Core Reading Program Research Articles

From the Editors

From the Editors

Has the Presence of First‐Grade Core Reading Program Academic Vocabulary Changed Across Six Decades?

AbstractThe purpose of the present study was to examine possible shifts in the presence of academic vocabulary across the past six decades for a continually best‐selling first‐grade core reading program. The authors examined seven program years dating from 1962 to 2013 and computationally determined four categories of academic vocabulary (science, mathematics, social studies, and general academic) in each program. The primary research question was, Did the volume of academic words in a program year rise with advancing years? A secondary supplementary question was, Did the propensity toward academic affinity of a program considered as a whole rise with advancing years? The authors employed two types of academic word measures: (1) A word was deemed to be academic or not, and if it was academic, it was assigned to one of the four academic categories, and then academic words were counted; and (2) a novel measure, academic affinity, was a continuous measure of the probability that a word was academic (in each of the four academic vocabulary categories). The authors conducted Poisson regression modeling and hierarchical generalized linear modeling. The main conclusions were that later first‐grade core reading program years included a moderately higher volume of science, social studies, and total academic words as compared with earlier years and that the science, social studies, and general academic affinity of the program as a whole was statistically higher in later years, but in practical terms, the change was not remarkable.

The Vocabulary of Core Reading Programs

AbstractThis study described and analyzed the vocabulary of 4 current, best-selling core reading programs and developed word lists based on these analyses. Results showed a good deal of similarity ...

Teacher Adaptations to a Core Reading Program: Increasing Access to Curriculum for Elementary Students in Urban Classrooms

ABSTRACTThis article examines how three urban elementary school teachers adapted pedagogical strategies from a school district–adopted core reading program to increase their students’ access to the curriculum. Using teacher interviews and classroom observations to construct a descriptive case study of teacher adaptation, analysis reveals that the teachers: (a) provided social scaffolds that engaged students in a reading community, (b) repositioned students as active participants in constructing knowledge, and (c) embedded reading within authentic experiences. Results suggest that increased attention to when, how, and why teachers make adaptations to core curriculum programs is needed to ensure student access.

What Teachers Want: A Statewide Survey of Reading and English Language Arts Teachers’ Instructional Materials, Preferences, and Practices

ABSTRACTThis study reports the results of a survey of a representative sample of 1,206 elementary reading and English Language Arts teachers in Oregon to learn (1) what materials are currently being used, (2) what materials teachers would prefer, and (3) what instructional practices teachers use. Qualitative data included 365 comments and 34 interviews with participants. Results indicated that in grades K–6 core reading programs were the predominant material, but that these teachers also preferred to use trade books. The majority of grade 7–12 teachers reported mainly using trade books. Teachers reported using promising literacy practices, but data indicated that packaged programs are associated with reduced opportunities for students to engage in these practices. Teachers wanted to use their professional judgment to make decisions about materials.

INCREASING THE QUALITY OF TIER 1 READING INSTRUCTION: USING PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK TO INCREASE OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND DURING IMPLEMENTATION OF A CORE READING PROGRAM

Recent data on reading achievement indicates that a majority of young students are reading below proficiency. However, current research has shown that providing students with quality, research‐based reading instruction can help prevent many reading difficulties. Through the use of core reading programs, teachers have tools available to be able to provide students with evidence‐based instruction in the Tier 1 setting. However, classroom teachers need support in instructing core reading programs with the highest quality to increase student reading outcomes. This study provides evidence that providing teachers with performance feedback can improve quality of instruction by increasing the numbers of OTRs delivered during Tier 1 reading instruction. Teachers were observed during core reading program instruction, number of opportunities to respond were counted at the end of each observed lesson. Baseline data trends were used to determine what type of feedback was given during the intervention phase (i.e., teachers were encouraged to increase individual, group, or both OTRs during instruction). During intervention phase, teachers were provided graphic and oral feedback on implementation of the core reading program; suggestions were provided for increasing opportunities to respond during instruction.

Changing Readers, Changing Texts: Beginning Reading Texts from 1960 to 2010

Over the past 50 years, substantial changes have occurred in the texts used for the instruction for beginning reading. This article analyzes four prominent perspectives that have most influenced beginning reading instruction texts in the United States over this period. This article examines changes in beginning reading texts in relation to changes in the nation's demographics and young children's literacy-related experiences, including media exposure, availability of children's books, and time spent in nonparental care. These analyses are followed by an examination of the research underlying three assumptions that shape the reading instruction found in all current core reading programs: (a) earlier is better, (b) word repetition is not a factor in learning to read, and (c) one size fits all. The review ends with a call for the careful design and selection of texts for students whose literacy levels are impacted greatly by the quality of their school experiences–-children in high-poverty communities.

Has First-Grade Core Reading Program Text Complexity Changed Across Six Decades?

Has First-Grade Core Reading Program Text Complexity Changed Across Six Decades?

Enhancing Core Reading Programs With Culturally Responsive Practices

AbstractCulturally responsive instruction uses, “cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them.” Because approximately 75% of districts choose to use one of the various publisher‐created reading programs, it is imperative for teachers to understand how to utilize culturally responsive teaching practices within the context of such programs. The components of culturally responsive instruction can be addressed within practices many teachers already use while implementing core reading programs (i.e. demonstrating care for students, incorporating opportunities for student collaboration, and strategically using instructional techniques to elicit better engagement). This article provides teachers with specific examples to illustrate how cultural responsiveness can be achieved when teachers thoughtfully consider the learning and communication styles of culturally and linguistically diverse students when planning cooperative learning and engagement strategies.

An Examination of the Efficacy of a Multitiered Intervention on Early Reading Outcomes for First Grade Students at Risk for Reading Difficulties

This article presents findings of an efficacy trial examining the effect of a multitiered instruction and intervention model on first grade at-risk students’ reading outcomes. Schools (N = 16) were randomly assigned to the treatment or control condition. In the fall of Grade 1, students were assigned to an instructional tier on the basis of Stanford Achievement Test–10th Edition scores (31st percentile and above = Tier 1; from the 10th to the 30th percentile = Tier 2). In both conditions, students identified as at risk (i.e., Tier 2; n = 267) received 90 min of whole group instruction (Tier 1) and an additional 30 min of daily small group intervention (Tier 2). In the treatment condition, teachers were trained to enhance core reading instruction by making instruction more explicit and increasing practice opportunities for students in Tier 1. In addition, at-risk readers were provided an additional 30-min daily small group intervention with content that was highly aligned with the Tier 1 core reading program. Results indicate significant, positive effects of the intervention on students’ decoding and first semester fluent reading and potentially positive effects on reading comprehension and total reading achievement.

Explicit Instruction in Core Reading Programs

The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of the types and occurrences of explicit instructional moves recommended for teaching five essentials of effective reading instruction in grades 1, 3, and 5 core reading program teachers’ editions in five widely marketed core reading programs. Guided practice was the most frequently recommended explicit instructional move for teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary. Discussion was the dominant explicit instructional move recommended for comprehension. Modeling was the dominant explicit instructional move recommended for fluency. Core reading program lessons were found to provide ample explicit instructional move recommendations for explanations and guided practice, with less attention to modeling or discussing reading concepts, strategies, and skills. The core reading program lessons provided inadequate recommendations for the explicit instructional moves of monitoring student progress, providing students feedback, and moving students gradually toward independence.

Using Basal Readers: From Dutiful Fidelity to Intelligent Decision Making

AbstractWhen schools and teachers adopt core reading programs they can use them with fidelity or make intelligent decisions about the texts, lessons and components they select to use. The evidence suggests that these programs are not research‐based documents, but rather compromises between what the research suggests about effective reading instruction and what the market wants. Given these compromises and complexity of core reading programs teachers should make decisions about what texts their students will read, what skills and strategies they will teach, and what program components they will use. Teachers should have the prerogative to move students beyond the core program into the wider world of children's literature and informational books. The article outlines eight key decisions that teachers should make.

Effects of Supplemental Computer-Assisted Reciprocal Peer Tutoring on Kindergarteners' Phoneme Segmentation Fluency

Phonemic awareness is a critical early reading skill that gives students a strong foundation for beginning reading. Without effective interventions or supplements to core reading programs, many students fail to acquire these skills. The present study examined the effects of using computer-assisted peer tutoring to supplement kindergarten students' instruction in phonemic awareness. Results of the study indicate three of the four participants made substantial gains in phoneme segmentation fluency. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Why Reading Fluency Should Be Hot!

AbstractThis article explores problems that have surfaced in the teaching of reading fluency and how teachers and reading coaches can resolve those problems. Specific issues addressed include reading fluency being defined as reading fast and instruction that is focused on having students read fast, reading fluency viewed as solely and oral reading activity, reading fluency seen as an issue only for the primary grades, and reading fluency instruction viewed as a distinct form of reading instruction not integral to authentic reading that focuses on meaning. The author makes the case for an authentic, meaning‐based, and comprehensive approach to fluency instruction that is integral part of the core reading program.

An Examination of Kindergarten Core-Reading Instruction in the United States

Prevention, intervention, and research efforts are grounded in a belief that teachers should only use alternative educational practices after reasonable evidence has indicated that general education practices implemented with a high degree of integrity have been unsuccessful. To investigate levels of implementation of an evidence-based primary reading program, we observed teachers’ use of Open Court, a commercially-available core reading program, during the district-mandated two-hour literacy block. We found that the amount and type of literacy and language arts instruction children received varied across classrooms. We discuss the implications of our work for future research and the improvement of childhood education practices.

Effects of a Supplemental Vocabulary Program on Word Knowledge and Passage Comprehension

A cluster randomized trial estimated the effects of a supplemental vocabulary program, Elements of Reading®: vocabulary on student vocabulary and passage comprehension in moderate- to high-poverty elementary schools. Forty-four schools participated over a period spanning 2 consecutive school years. At baseline, 1,057 teachers and 16,471 students from kindergarten, first, third, and fourth grade participated. The schools were randomly assigned to either the primary or intermediate grade treatment group. In each group, the nontreatment classrooms provided the control condition. Treatment classrooms used the intervention to supplement their core reading program, whereas control classrooms taught vocabulary business-as-usual. The intervention includes structured, weekly lesson plans for 6 to 8 literary words and aural/oral and written language activities providing multiple exposures and opportunity for use. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate both proximal (Year 1) and distal (Year 2) effects on vocabulary and passage comprehension. The intervention had positive and statistically significant proximal effects but no statistically significant distal effects. The results indicate that the intervention can improve targeted vocabulary and local passage comprehension, but expecting global effects may be overly optimistic.

Post-Scripts: Teaching Reading in the Aftermath of Prescriptive Curriculum Policies

NCBL and Reading First are negotiated in implementing beginning reading instruction. The article describes and analyzes how two critical conditions for creating opportunity—access to qualified teachers and rigorous academic curriculum—are met by examining the enactment and adaptation of a prescriptive core reading program disproportionately targeted at “low-performing” schools. Although prescriptive curricula attempt to ensure achievement, classroom implementation is mediated by teachers exercising professional prerogative. The quality of these mediations is determined by a teacher’s expertise in negotiating the tensions between fidelity of implementation and adaptation to local context. Through extensive classroom observations and teacher interviews, this case study illuminates fundamental issues of teacher quality as they are realized by an experienced teacher.

Predicting First-Grade Reading Performance from Kindergarten Response to Tier 1 Instruction

Many schools are beginning to implement multi-tier response to intervention (RTI) models for the prevention of reading difficulties and to assist in the identification of students with learning disabilities (LD). The present study was part of our larger ongoing longitudinal RTI investigation within the Florida Learning Disabilities Center grant. This study used a longitudinal correlational design, conducted in 7 ethnically and socio-economically diverse schools. We observed reading instruction in 20 classrooms, examined response rates to kindergarten Tier 1 instruction, and predicted students' first grade reading performance based upon kindergarten growth and end of year reading performance (n = 203). Teachers followed an explicit core reading program and overall, classroom instruction was rated as effective. Results indicate that controlling for students' end of kindergarten reading, their growth across kindergarten on a variety of language and literacy measures suppressed predictions of first grade performance. Specifically, the steeper the students' trajectory to a satisfactory outcome, the less likely they were to demonstrate good performance in first grade. Implications for future research and RTI implementation are discussed.

Learning Disabilities or Teaching Disabilities? Rethinking Literacy Failure

It takes a literacy leader to save some schools and districts from serious misconceptions about the nature of core reading programs as well as the nature of some reading disabilities. Well‐prepared professionals can, by means of their extensive pedagogical repertoire, help districts to avoid compulsive repetition of the same fundamental types of instruction.

If I Follow the Teachers' Editions, Isn't That Enough? Analyzing Reading Volume in Six Core Reading Programs

Core reading programs have a tremendous influence over reading instruction in the United States. Federal policies such as Reading First put increasing pressure on schools to implement a core reading program. While core reading programs contain a wide variety of suggested strategies and activities, they may not provide sufficient text or volume of reading to improve achievement, particularly for the lowest-performing students. This study examines the teachers' editions of 6 core reading programs to determine the number of words of text and the volume of reading afforded to students provided the teacher uses every text and opportunity to read available in the suggested lesson planner. The third-grade editions of 6 leading core reading programs provide an average of 15 minutes of reading volume per day, ranging from 10.2 minutes to 24.4 minutes.