This single instrument case study illuminates the aesthetic transactions an adolescent male student constructs in response to an experimental Gothic studies reading unit implemented by his cooperating teacher over a sixth month period in his seventh grade ELA (English/ Language Arts) class. Ray is described as ''lazy' regarding academic reading…

This conceptual article explores early adolescent students' responses to an experimental Gothic reading unit (including popular culture and traditional texts). The Gothic genre was selected due to both its prevalence in youth culture and lack of representation in reading classrooms. This hybrid curriculum increased academic reading engagement in…

Over a 12-week period, the researchers implemented explicit and systematic reading instruction using grade-level fiction to evaluate the effects on the oral reading fluency and comprehension of seventh and eighth grade urban students at risk of academic failure. Ten students in the experimental group were provided systematic instruction consisting…

The research base on how to effectively intervene to improve the reading fluency of students with academic and behavioral disabilities at the middle school level does not provide a strong support for evidence- based practices with this age group. The purpose of this study was to extend the body of research on reading fluency interventions to…

This study examines the value of a professional collaborative partnership between college faculty and middle school teachers in improving students' literacy skills and teachers' instructional practice. Three college faculty and two middle school teachers engaged in a collaborative effort to design and implement evidence-based strategies to promote…

This study examines the effectiveness of Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) One-on-One Program on increasing the reading fluency of two children identified as having reading difficulties. Reading fluency is characterized by quickness and accuracy of reading. Additionally, fluency is the second stage of the learning hierarch,…

This study determined the effectiveness of a parent support intervention to improve parental involvement and students' scores in reading. During the past 4 years (2006-2010), the students' seventh-grade reading scores at the study site on the state end-of-grade (EOG) reading test declined from 71.1% to 28.1%, which represented a decrease of 43.0%…

This case study explores seventh grade students' experiences with writing and performing poetry. Teacher and student interviews along with class observations provide insight into how the teacher and students viewed spoken word poetry and identity. The researcher recommends practices for the teaching of critical literacy using spoken word and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether relations existed between sixth, seventh, and eighth grade learners' and their teachers' efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies and whether student perceived efficacy beliefs were predictors of reading comprehension achievement as measured by a reading comprehension subtest score on a state…

Ineffective approaches for teaching with print may prevent textbook reading from being a useful learning resource in middle school. University faculty mentored a middle school science teacher as he implemented a textbook study-reading approach, PLAN (Caverly, Mandeville & Nicholson, 1995), in 2 classes (n=33). PLAN orchestrates 4 strategies…