Due to the need of the closing the vocabulary gap between struggling and non-struggling readers, many school districts across the nation are faced with the extensive growing rate of students, falling behind their grade level peers. To meet this goal, administrators and teachers seek word study strategies to incorporate in their small group instruction, hopes to improve the vocabulary acquisition of struggling readers. This qualitative study examined the type of word study strategies used in small group settings with Tier 3 students and why classroom teachers selected these strategies. The researcher used interviews and small group observations to comprehend classroom teachers' perspectives along with one administrator, and three support specialists about their views on small group instruction, and strategies they believe to be effective among struggling readers identified as Tier 3. The research questions of this study allowed for examining word study strategies classroom teachers used in small groups with Tier 3 students, and were these selected strategies aligned with research-based best practices. The study was designed to assist researchers, administrators, and classroom teachers with recommendations pertaining to word study strategies that would be significant to aid in research to close the vocabulary gap between struggling and non-struggling readers. Classroom teachers expressed positive benefits of small group instruction; however, they have expressed concerns about conducting small group instruction in a timely manner. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]