Student Team Reading and Writing: A Cooperative Learning Approach to Middle School Literacy Instruction

The goal of this project was to create a middle school literacy program that was more responsive to the needs and abilities of early adolescents in urban middle schools. The program components included: (a) cooperative learning classroom processes; (b) a literature anthology for high interest reading material; (c) explicit instruction in reading comprehension; (e) integrated reading, writing, and language arts instruction; and (f) a writing process approach to language arts. The study was conducted in 5 schools in a large urban school district, 2 implementing Student Team Reading and Writing (STRW) and 3 comparison schools. The results indicated that the students in STRW had significantly higher achievement in reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, and language expression. The results suggest that a multifaceted approach to restructuring can effectively improve the achievement of students in urban middle schools.     

Interactive Influences of Perceived Social Contexts on the Reading Achievement of Urban Middle Schoolers with Learning Disabilities

This study examined the effects of social influences in the lives of an ethnically diverse sample of fifth through eighth grade students with and without learning disabilities (LD) using survey data and academic achievement scores collected in 19 Chicago public schools from 1993–1997. Similarities and differences in student perceptions of school, family, and peer group contexts were examined. In addition, longitudinal data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to identify contextual influences on changes in student reading achievement over time. Comparisons of student responses confirm and extend existing findings in the literature concerning the perceptions of students with LD of their social environments. In particular, having a learning disability was associated with consistent, mostly negative, effects on social relations across the contexts of students’ lives, regardless of gender, race, grade, and socioeconomic status. In addition, student perceptions of their friendship groups were found to have small, but significant, effects on their growth in reading achievement over the course of middle school. While students with and without LD had somewhat different views of their social contexts, the processes working within these environments appeared to affect their reading achievement in similar ways. The results suggest that careful attention should be paid to the social contexts of students’ lives when planning academic interventions.     

Impact of a Technology-Mediated Reading Intervention on Adolescents' Reading Comprehension

In this experimental study we examined the effects of a technology-mediated, multicomponent reading comprehension intervention, Comprehension Circuit Training (CCT), for middle school students, the majority of whom were struggling readers. The study was conducted in three schools, involving three teachers and 228 students. Using a within-teacher design, middle school teachers' reading classes were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 9) or business as usual (n = 7) conditions. In the CCT condition, students received, on average, 39 lessons of video-modeled instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction during reading intervention classes. Results of multilevel structural equation models indicated statistically significant effects favoring the CCT condition on three measures: reading comprehension latent variable (ES = 0.14), proximal vocabulary (ES = 0.43), and silent reading efficiency (ES = 0.28). Subgroup analyses indicated that students with lower entry-level reading comprehension tended to benefit more from the CCT intervention in reading comprehension, silent reading efficiency, and state test scores.     

Evidence‐Based Strategies for Reading Instruction of Older Students with Learning Disabilities

Over a quarter of 8th‐grade students and more than one‐third of 4th graders do not read well enough to understand important concepts and acquire new knowledge from grade‐level text. For students with learning disabilities, the numbers are more troubling. This article describes features of evidence‐based instruction for students who continue to struggle with reading in late elementary, middle, and high school. Recommendations are organized into 5 areas that are critical to the reading improvement of older struggling readers: (1) word study, (2) fluency, (3) vocabulary, (4) comprehension, and (5) motivation. Much of the content in this article reflects our efforts with the Special Education and Reading Strands at the National Center on Instruction, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Two reports, both available at http://www.centeroninstruction.org/ , have particular relevance—Interventions for Adolescent Struggling Readers: A Meta‐Analysis with Implications for Practice and Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: A Guidance Document from the Center on Instruction.     

Teacher Professional Development and Student Reading Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects

Abstract

Research-based instruction is necessary to support students’ reading development, and professional development (PD) is a critical avenue to ensuring high-quality instructional practices. To date, there has been no comprehensive review focused on the effects of teacher PD on student reading achievement. As such, the purpose of the present meta-analysis was to examine the impact of teacher PD on reading outcomes for students in kindergarten through 8th grade. A secondary aim was to determine whether study, program, or participant characteristics were potential moderators of these effects. A comprehensive search of published and unpublished research between 1975 and 2017 resulted in 28 studies that met prescribed criteria. Results indicate that teacher PD has a moderate and significant, positive average effect on reading achievement. However, moderator analyses did not explain the variance in the effects of PD on student outcomes. Primarily, studies represented typically-developing students in the elementary grades, with only three studies including middle school students and four studies including reading outcomes of students with or at-risk for reading disabilities. Recommendations for improved study designs that allow for more in-depth investigation of the characteristics of effective PD and mechanisms of change in student outcomes are discussed.     

Skilled Students and Effective Schools: Reading Achievement in Denmark,Sweden, and France

This study investigates how reading achievement relates to student and school characteristics in countries with different reading scores at the fourth grade level. Data comes from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 for Denmark, Sweden, and France and the multilevel analysis includes two levels: student/home and schools. The school effectiveness and the home literacy models informed the selection of the independent variables. Results show that students’ early literacy skills, home literacy practices and resources, and reading behavior are associated with reading scores in all countries. Furthermore, across different countries there are student/home universals and school particulars that explain variation in reading achievement. Educational policies should address home and school literacy skills and practices, school climate, and school composition to improve students’ reading ability.     

Book review of Other People's Children

This article reports the preliminary achievement outcomes of the first 4 years of direct instruction (DI) reading, implemented in 6 Baltimore elementary schools. On the primary measure of reading comprehension, members of the original kindergarten cohort were, on average, reading at grade level (49th percentile) by the end of 3rd grade. Members of the original 2nd-grade cohort were nearing grade level (40th percentile) by the end of 5th grade. However, students at control schools (where other curricula to improve reading achievement were being implemented) were achieving at the same level, so there were no significant differences between the outcomes for the 2 groups (controlling for demographics and pretest factors). Future research, based on a well-established implementation (rather than the problem-filled early years of implementation experienced by these 6 schools) might uncover significant effects that were not evident at the time this article was written. DI appears to be a viable option for raising student reading achievement, even if this study has not yet yielded evidence that DI performs significantly better than other reading curricula. The call for educators and policymakers to consider the results of research when selecting reform models for high poverty schools (e.g., Slavin &; Fashola, 1998) is heeded, at least occasionally. As Muriel Berkeley described elsewhere in this special issue, the search for a curriculum with a research-proven track record led members of the Baltimore Curriculum Project to select DI, even before it was identified as 1 of only 3 school reform models with strong evidence for improved student achievement by the American Institutes for Research report on schoolwide reform models (Herman et al., 1999). This article extends the circle by analyzing the first outcomes of an experiment that was motivated by previous research results.     

Reciprocal Effects between Reading Achievement and Intrinsic and Extrinsic Reading Motivation

ABSTRACT

Research on reading achievement and reading motivation has rarely addressed the question if and how they affect each other over time. In our study, we investigate the reciprocal effects between reading achievement and both intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation during elementary school. We measured reading achievement and intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation in 966 students at 3 points of measurement during 3rd and 4th grade. Consistent with previous research, cross-lagged panel analyses revealed positive reciprocal effects between reading achievement and intrinsic reading motivation. Effects of reading achievement on intrinsic reading motivation were found during Grades 3 and 4, whereas effects of intrinsic motivation were limited to Grade 3. No reciprocal effects between reading achievement and extrinsic reading motivation were found. We discuss the implications of our results for daily teaching practices and effective reading instruction.     

Intrinsic motivation,perceived competence and classroom engagement as longitudinal predictors of adolescent reading achievement

This study investigated the effects of intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, classroom engagement and extrinsic motivation on reading development among youth. Using a nationally representative sample of students in the US, the researchers followed students longitudinally from fifth to eighth grade. Reading achievement was measured using composite tests of vocabulary, reading comprehension and sight-word identification. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine the effect of students’ perceived intrinsic motivation and competence, as well as teacher rated classroom engagement in the 5th grade, on reading achievement in the 8th grade. Important control variables were utilised such as gender, family SES, race/ethnicity and prior reading achievement. The results showed that intrinsic motivation to read, perceived competence and engagement in 5th grade significantly predict reading achievement in 8th grade. The importance students placed upon grades also predicted reading development. Implications for promoting intrinsic motivation and strong engagement in schools are discussed.     

让读与悟成为阅读教学的灵魂——新课改下语文阅读教学的思考

高中阶段语文教学的任务之一是提高学生的阅读能力。好的高中语文阅读教学,应走出＂重基础轻思想＂模式,以读为线,引领学生多悟、多发现,提升文化品味,促进人的品德修养。     

The Temporal-Interactive Influence of Reading Achievement and Reading Attitude

Although the relationship between attitudes toward reading and reading achievement has been well documented, the causal relationship between these constructs remains unclear.Using longitudinal covariance structure modeling, this study tested the hypothesis that 3 reading-related constructs in the primary grades (2nd-3rd grade) – reading attitude, behavior, and achievement – would predict reading achievement in the 7th grade. Results showed that primary attitude was not correlated with primary achievement yet both had causal paths to 7th-grade achievement, described as a “temporal-interaction” model. The resulting model suggests that while reading attitude and achievement may appear unrelated at the early stages of reading they become more closely linked over time, developing into important causal determinants of reading achievement by early adolescence.     

Development of Reading and Mathematics Skills in Early Adolescence: Do K-8 Public Schools Make a Difference?

Abstract

Educators and policymakers are paying increased attention to the academic outcomes of students in the middle grades (i.e., Grades 6–8). One reform proposed to improve outcomes for these students is to replace middle schools (with Grade 6–8, 7–8, or 7–9 configurations) with K-8 schools. This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of continuously attending a K-8 school, rather than transitioning from an elementary school to a middle school, on Grade 8 reading and mathematics achievement. Drawing on nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten 1998 cohort (N = 8,237), the study used propensity score stratification to control for observable selection bias. Findings indicated that K-8 schools produce small, significant effects for reading (effect size = 0.15 or approximately 6–8 months of schooling), but nonsignificant effects for mathematics. Results were robust to several alternative specifications, including accounting for nesting of children within schools and using different approaches for propensity score matching. Findings provide conditional support for K-8 schools, highlight the need for cost-effectiveness research on this topic, and raise questions about the specific mechanisms for K-8 schools’ advantages.     

Evaluation of Broward County Alliance of Quality Schools Project

This article examines the evaluation of the Alliance of Quality Schools project, a 5-year project focusing on at-risk students in Broward County, Florida. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the effect that the project had on selected academic and behavioral student indicators after its 5th year of implementation. This article focuses only on the findings related to the effect that the project has had on reading performance. Findings related to mathematics performance and student behavior can be found by reviewing the 5th-year evaluation report (Ligas, 1999). The project's mission, based on the philosophy that all children can learn, is to help the greatest number of at-risk students achieve at their highest performance level. In addition to a strong emphasis on Direct Instruction (DI), the Alliance of Quality Schools (AQS) initiative utilizes Accelerated Reader and Computer Assisted Instruction. The project has been evaluated yearly, from the 1994-1995 school year to the 1998-1999 school year. Fifth-year evaluation findings related to student achievement indicated that the effect of the project on academic achievement for elementary and middle school students enrolled at the Alliance schools has varied by grade level and year. The highest increases in student performance occurred at the 4th-grade level for reading and at the 5th-grade level for mathematics. These increases seem to be closely aligned to the grade levels targeted for school accountability by the state of Florida.     

The Impact of Charter Schools on Promoting High Levels of Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

This study compares achievement levels for high ability students attending charter schools and students in traditional public schools in Georgia. Researchers examined student achievement (as assessed by the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests) using three comparison groups: students in the closest traditional schools with similar grade levels, schools with similar demographics, and comprehensive school reform schools. Hierarchical loglinear analysis was used to determine the impact of school type and student demographic variables on student achievement mobility (i.e., the degree to which students, from 2004 to 2005, moved into or out of the top 10% of each grade level on the CRT mathematics subtest). Results for the first comparison did not provide evidence of a significant relationship between school type and achievement mobility, but results for the second and third comparisons suggest that Black students generally experienced positive or neutral achievement mobility in traditional schools and negative mobility in charter schools; White students generally saw negative achievement mobility in traditional schools and neutral to positive mobility in charter schools. Implications for the study of gifted education and gifted students within charter schools are discussed.     

教师支持对中学生阅读素养的影响:阅读投入、阅读兴趣的中介作用

为探讨阅读投入、阅读兴趣在教师支持与中学生阅读素养中的中介作用,研究采用阅读素养测验、阅读调查问卷与教师支持问卷对559名初中生进行调研,并运用结构方程模型进行数据建模分析.结果 发现:教师支持通过阅读投入和阅读兴趣的链式中介影响学生阅读素养.建议教师在阅读教学实践中要改革教学方法,从情感关怀、学习指导、能力指导等多方...     

Implementation of Comprehensive School Reform and Its Impact on Increases in Student Achievement

This study examined the relationship between the implementation of comprehensive school reform (CSR) and changes in reading and math achievement from 1999 until 2003. Survey data about CSR implementation and school-level achievement data were collected for multiple years from a sample of CSR schools and compared with a sample of matched comparison schools. The sampled CSR schools adopted several promising CSR models. Results revealed that improvement over the years in school-level mathematics and reading achievement of CSR schools was not consistently greater than the improvement for comparison schools. The relationship between implementation of CSR and improvement in student achievement was shown to vary by number of years, level of implementation, and CSR designation. CSR schools experienced the largest increases in student achievement between Years 3 and 5 of implementation. A high level of implementation and comprehensiveness of implementation was weakly associated with a large increase in mathematics and reading achievement relative to the matched comparison school. This relationship also varies by CSR designation.     

初中生成就目标的发展特点

采用《成就目标定向量表》,对633名初中学生进行了调查。结果表明:(1)不同年级初中生的成就目标定向有显著差异,表现为:初一学生的掌握趋近目标极显著高于初二、初三学生,初二学生又显著高于初三学生;初一学生的成绩趋近目标显著高于初二学生;(2)不同学校的初中生成就目标定向有显著差异,表现为:重点学校学生掌握趋近目标、成绩趋近目标极显著高于普通学校学生;而普通学校学生的成绩回避目标显著高于重点学校学生;(3)初中生男生和女生的成就目标定向有显著差异,表现为:男生的成绩回避目标显著高于女生。     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN WRITTEN EXPRESSION CURRICULUM‐BASED MEASUREMENT IN THIRD‐ THROUGH EIGHTH‐GRADE STUDENTS

Many studies have found gender differences in certain areas of academic achievement, such as reading and math. Fewer studies have examined gender disparities in writing skills. The current study explored gender differences in written expression performance. Participants were 1,240 male and female students in third through eighth grade, representing five schools in a rural southeastern school district. Each student was administered an AIMSweb curriculum‐based measurement writing probe during the district's regularly scheduled fall, winter, and spring benchmarks. All measures were scored for total words written and correct writing sequences. Two‐way repeated measures analyses of variance were used to determine whether differences existed in the sample. A significant female advantage was found on both scoring indices at each grade level. These findings have strong instructional and theoretical implications for practicing school psychologists and other educators.     

The Relationship of Effective Schools Indicators and Changes in the Social Distribution of Achievement

ABSTRACT

This study focused on school effectiveness in terms of changes in the distribution of achievement across socio‐economic status (SES) for a cohort of 9700 students as they progressed from grade 1 to grade 3. The achievement/SES link was operationalized as the standardized mean difference in achievement (EFFSIZE) between samples of high and low SES students for 165 schools. EFFSIZE measures in reading and mathematics were analyzed in an hierarchical linear model which allowed an assessment of the impact of 13 school characteristics on initial (grade 1) status and, more importantly, on trends over time. The results indicate that, on the average, low SES students are at an initial disadvantage relative to their high SES peers in both subjects and that the difference widens across the first three grades. True school variance in slopes was found in mathematics but not reading, a result consistent with previous research. The school characteristics, which included six indicators based on the effective schools literature, were found to be ineffective predictors of these growth parameters.     

The growth of mathematics and reading skills in segregated and diverse schools: An opportunity-propensity analysis of a national database

The goal of the present study was to continue to build and refine the Opportunity-Propensity (O-P) model of achievement by using it to explain well-known achievement disparities between schools that differ in terms of their racial and ethnic composition. The O-P model categorizes predictors into antecedent factors (e.g., family SES, parent educational aspirations), opportunity factors (e.g., content coverage and teaching style), and propensity factors (e.g., prior knowledge and motivation). To refine the model further, the authors did the following: (a) added predictors in each category that have not been examined to date; (b) used hierarchical linear modeling to explain growth in knowledge between two assessment points; (c) identified similarities and differences in the models for two content areas (i.e., math and reading); and (d) identified similarities and differences in the models for two age levels (i.e., 3rd grade and 8th grade). Results showed that the combination of new and established predictors accounted for approximately 50% of the variance in the rate at which knowledge grew in both math and reading at both age levels. In addition, the variance explained by the racial and ethnic composition of schools when this variable was entered as the sole predictor of achievement was substantially reduced after antecedent, opportunity, and propensity factors were entered in subsequent models. However, the coefficients for certain school compositions remained significant even after such controls, and the models differed somewhat between content areas (math and reading), and age levels (3rd and 8th grade). Findings are discussed in terms of the implications of these results for building and refining the O-P model further.