Using data collected during a qualitative study of a book group in an after-school programme at a public, urban elementary school, in this article, I analyse how immigrant- and refugee-background students discursively distanced themselves from the portrayal of refugees in the text "Outcasts United." The teacher chose this book because…

This study investigated the effect of humor in religious stories on a child's ability to remember, understand, and paraphrase content, as well as on enjoyment. Ages of the children were also considered. Participants watched one of two videos teaching the story of Saul's conversion found in Acts 9:1-22. Although inclusion of humor did not have a…

We evaluate the direct and inferential mediation (DIME) model for reading comprehension with a sample of struggling readers in Grades 3 to 5 (N = 364) in the context of a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigating two theoretically distinct reading interventions (text processing + foundational skills [n = 117] or text processing…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between student perceptions of a "good reader" and their reading performance. A total of 100 students (grades 1-8) who attended an after-school program for low-income youth completed the Student Perceptions of a Good Reader Scale (SPGRS) that includes two subscales:…

To accelerate literacy learning for upper-elementary multilingual children designated as English learners (ML-ELs), teachers need instructional tools that create sustained opportunities for reading and discussing informational texts, examining the language encountered in those texts, and building new content knowledge. To address this need, we…

The purpose of this basic quantitative study was to examine the impact of the of the regular Afterschool Academic Program (ASAP) had on 341 students in grades first through fifth in four elementary schools before and after program participation for 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic school years in a rural public school district located in…

Despite the increasing popularity of dual language education programs in Taiwan, limited research assesses their effectiveness. This study evaluated eight English Immersion Programs (EIPs) in Taiwan, representing a dual language education model, using the "Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education" (GPDLE) framework. Interviews with…

Reading comprehension ability relies heavily on executive function skills which can be improved with selective interventions. Cognitively engaging physical activity promotes executive function acquisition and may be helpful to improving reading ability. However, unfamiliar and potentially stressful interventions may be counterproductive to these…

Many out-of-school time (OST) sites are incorporating literacy time in their programming to capitalize on the benefits associated with literacy instruction. Afterschool is a perfect opportunity to foster a love of reading in children. Expanded learning in afterschool programs can make a difference in both short-term and long-term academic…

We explore whether (a) teacher ratings of texts' cultural relevance along various dimensions differ from those of students, (b) these ratings reflect a single construct, and (c) ratings of specific dimensions are related to specific reading outcomes. Fifty African-American students were each administered two text protocols for a total of 100…

This study was an investigation of the use of a NAO humanoid robot as an effective tool for engaging readers in an afterschool program as well as to find if increasing engagement using a humanoid robot would affect students' reading comprehension when compared to traditional forms of instruction. The targeted population of this study was…

Analysis of data in an after-school writing workshop wherein resettled refugee teens were reading and writing identity texts to prepare for achieving their postsecondary goals suggests that a discursive practice of the connective press was productive in helping teens develop cohesion in their writing. Although true communicative competence in an…

Background/Context: In a recent review of culturally relevant instruction and reading comprehension, Fairbanks, Cooper, Masterson, and Webb (2009) highlighted the paucity of research available to support the widespread claim in the literacy field that "students' social and cultural practices are deeply intertwined with literacy learning"…

The lives of middle school students are dynamic, and their needs and desires are always evolving. They experience more complicated lives as influences of the broader society including popular media and technology, immigration and cultural diversity, amplified political divisiveness, and bullying effect their daily lives both in and out of school.…

In this quasi-experimental study, we assessed the promise of Word Generation, a research-based academic vocabulary program, on improving the reading achievement outcomes of struggling sixth-grade readers in an after-school small group instructional setting. After 34 hours of academic vocabulary instruction, we compared the performance of a…