and groups reading texts below grade level. The purpose was also to examine how questions functioned for…

Several empirical studies and syntheses of extensive reading have concluded that extensive reading has positive impacts on language learning in second- and foreign-language settings. However, many of the studies contained methodological or curricular limitations, raising questions about the asserted positive effects of extensive reading. The…

Many educators in public schools in the United States experience challenges in meeting the unique needs of the growing population of English learners who must simultaneously attain academic skills while acquiring English language proficiency. Such unique needs intensify for English learners with reading disabilities. Morphological awareness is key…

This study investigated interactions between evidence-based practices implemented and attributions of factors contributing to achievement of student learning objectives. Conducted in three school districts in a mid-Atlantic state, 78 teachers completed an end-of-year survey. Internal attributions were significantly correlated with implementation…

This study examined the incidence of reading impairments, the reading profiles, and the outcomes of a reading intervention for youth involved in a comprehensive crime prevention program. Rates of reading impairments were between 55% and 61%. Reading profiles for participants with reading comprehension impairments showed deficits in phonological…

The current paper examined the effects of A Balanced Reading Approach for Children Always Designed to Achieve Best Results for All (ABRA), a web-based literacy programme developed by the the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) at Concordia University, on primary school children in Hong Kong. The participants were 249 Primary 1…

This case study explored professional development centered on explicit teaching strategies with in-service first-grade teachers as they engaged beginning readers to consider stronger self-awareness of their thinking processes as they read. In this paper, we report on how teacher beliefs shifted regarding the impact of explicit versus implicit…