Middle School Reading Research Articles

Comparing options for screening of reading difficulties in middle school: Do teacher ratings improve accuracy?

Reading problems may emerge beyond the primary grades when the linguistic and cognitive demands of reading comprehension increase in middle school. The accurate identification of students requiring supplemental reading instruction is critical to provide remediation and decrease the prevalence and likelihood of reading problems in secondary settings and beyond. Nevertheless, research guidance on middle school reading screening is scarce. This study analyzed data from 193 sixth-grade students across 12 classrooms to examine (a) how well various reading screeners predicted proficiency on the year-end state assessment, (b) what combinations of reading screeners were most accurate, (c) the extent to which a brief teacher rating improved classification accuracy, and (d) the agreement rates between the most accurate combinations of screeners. Screeners included the Sight Word Efficiency, oral reading fluency (ORF), maze, and a multiple-choice reading comprehension (MCRC) assessment. Results from logistic regressions and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses suggested that no single screener was appropriate for use and that combinations of two or three screeners assessing different reading skills improved classification accuracy (i.e., ORF + MCRC, ORF + maze + MCRC). Moreover, teacher ratings further improved classification accuracy but its predictive value depended on the combination of screeners. Finally, there was a high agreement regarding which students were identified as needing intervention between these combinations of screeners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Implementing Character Education Values in Lampung Regional Songs for Critical Reading Learning Materials in Junior High School: Critical Discourse Analysis

This study focuses on implementing character education values through the lyrics of regional songs from Lampung as learning material for critical reading in middle schools. Four regional songs from Lampung were selected for analysis, focusing on values such as caution, consistency, courage, and integrity. The method used in this research is critical discourse analysis, identifying how character values are contained in the lyrics and how they can be integrated into the critical reading curriculum in middle schools. The results of this study indicate that the lyrics of Lampung's regional songs contain various character values relevant to character education in schools. In addition, this study also shows the potential for integrating regional songs as innovative teaching material to develop students' critical reading skills. This research can serve as a reference for policy-making in character education and developing critical reading teaching material. Keywords: Character Education, Lampung Regional Songs, Critical Reading, Critical Discourse Analysis, Middle Schools

Cognitive predictors of the overlap of reading and math in middle school

Math and reading skills are known to be related, and predictors of each are well researched. What is less understood is the extent to which these predictors, uniquely and collectively, overlap with one another, are differentially important for different academic skills, and account for the overlap of math and reading. We examined 20 potential predictors from four domains (working memory, processing speed, attention, and language) using latent variables and both timed and untimed achievement skill, in a sample (N = 212) of at-risk middle schoolers, half of whom were English learners. The predictors accounted for about half of the overlap among achievement skills, suggesting that other factors (e.g., domain specific skills) might also be relevant for the overlap. We also found some differential prediction (language for reading, working memory for math). The present results extend and refine our understanding of the contribution of these cognitive predictors for reading and math. Educational relevance statementMath and reading are related to one another, and both are predicted by multiple domains of cognition (e.g., language, attention, working memory). But we do not know whether/if these domains relate similarly to math and reading, or whether they explain why math and reading are related to each other. This study takes a step to doing so, which is important, because further understanding can inform interventions for students who struggle.

Measuring Instructional Interactions During Reading Instruction for Students Receiving Intervention in Middle School

More than two-thirds of middle school students do not read proficiently. Research has shown that targeted interventions using explicit instruction methods can improve reading outcomes for struggling readers. A central feature of explicit instruction is the systematic implementation of instructional interactions, but it is not clear what specific instructional interaction practices lead to stronger outcomes for middle school readers. This study used a regression discontinuity design to compare the frequency and impact of instructional interactions experienced by U.S. eighth-grade students who received a targeted reading intervention (n = 1,461) with those who did not (n = 4,292). Results indicated that students who received intervention experienced far more instructional interactions with their teachers than did students who did not. However, the association between rates of interaction and student need in the intervention group was minimal, and the relationship between the rate of instructional interactions and reading growth was mixed. Implications for intervening with struggling students in the middle grades are discussed.

استخدام مدخل التعليم النشاطي Empty outlineلتنمية التحصيل الدراسي في مهارة القراءة بالمدرسة المتوسطة الإسلامية الحكومية 3 فيدي

This study aims to find out the students' response to the use of the Empty outline approach in teaching the skill of reading and to measure the effectiveness of applying the Empty outline approach in teaching the skill of reading in the governmental Islamic middle school 3 Fide, and the research method used by the researcher in writing this research is the experimental research method. By Design One Group Pretest Posllest. The results of the research indicated the response of the students in teaching reading using the Empty Outline approach at the Islamic Governmental Intermediate School 3, which is comfortable and enjoyable, and they want to teach reading after using the Empty Outline Approach. The use of the Empty outline approach is effective for the development of students' academic achievement in the reading skill of the Government Islamic Intermediate School 3 Fedi. Using the Empty outline approach, it is clear that the result of the t-test -12.59 is greater than the result of the t-table which is 2.060.

Righting Reading in Middle School: Readable English Helps Underperforming Adolescent Readers

This study measured the effectiveness of Readable English, a reading fluency and comprehension program, on underperforming sixth, seventh, and eighth grade rural, American English-speaking students over the course of one school year. Students were randomly assigned to either the intervention condition (n = 167) or the typical practice condition (n = 177). Middle school students in the intervention condition scored statistically significantly higher than students in the typical practice condition on measures of EasyCBM CCSS Comprehension (partial η 2 effect size [ES] = 0.10 [moderate]), EasyCBM Passage Reading Fluency (PRF) rate (ES = 0.18 [large]), EasyCBM PRF reading accuracy (ES= 0.08 [moderate]), WRMT-3 Oral Reading Fluency (ES = 0.13 [approaching large]), and WRMT-3 Passage Comprehension (ES = 0.25 [large]). Moderate grade level growth in measures of oral reading fluency led to extensive growth of reading comprehension skills. The eyewatering cost estimates to accelerate reading remediation per middle school student ($800 to $3,800 per student) and the paucity of research-proven interventions require innovating ways to combine and leverage the benefits of technology and intensive, effective curriculum instruction. The data show that Readable English is a strong reading program able to close reading gaps and grow students to grade level reading proficiency.

A Discussion on the Improvement Strategies of English Reading Teaching in Senior High School

In English teaching, reading comprehension is a very important part, accounting for a large proportion of the entire English teaching. National English curriculum standard for general high school provides detailed explanations on the specific content requirements and teaching of discourse and pragmatics, and requires the cultivation of students' language skills, learning abilities, thinking qualities, and cultural qualities in the teaching of reading. The teaching of English reading in middle schools has always been highly valued, which takes up too much time and energy of teachers and students. However, the teaching efficiency is not high, and students' reading comprehension ability is low. Therefore, teachers must adopt scientific and effective reading teaching strategies, teach students to learn reading methods, cultivate good reading habits, cultivate efficient reading skills, and improve their reading proficiency.

Flexible Grouping: Ways to Improve Students’ Reading Skill and Impact Reading Volume

Author, teacher, and coach, Laura Robb has taught grades 5 to 8 for more than 40 years. She coaches elementary, middle, and high school teachers. Her more than 40 books on literacy include bestsellers Teaching Reading in Middle School (Scholastic) and Read, Talk, Write (Corwin). Her latest book, Increase Reading Volume: Practical Strategies That Boost Students’ Achievement and Passion for Reading, was published by NCTE and released in 2022.

Teacher Professional Development and Student Reading in Middle and High School: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review investigates the effect of teacher professional development (TPD) on adolescent students’ reading achievement in middle and high school. A systematic search of TPD and student reading achievement studies (1975–2020) identified 15 medium-quality articles meeting this study’s inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis of 14 of these studies corrected by Hedges’ g showed that TPD on student reading was associated with a small overall effect of g = 0.062, p < .05 on student reading outcomes. However, the effect size was moderated by delivery of the TPD, TPD hours, student population, and assessment. None of the 14 studies reported TPD theory-driven quality indicators for TPD delivery (e.g., school support, use of technology, and promotion of self-reflection or reported measures of teacher change). Conclusion of findings in literacy TPD includes the need for TPD theory-driven studies.

중학교 영어 다독을 통한 학습자 수준별 읽기 전략 변화연구

Objectives This study conducts English extensive reading in middle school and analyzes the changes in reading strategies by the learner’s level.
 Methods To this end, a 12-week extensive reading class was conducted for the 3 levels of 6 first-year middle school students. Data were collected using observation journals, reading journals, and interviews and analyzed using the constant comparative method of transcription, coding and categorization, and theme development. As a result, high-level learners understood the types and characteristics of various strategies well, selected and used appropriate methods for the situation, and the areas of frequently used strategies were found to be different depending on the learner's level.
 Results Students at the middle proficiency level students used Problem solving strategies when they faced the difficulties. Lower proficiency level students tried to activate their prior knowledge and use the pictures of the text, but with limited results.
 Conclusions Based on this results, the researchers would like to give some suggestions. First, Extensive reading program should be prepared beforehand. Various Extensive reading program and English library should be offered. Reading various materials will build confidence and clear goals to the students. Second, students should able to select material they can read with ease. They should not experience the frustration of reading materials beyond their reading capabilities.

The Research on the Teaching Design of English Reading in Junior Middle School Based on the Model of PAD Class

The core of PAD Class model is to allocate half of the class time for teachers to teaching and the other half for students to discussion and stagnate the teaching and discussion time so that students can have independent learning time after class, which is conducive to students’ personalized internalization and absorption, prompting students’ independent learning and driving students’ interest in learning. This article is based on the PAD Class model to explore the teaching design of English reading in junior middle school. Combining the definition of PAD Class model, the literature of PAD Class model and English reading in junior middle school at home and abroad, the teachers will apply this model into teaching design of English reading in junior middle school. This research investigates the changes in students’ English reading experience before and after the application of PAD class model through questionnaires, and obtains corresponding arguments through follow-up in-depth interviews with teachers. In the data obtained from the questionnaire and the interview records, the author explores and refine the impact and effect of teaching design of English reading in junior middle school based on PAD Class model.

Universal Screening with aimswebPlus Reading in Middle School

Accurate and efficient universal screening is a foundational component of multi-tiered systems of support for reading. By the time students reach middle school, educators often have extant data available to inform screening decisions. Therefore, the decision to collect additional data to inform screening should be considered carefully. The classification accuracy of aimswebPlus reading, a newly updated version of a popular suite of screening tools, has not been independently examined in middle school since its release. We used districtwide data from a midsize city in Texas to retrospectively examine the classification accuracy of aimswebPlus reading composite scores from the fall and winter benchmarking periods. The criterion measure was the annual statewide reading test administered in spring. To provide a comparison for the aimswebPlus results, we also evaluated the accuracy of screening decisions made based on prior year statewide reading test scores. Decisions made based on the aimswebPlus “default” cut-scores resulted in unacceptable sensitivity for universal screening. Following the aimswebPlus recommended method to establish local cut-scores improved the sensitivity of decisions in each grade and benchmarking season but the sensitivity values still fell below recommendations for minimally acceptable sensitivity. In comparison, decisions made based on prior year state test scores demonstrated adequate sensitivity and specificity in Grades 7 and 8. Directions for future research and recommendations for practice are discussed within the context of study limitations.

Research on the Strategies of Teaching English Reading in Middle Schools

Middle school English reading has always had an important position in teaching English. It takes up a high proportion of the score whether in domestic high school and college entrance examinations or IELTS, TOEFL and other foreign examinations. However, with the continuous deepening and full implementation of China's education reform, some of its problems gradually appear. This paper analyzes current situation and problems of teaching English reading in middle schools from the perspectives of teaching objectives, contents, difficulties and common teaching models, and puts forward relevant teaching strategies.

Science reading and self-regulated learning: Evidence from eye movements of middle-school readers

This study investigated that whether and how the mechanisms of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategy may underlie explicit behaviors of repeated studying and testing by an eye-tracking method. Sixty-three seventh-grade students read an illustrated science article and completed a reading test. Then they were asked to reread and retest. Our data indicated that skilled readers were more capable of using multiple representations during science reading: they allocated more attention to decoding diagrams and making references between the text and diagrams than less-skilled readers in the first study-test cycle. Further, skilled readers also demonstrate stronger self-regulatory attempts across study-test cycles, given a sharper decrease on eye-tracking indicators regarding diagrams. However, both groups had similar reading patterns regarding text across cycles. Seventh graders tend to apply self-regulatory processes aimed at memorizing more textual components but not for enhancing comprehension, and it suggests that seventh-grade readers’ SRL strategy might be still developing.

Supporting struggling middle school readers: Impact of the Lexia® PowerUp Literacy® program

The majority of middle school students in the US are unable to read proficiently. This study aimed to evaluate whether a scientifically-based blended learning program could promote reading ability among a diverse sample of struggling middle school readers. Using a cluster randomized controlled trial, we tested the effectiveness of one such program on a sample of 155 struggling readers enrolled in supplemental literacy classes in two middle schools. Students in classes that used the target program scored significantly higher at posttest on a standardized literacy assessment than students in control classes. Effects were comparable for both White and African-American/Black students. Students with greater aptitude for decoding/word-level skills (operationalized by starting the program in higher “Word Study” levels and completing more levels in fewer weeks) earned higher posttest scores. Together, these findings provide strong evidence in favor of the effectiveness of this instructional approach, particularly for certain learner profiles.

Readability of Commonly Used Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Laryngology.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are used to evaluate patients' symptoms and clinical improvement after an intervention. Advocacy efforts and increased provider awareness regarding health literacy have helped to improve the readability of PROMs. Recent studies in otolaryngology in rhinology, pediatric otolaryngology, and head and neck reported PROM readability scores above the sixth-grade level. However, there is limited data regarding the readability of laryngology PROMs. Thus, this study aims to report the readability levels of PROMs in laryngology by assessing different readability indices and describing the relationship of readability levels to equitable healthcare. This is a bibliometric study that received approval from institutional review board (IRB) review as a nonhuman subject research study. Recent and widely utilized laryngology PROMs were selected from a publicly available literature search by reviewing laryngology systematic reviews, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Laryngology PROMs were selected from voice, dysphagia, airway, and other PROMs including voice questionnaires administered to patients seeking gender affirming voice care from systematic reviews and expert opinion. There were 37 PROMs included in this study. PROMs were analyzed via Gunning Fog, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), FORCAST, and Flesch Reading Ease Score. All laryngology PROMs had readabilities above the recommended sixth-grade level. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of Gunning Fog was 7.30 (2.59), SMOG was 8.70 (1.51), FORCAST was 10.05 (1.51), and Flesch Reading Ease Score was 8.08 (2.76). Laryngology PROMs are above the recommended middle school reading level. To further promote health equity, readability should be considered when developing future PROMs. NA Laryngoscope, 132:1069-1074, 2022.

Heroes in The Middle: Design Thinking in Reading Workshop: Flexible Strategies for Sparking Empathy in Middle School Readers in the Time of COVID-19

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Evolution

On June 18, 1858, Charles Darwin was dismayed to receive a manuscript from a young naturalist that explained evolution through natural selection – the very same idea on which Darwin had been laboring in secret over the previous two decades. “I never saw a more striking coincidence,” he lamented to his friend the geologist Charles Lyell. “So all my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed.” Lyell and the botanist Joseph Hooker subsequently arranged for the presentation, and later the publication, of the young naturalist’s manuscript, preceded by previously unpublished material of Darwin’s establishing his priority. So it was that Alfred Russel Wallace became evolution’s second banana.In Darwin’s Rival, Christiane Dorion provides middle school readers with a lively, lucid, and accurate narrative of Wallace’s life, with a focus on his initial contribution to evolution. Briskly disposing of his first 25 years in three pages, she then devotes 15 pages to his expedition to the Amazon (1848–1852), where he and his friend Henry Bates (the namesake of Batesian mimicry) hoped both to advance their biological knowledge and to line their pockets by discovering exotic species to sell to institutional and private collectors. The latter ambition foundered, literally, when the ship bringing Wallace back to England caught fire and had to be abandoned, along with the bulk of Wallace’s painstakingly acquired specimens.“Wallace vowed that he would never venture to sea again,” Dorion wryly observes. “But within days of being back home, he was already thinking about his next expedition” (p. 23): to the Malay Archipelago (1854–1862). That next expedition was more successful, both financially and scientifically. Wallace collected more than 125,000 specimens, made the biogeographical observations that led to the recognition of the Wallace line between Southeast Asia and Australia, and, in a fever, had the insight that led to the manuscript he sent to Darwin. Understandably, given the audience, Dorion’s treatment of natural selection is undetailed, eliding the subtle differences between Darwin’s and Wallace’s ideas.After describing the publication and reception of Darwin’s and Wallace’s papers in 1858, Dorion devotes only six paragraphs to the rest of Wallace’s long life – he died in 1913. On one hand, it’s a shame. Part of the reason why Wallace is so fascinating a character is the diversity of his interests and activities. In addition to evolution and biogeography, he contributed to the nascent fields of astrobiology, environmental science, and epidemiology, while dabbling in mesmerism, phrenology, and spiritualism, as well as tackling a host of social issues. On the other hand, it would be unreasonable to fault a short book about Wallace for focusing on what is, after all, unquestionably his best-known achievement.There is little with which to take issue in the text, perhaps because George Beccaloni, the director of the Alfred Russel Wallace Correspondence Project, served as the historical consultant. But it is a bit misleading for Dorion to write that Darwin arrived at the idea of evolution by natural selection “by studying his notebooks and the many specimens he had gathered years earlier on his voyage on the Beagle” (p. 52), since he also relied on specimens and observations from a wide network of correspondents. In the glossary, the definitions of extinct and species are wrongly confined to animals and plants, and the definition provided for common ancestor is actually a definition of most recent common ancestor.The handsome oversized volume is appealingly illustrated by Harry Tennant, who mainly uses a limited and subdued palette of blues, browns, and greens, even when it must have been a temptation to expand the chromatic range, as with the plate of arrayed beetles (pp. 34–35). No page is without its illustration, often of a flamboyant animal, and there is a generous helping of two-page spreads, typically landscapes and seascapes (the burning brig Helen on pp. 24–25 is especially striking). There are also a number of helpful and attractive maps; particularly compelling is the map labeled “Wallace’s and Darwin’s Routes to Evolution” (pp. 54–55), which could serve as the springboard for a fascinating discussion.

The Human Body

Schoolteachers frequently observe certain forms of uncharacteristic behavior, often emotional, from their students and just chalk it up to hormones. In the human body, hormones are chemical messengers, released by specialized cells, that journey through the bloodstream, controlling functional activities of targets throughout the body. They are generated by a variety of tissues in the endocrine system, the last body system to be discovered.This opportunity to meet your hormones is facilitated by Whitlock and Temple’s captivating explanations that introduce their readers to the different types of hormones (proteins, peptides, steroids, and amines), their molecular structures, molecular size variations, manufacture, evolution, functions, techniques of action and interaction, and the ways they help to organize and manage the lives of humans as well as animals, plants, and even microorganisms.Hormones are related to or involved in numerous actions that people experience, even if they are not aware of them. Among many others, this alphabet of experiences includes appetite, bone formation, cell renewal, diabetes, energy regulation, fetal development, growth, hangover, immune response, jet lag, keeping glucose levels controlled, libido, menstrual cycle, obsessive-compulsive disorder, pregnancy, rhythms of the body, stress management, transgender treatment, uterine lining maintenance, voice change, and water balance regulation. By reading this book, one can learn which hormones are connected to each of these experiences.There is much to attract a reader’s attention in this intriguing book. Here is a mere sampling of the interesting and sometimes surprising items you can find in this book: how an “express lane” guarantees that hormones arrive at their target cells without getting lost in the bloodstreamhow a hormone’s affinity for water or fat influences the ways it interacts with target cellshow urine from nuns was involved in the births of test tube babieswhy teenagers often enjoy staying up late at night and sleeping late in the morningthe hormone whose use has been banned by the International Olympic Committeethe pregnancy-test record found on an Egyptian papyrusthe bizarre experiment of the Mauritian doctor who tried to discover the Fountain of Youththe differences in the functions of hormones known as primary and secondary messengerswhy the wives of Henry VIII may have had a tendency for miscarriagesthe explanation of intersexhow hormones could be related to hangoversthe way that hormones might impact profits on certain days for male stock market tradersthe reason a surgeon transplanted a piece of monkey testis into a man’s testisthe common vitamin that is more accurately categorized as a hormonehow a high estrogen level can affect a woman or a manhow hormones might be related to bed wettingpossible phenomena experienced by male and female athletes who overexercisewhy a user of the drug “Ecstasy” might fall into a comawhy female and male sex hormones are produced by both sexeshow to protect oneself from the ~800 chemicals called endocrine disruptorsMeet Your Hormones is a captivating, eloquently written, user-friendly volume, packed with information and analysis of hormones, their activities, and their significance. Its design –consisting mainly of short, concentrated scripts accompanied by simple, compelling illustrations and graphics – is easy to use. It is appropriate for adult, college, and high school readers and possibly even middle school readers with parent or teacher approval. In addition to an index, the book includes a glossary and suggestions for further reading. As the authors point out repeatedly throughout, “Happy Hormones, Happy Day.”

Materials Matter: An Exploration of Text Complexity and Its Effects on Middle School Readers' Comprehension Processing.

Purpose Complex features of science texts present idiosyncratic challenges for middle grade readers, especially in a post-Common Core educational world where students' learning is dependent on understanding informational text. The primary aim of this study was to explore how middle school readers process science texts and whether such comprehension processes differed due to features of complexity in two science texts. Method Thirty 7th grade students read two science texts with different profiles of text complexity in a think-aloud task. Think-aloud protocols were coded for six comprehension processes: connecting inferences, elaborative inferences, evaluative comments, metacognitive comments, and associations. We analyzed the quantity and type of comprehension processes generated across both texts in order to explore how features of text complexity contributed to the comprehension processes students produced while reading. Results Students made significantly more elaborative and connecting inferences when reading a text with deep cohesion, simple syntax, and concrete words, while students made more evaluative comments, paraphrases, and metacognitive comments when reading a text with referential cohesion, complex syntax, and abstract words. Conclusions The current study provides exploratory evidence for features of text complexity affecting the type of comprehension processes middle school readers generate while reading science texts. Accordingly, science classroom texts and materials can be evaluated for word, sentence, and passage features of text complexity in order to encourage deep level comprehension of middle school readers.