Oral reading fluency is an indicator of overall reading competence. Many studies have claimed that repeated reading can promote oral reading fluency. Currently, novel Web- or computer-based reading technologies offer interactive digital materials that promote English oral reading fluency using the repeated reading strategy; however, paper-based…

The purpose of this case study was to explore the effects of a literature-based social-emotional learning curriculum on kindergarten students' social-emotional behaviors, awareness, and early reading skills in a large elementary school. The study examined beliefs/perceptions of kindergarten teachers in regards to what reading skills students…

This qualitative research study was an outcome evaluation of an alternative kindergarten curriculum to those currently used in most public schools. Tools of the Mind, a Vygotskian, play-based curriculum was implemented during the 2010-2011 school year in four kindergarten classrooms, involving data from approximately 50 students, within a public…

Staff development training is a method many public schools employ in an effort to prepare their teaching staff to better meet the demands of effectively educating district students. In this mixed methods case study quantitative and qualitative data was incorporated to answer four research questions: (1) How accurately do scores achieved by…

In this study, researchers operated from cognitive and situated perspectives to understand how individual qualities and contextual factors influenced elementary special education teachers' learning in a multifaceted professional development (PD) project, Literacy Learning Cohort, focused on word study and fluency instruction. Grounded theory…

A classroom teacher capitalizes on social learning and reader response theories to challenge her accelerated first-grade readers by implementing literature circles. The aim of this action research was to identify a clear view of "how" to use literature circles with first-graders and "what" might be accomplished. Three…

Effective teaching strategies that improve the development of phonemic awareness are important to ensure students are fluent readers by third grade. The use of handheld devices to improve phonemic awareness with kindergarten students may be such a strategy, but no research exists that evaluates the use of these devices. This study explored the…

In this article, we describe an action research project conducted by the first author in her third-grade classroom over the course of one academic year as she documented four students' reading growth during a modified version of Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA). We highlight an additional step in the RMA process, which includes providing…

Professional learning communities (PLC) are one strategy aimed at facilitating teacher professional development, with a focus on increasing student achievement. This mixed methods study investigated the impact of professional learning on student achievement. A total of 6 teachers and 121 students recruited from the third and fifth grades of a…

Struggling deaf readers, like struggling readers with dyslexia, share similarities in their difficulty with phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Orton-Gillingham instruction is used to remediate these difficulties among hearing readers, but data is needed on its effectiveness with deaf students. Five subjects, who…

In the 2015-2016 school year, Mesa Elementary School's student test scores reflected that 58% of students in the third-through-fifth grades were below English Language Arts State Standards, as measured by the California Assessment of Student Performance. In the primary grades, more than 24% of Transitional Kindergarten, kindergarten, first-grade…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Whole Faculty Study Groups on student achievement and teacher practices in grades K-3 of a Nebraska school district. Whole-Faculty Study Groups (WFSG) are a type of professional learning community (PLC). Using a mixed method approach, both K-3 student scores on Dynamic Indicators of Basic…

This paper examines how inclusive education reform is appropriated when New Capitalism work practices dominate the discourse of school improvement in an urban school. We asked how New Capitalism mediates the formation of a professional vision for inclusive education. Using analytical tools from Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), we analyzed…

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…

Although coaching is used in many schools to facilitate teachers' professional learning, few studies look closely at coaching discourse. Exploring how coaching facilitates teachers' professional development, this study used tape-recorded coaching sessions and individual post-interviews to examine the one-on-one coaching interactions of 4…