The purpose of this study was to determine if the provision of topic choice in reading material could serve to increase reading fluency for struggling readers, and if it could do so to a similar degree as the provision of tangible extrinsic rewards. An alternating treatments design was used to compare three conditions: choice of passage topic,…

This report presents estimates from a large-scale, multi-district RCT (randomized controlled trial) on the effectiveness of a summer reading program on improving student reading comprehension for economically disadvantaged grade 3 students reading below the 50th percentile nationally. This study focused on the summer between grades 3 and 4 for…

A study by researchers in Hickory, North Carolina, examined student perceptions of a summer school reading program used in two Alexander County elementary schools. Surveys were completed by each second and third grade student participating in the summer school reading program. Content analysis was used to examine student responses to open-ended…

This article provides case studies of three middle school students--two female and one male--who participated in an individual summer tutoring program designed to improve students' reading comprehension and to encourage students to think critically about texts. With the researcher, students read and discussed Internet texts and wrote responses. An…