We examined student reading achievement in rural and non-rural school districts in Texas. Our research questions probed the improvement in student performance over time, differences in the number of students achieving at different performance levels, and the impact of district-level characteristics on reading achievement. Through quantitative…

Purpose: Children who do not develop early literacy skills, especially phonological awareness (PA) and alphabet knowledge, prior to kindergarten are at risk for reading difficulties. We investigated a supplemental curriculum with children demonstrating delays in these skills. Method: A cluster randomized design with 104 preschool-age children in…

Purpose: Children who do not develop early literacy skills, especially phonological awareness (PA) and alphabet knowledge, prior to kindergarten are at risk for reading difficulties. We investigated a supplemental curriculum with children demonstrating delays in these skills.Method: A cluster randomized design with 104 preschool-age children in 39…

We investigate the impact of a relatively brief cross-curricular intervention, Word Generation, on middle school students' development of taught academic vocabulary. Students (n = 8382) in forty-four middle schools in three urban districts were randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment teachers implemented the program with…

This study reports findings from studies examining potential read-aloud accommodations on standardized reading comprehension assessments for students with decoding difficulties. Three types of accommodations were evaluated: question stems and answer options read aloud; question stems, answer options, and proper nouns read aloud; and full…

Reading comprehension in the content areas is a challenge for many middle grade students. Text structure-based instruction has yielded positive outcomes in reading comprehension at all grade levels in small and large studies. The text structure strategy delivered via the web, called Intelligent Tutoring System for the Text Structure Strategy…

This randomized control study compares the efficacy of two response-to-intervention (RTI) models: (1) Dynamic RTI, which immediately refers grade 1 students with the weakest skills to the most intensive intervention supports (Tier 2 or Tier 3); and (2) Typical RTI, which starts all students in Tier 1 and after 8 weeks, decides whether students who…

This study examines student growth on mathematics and reading assessments across academic years (Spring 2006 through Spring 2009) using three different growth models: hierarchical linear model (HLM), value-added model (VAM), and student growth percentile model (SGP). Comparisons across these three growth models were conducted to investigate the…

Few studies have focused specifically on the role that language plays in learning chemistry. We report here an investigation into the ability of language comprehension measures to predict performance in university introductory chemistry courses. This work is informed by theories of language comprehension, which posit that high-skilled…

Achieve3000 publishes a number of online literacy programs that differentiate lessons and activities based on student performance. Magnolia Consulting--an independent, third party evaluation firm--assessed Achieve3000 Solutions' impact on student learning during the 2014-15 school year. The researchers used a randomized control trial, where…

Adolescents in the United States and their educators face an enormous challenge with respect to reading comprehension. College and career readiness standards outlined in the Common Core State Standards Initiative (2012) place increased emphasis on preparing students to read complex text across a range of content areas. At issue is how to develop…

A quasi-experimental study designed to provide evidence of the effectiveness of the "Jamestown Reading Navigator" ("JRN") program for students in grades 9-10 was conducted in the Miami Dade Public School District (MDCSD). "Jamestown Reading Navigator" is a reading intervention program developed by McGraw-Hill…

Large-scale educational assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) sample examinees to whom an exam will be administered. In most situations the sampling design is not a simple random sample and must be accounted for in the estimating model. After reviewing the current operational estimation procedure for NAEP, this…