South Africa's education system has been characterized by various curriculum changes since 1997 given that basic education is a priority of this government and policies have specifically been aimed at improving the overall standard of education in the country. Despite these curriculum changes, the findings of tests such as the Progress in…

The purpose of this study was to explore how leadership approaches can inform and direct the way leadership is practiced in elementary schools. In this study, the researcher examined the impact of leadership approaches on the sustainability of the implementation of the Reading Recovery program regarding reading achievement. Early primary school…

This case study examines the role of parents as situationally positioned educators during summer months. It illuminates the processes employed by a public charter school to empower parents to support student learning. The study is an action research case study of one school in a small network of schools. The goal was to determine the effectiveness…

This multiyear scale-up effectiveness study of Open Court Reading (OCR) involved approximately 4,500 students and more than 1,000 teachers per year in Grades K-5 from 49 elementary schools in seven districts across the country. Using a school-level cluster randomized trial design, we assessed the implementation and effectiveness of Open Court…

The Reading Apprenticeship is an intervention that has been shown in previous studies to increase struggling readers, tested reading achievement by 8 to 9 months during a 12 week, in-school program. This article reports on the first study of the Reading Apprenticeship method conducted in the summer using parents, rather than supervised volunteers,…

Aim/Purpose: IStation is an adaptive computer-based reading program that adapts to the learner's academic needs. This study investigates if the IStation computer-based reading program promotes reading improvement scores as shown on the STAR Reading test and the IStation test scaled scores for elementary school third-grade learners on different…

This convergent parallel mixed method sought to determine if the reading program increased third-grade student achievement. The research questions of the study examined the reading achievement scores of third-grade students and the effectiveness of McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders™. Significant differences were observed when a paired sample t test…

To evaluate the relative efficacy of two reading programs with and without adjunctive stimulant medication for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comorbid reading disorder (ADHD+RD). Sixty-five children (7-11 years in age) were assigned randomly to one of three intensive remedial academic programs (phonologically or…

Accelerated Reader (AR) is a whole-group reading management and monitoring program that aims to foster the habit of independent reading among primary and early secondary age pupils. The internet-based software initially screens pupils according to their reading levels, and suggests books that match their reading age and reading interest. Pupils…

The Vocabulary Enrichment Full Programme combined three existing programmes--the Vocabulary Enrichment Intervention Programme (VEIP), Sounds-Write and Literacy Plus--and aimed to improve the reading abilities of pupils in Year 7. VEIP is a structured scheme that teaches children new words and encourages them to use these words in speaking and…

Units of Sound (UofS) is a computer-based program designed to help struggling readers with their reading and spelling skills. It is a structured, multisensory program that covers reading and spelling from simple phonics skills through to adult reading levels. It involves a high level of independent work by the student, with small groups of…

Rhythm for Reading is a programme which aims to improve children's reading ability by taking part in rhythm-based exercises such as stamping, clapping and chanting, while reading musical notation. The intervention builds on the evidence of a link between the natural rhythm and phrasing of prose and intuitive reading comprehension. Rhythm for…

In lower- and middle-income countries, including Ghana, students in rural areas dramatically underperform their urban peers. Rural schools struggle to attract and retain professionally trained teachers (GES 2012; World Bank 2012). We explore one potential solution to the problem of teacher recruitment: distance instruction. Through a cluster…

The SPOKES (Supporting Parents on Kids Education in Schools) programme is a ten-week intervention for parents designed to help struggling readers in Year 1. The programme teaches parents strategies to support their children's reading such as listening to children read, pausing to let them work out words, and praising them when they concentrate and…

The Accelerated Reader program was designed by Renaissance Learning to increase students' motivation to read and students' achievement in reading; however, a review of the literature reveals inconsistent findings about its outcomes. The Renaissance Learning company reports several research studies on their website that suggest the program is…