Grade Reading Achievement Research Articles

Examining the core: Relations among reading curricula, poverty, and first through third grade reading achievement

Policy changes at the federal and state level are endeavoring to improve student achievement at schools serving children from lower-SES homes. One important strategy is the focus on using evidence-based core reading curricula to provide a consistent framework for instruction across schools. However, rarely have these curricula undergone rigorous comparative testing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of six core reading curricula on oral reading fluency growth, while appraising whether these effects differ by grade level and for children living in lower socioeconomic (SES) households. Over 30,000 students in first through third grade Florida Reading First classrooms comprise this academically and economically diverse cross-sectional. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to model latent growth curves for students' reading fluency scores over the school year. Growth curves revealed differences across curricula as well as between students of lower and higher SES, suggesting that reading fluency growth trajectories for curricula varied depending on student SES and grade level. Findings indicate that while there are similarities among curricula, they sometimes differ in their ability to promote reading skill growth. Differences by grade level and SES were also detected. However, many of these differences were small. Implications for the use of curriculum as a conduit for improving reading instruction are discussed.

Public versus Private … Again

IN APRIL 2006, this column summarized an analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress by Christopher Lubienski and Sarah Theule Lubienski indicating that most of the differences between test scores in public and private schools could be accounted for by demographic differences between the two types of schools. The publics had more poor students, more minorities, more special education students, and more English-language learners. That study--and others with similar findings--was criticized in some quarters because it was a cross-sectional analysis, a picture snapped at a single point in time. Now comes Harold Wenglinsky of Columbia University with an analysis commissioned by the Center on Education Policy that looks at the same students in grades 8, 10, and 12 and at age 26. The results are similar to those of the cross-sectional studies. Wenglinsky's study also went beyond the public/private dichotomy that oversimplifies the situation. In the new study, he examined public high schools, magnet schools, public schools of choice, Catholic diocesan schools, Catholic holy order schools, Catholic parish schools, non-Catholic religious schools, and independent private schools. Of course, kids don't enter high school from a vacuum. Fortunately, in this sample taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study, eighth-grade test scores are also available. Finally, kids don't live in a vacuum outside of schools. This study looked at socioeconomic status (SES), parental expectations, parental discussions about schoolwork with the children, and parent involvement in school activities. Analyses were conducted on reading, mathematics, and history achievement in the 12th grade. For reading, all three parental variables were positively related to 12th-grade achievement, as was SES, but the strongest relationship was between eighth-grade and 12th-grade test scores. Only the religious order schools showed a positive relationship with the parental variables, and the relationship was much smaller than that of SES. For math, parental discussions about schoolwork and parent involvement in school activities had no on achievement, although SES and parental expectations did. Again, only the Catholic religious order schools outperformed public schools. For science, nothing other than SES had any impact. No type of school showed any advantage. Parental expectations and discussions showed up again as important in history achievement, along with eighth-grade test scores. Once again, Catholic religious order schools were the only type of school to show any advantage over publics. At age 26, students who attended private schools were no more likely to be civic-minded or satisfied with their jobs than those from public schools. Civic-mindedness included measures of whether students had participated in a youth organization, a civic organization, or a political campaign or whether they had voted in the most recent election. They were asked about job satisfaction in terms of pay, fringe benefits, challenge of the work, opportunities for advancement, job security, and opportunities for further education and training. The strength of Wenglinsky's study is that it is longitudinal, running from eighth grade through 12th grade and picking up some nonacademic variables when the students were 26 years of age. Most other studies of public/private differences have been cross-sectional. The Fordham Foundation criticized this study because it studied only students who had completed high school and because the entire sample came from the bottom quartile of family income. These were both deliberate choices. The study wanted to see the full impact of high school and thus needed graduates. It would have been nice, though, if the study had included some indication of attrition. Do the privates hold their students better, or do they just say, so long it's been good to know you? …

Building support for language and early literacy in preschool classrooms through in-service professional development: Effects of the Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP)

There is a substantial and persistent gap in achievement between children from different backgrounds [National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). Children's reading and mathematics achievement in kindergarten and first grade. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office] that can be traced to the preschool years [Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Research Council, National Academy Press], highlighting the importance of ensuring that preschools that serve low-income populations provide strong support for children's language and early literacy development. The current project sought to improve program quality in Head Start classrooms throughout New England with the Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP), an in-service intervention that was delivered in the form of a credit-bearing course. The impact of LEEP was studied using a wait-list comparison group strategy to determine whether intervention group teachers (n = 30) showed more fall–spring growth in measures of classroom support for literacy than did comparison group teachers (n = 40). Multiple hierarchical regression analyses that controlled for background measures and fall scores on classroom measures revealed moderate to large positive effects on all measures of classrooms support for language and early literacy with the exception of writing, for which only a small effect was found.

Technology in the Home and the Achievement of Young Children: Findings From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

Because technology in the home is becoming ever more available, understanding the role of technology in early childhood development is increasingly an opportunity and a concern for educators. This report examines data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99, to provide an overview of the role of technology in the home and its impact on reading and math achievement in the early grades. The results show that access and use of technology influence children's academic achievement. Although the results show that having access to technology can contribute significantly to the achievement of young children, mere access is unlikely to be sufficient for all young children to benefit from technology in the home. Adults will need to mediate the use of these potential learning tools for children. Based on the findings of this report, policymakers should support increasing the availability of computers for low-income families and continue to discourage extensive viewing of TV, and researchers should focus on the specific methods that parents can enact to realize the learning potential of an increasingly ubiquitous resource: computers and the Internet in the home.

A Randomized Experimental Evaluation of the Impact of Accelerated Reader/Reading Renaissance Implementation on Reading Achievement in Grades 3 to 6

Components of the School Renaissance® program, including Accelerated Reader and Reading Renaissance, have been implemented in more than 65,000 schools in the United States. Despite the program's popularity, there have been no published, well-controlled evaluations of its effectiveness. This randomized field experiment was designed to gauge program impacts on the reading achievement of 978 urban students in Grades 3 to 6. Schools and teachers within schools volunteered to participate in the study, with the foreknowledge that teachers would be randomly assigned to either implement School Renaissance or serve as controls. A 3-level hierarchical linear model was used to estimate the impact of the program on student reading growth trajectories on the STAR Reading test. Students in School Renaissance classrooms exhibited significantly higher growth rates than those in control classrooms, with effect size estimates ranging from +0.07 to +0.34 across grades. Quality of program implementation did not predict student achievement growth but was correlated with a reduction in the negative effect of learning disability status.

The impact of positive behavior intervention training for teachers on referral rates for misbehavior, special education evaluation and student reading achievement in the elementary grades.

A professional development program which trained whole school staffs in the use of positive behavioral interventions for the purpose of reducing referral rates of students for misbehavior and special education evaluation. The program focused on training teachers and paraprofessionals in behavior management strategies to increase “high approval teaching,” to develop structured and organized classroom environments, to engage in contingent teaching, and to improve the overall school climate. The findings suggest that training whole school staffs is an efficient way to reduce referrals for student misbehavior, to reduce the number of conduct-based referrals for special education evaluation and to impact positively on student achievement vis-a-vis reading performance. The data demonstrate that increasing on-task behavior in classrooms and reducing misbehavior results in increased student achievement. This work stresses the importance of teaching prosocial and proacademic behaviors to elementary grade students, how these behaviors are critical to school success, and the way in which school principals can provide leadership for this work.

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.

More than teacher directed or child initiated: Preschool curriculum type, parent involvement, and children's outcomes in the child-parent centers.

This study investigated the contributions of curriculum approach and parent involvement to the short- and long-term effects of preschool participation in the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers. Data came from the complete cohort of 989 low-income children (93% African American) in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, who attended preschool in the 20 Child-Parent Centers in 1983-1985 and kindergarten in 1985-1986. We found that implementation of an instructional approach rated high by Head Teachers in teacher-directed and child-initiated activities was most consistently associated with children’s outcomes, including school readiness at kindergarten entry, reading achievement in third and eighth grades, and avoidance of grade retention. Parent involvement in school activities, as rated by teachers and by parents, was independently associated with child outcomes from school readiness at kindergarten entry to eighth grade reading achievement and grade retention above and beyond the influence of curriculum approach. Findings indicate that instructional approaches that blend a teacher-directed focus with child-initiated activities and parental school involvement are origins of the long-term effects of participation in the Child-Parent Centers.

Site-level predictors of children’s school and social competence in the Chicago Child–Parent Centers

We examined the influence of individual and site-level factors from the Chicago Child–Parent Centers (CPC) early educational program on four competence outcomes for 1539 minority youth in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Individual-level factors included race, gender, risk status, kindergarten duration, and preschool and follow-on experience. Two models were developed to examine site-level factors. The program model included instructional approach, site location, and parent involvement. The school model included the percentage of families that were low-income and the percentage of families that were residentially stable. Outcomes included kindergarten word analysis, eighth grade reading achievement, high school completion, and juvenile delinquency. Results based on hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses indicated that preschool participation was more important than any of the site-level factors. The most consistent site-level finding was that lower income levels within a school attendance area was linked with poorer school and social outcomes. Site-level parental involvement predicted both early and later school outcomes. Instructional approach was not a significant program factor. Site location and family stability were not typically predictive of child outcomes. Policy implications and limitations of the study are addressed.

School mobility and achievement: a meta-analysis

This study evaluated the effects of school mobility on reading and math achievement in the elementary grades (kindergarten to sixth grade) using meta-analysis for studies dated between 1975 and 1994. Mobility was defined as any change in schools. The sample sizes of the 26 studies examined ranged from 62 to 15 000. The statistics were converted into the effect size d. The individual effect sizes were almost all negative except in cases where the sample consisted of military personnel's dependents. The composite effect size −0.25 for reading and −0.22 for math indicated that the average achievement level of mobile students exceeded that of only 40% of the non-mobile students. This is equivalent to a 3–4 month performance disadvantage in achievement. The major predictors of variation in effect sizes were frequency of mobility, socioeconomic status, and grade. Implications for practice and research are highlighted.

A longitudinal investigation of reading outcomes in children with language impairments.

This investigation examined the reading outcomes of children with language impairments (LI). A large subsample of children who participated in an epidemiologic study of language impairments in kindergarten (J. B. Tomblin, N. Records, P. Buckwalter, X. Zhang, E. Smith, & M. O'Brien, 1997) was followed into second and fourth grades. Participants' language, reading, and nonverbal cognitive abilities were assessed. Results indicated that children with LI in kindergarten were at a high risk for reading disabilities in second and fourth grades. This risk was higher for children with a nonspecific language impairment (nonverbal and language deficits) than for those with a specific language impairment (deficits in language alone). Children with LI in kindergarten who had improved in spoken language abilities by second and fourth grades had better reading outcomes than those with persistent language impairments. Also, children's literacy knowledge/ experience in kindergarten and their initial reading achievement in second grade were good predictors of subsequent reading outcomes.

Implementing Site-Managed Educational Changes: Examining Levels of Implementation and Effect

Although states have attempted to influence educational outcomes through decentralizing decision-making authority over the past decade, the evidence that such reforms encourage schools to implement programs that improve outcomes has been slow to accumulate. This study examines the effect of a statewide policy intended to raise student achievement in schools serving high numbers of at-risk students through emphasizing teacher participation in school-based decision making about school needs. The results indicated that the policy was successful in encouraging teacher participation in decisions about student needs and the selection of improvement activities. Subsequently, features of the participating schools' environments and teachers' beliefs about the value of chosen improvement activities combined to produce successful site implementation. Some evidence also suggested the policy led to improved student reading achievement in the early elementary grades among schools that had participated in the program over several years.

Effective Schools and Accomplished Teachers: Lessons about Primary-Grade Reading Instruction in Low-Income Schools

We investigated school and classroom factors related to primary-grade reading achievement in schools with moderate to high numbers of students on subsidized lunch. 14 schools across the United States and 2 teachers in each of grades K-3 participated. 2 low and 2 average readers per class were tested individually in the fall and spring on measures of reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. The teachers were observed 5 times by trained observers between December and April during an hour of reading instruction, completed a written survey, completed a weekly log of reading/language arts activities in February and again in April, and were interviewed in May. Each school was identified as most, moderately, or least effective based on several measures of reading achievement in the primary grades. A combination of school and teacher factors, many of which were intertwined, was found to be important in the most effective schools. Statistically significant school factors included strong links to parents, syst...

Naming speed, phonological awareness and the initial stage of learning to read

Phonological awareness in kindergarten and rapid naming of objects in Grade 1 were used as predictors of reading achievement in Grade 1. Two reading measures were used: oral decoding of both words and pseudowords. They were found to be highly correlated. Both rapid naming and phonological awareness accounted for independent variance in reading achievement except for pseudoword reading, where rapid naming did not contribute significantly after the effect of phonemic awareness had been accounted for. Phonological awareness was the stronger predictor and a large part of the variance was shared between it and rapid naming. The rapid naming testing procedure functioned well and its potential as a research and diagnostic tool is discussed.

Theory-Based Prediction of Early Reading

This article presents a theory of the cognitive processes involved in learning to read and examines the degree to which measures derived from this theory are able to predict success in reading. Measures were selected to address five phonological processing constructs (naming speed, memory, rhyming, phonological synthesis, and phonological analysis), letter knowledge, and the ability to pronounce words by analyzing them into smaller parts (decoding). Measures of these constructs and several measures of reading achievement were administered to an initial sample of 161 kindergarten children and then readministered to as many of the same children as possible in grades 1 and 2; in grade 3 the reading achievement tests were administered. Principal components analyses were used to derive factor scores for the phonological constructs in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. In grade 2 five factors were found, but in kindergarten and grade 1 the phonological synthesis and analysis measures formed one phonological awareness factor. The factor scores, letter knowledge, decoding, and the reading achievement scores for each grade were used as predictors of reading achievement in subsequent grades in a series of hierarchical regression analyses. Results supported the proposed theory, with phonological awareness (or analysis), naming speed, and letter recognition being the most frequent significant predictors and R2s ranging from .69 to .89. The constructs identified in the theory are argued to be important targets for both assessment and instruction. The value of theoretical models of achievement is discussed.

Theory-Based Prediction of Early Reading.

This article presents a theory of the cognitive processes involved in learning to read and examines the degree to which measures derived from this theory are able to predict success in reading. Measures were selected to address five phonological processing constructs (naming speed, memory, rhyming, phonological synthesis, and phonological analysis), letter knowledge, and the ability to pronounce words by analyzing them into smaller parts (decoding). Measures of these constructs and several measures of reading achievement were administered to an initial sample of 161 kindergarten children and then readministered to as many of the same children as possible in grades 1 and 2; in grade 3 the reading achievement tests were administered. Principal components analyses were used to derive factor scores for the phonological constructs in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. In grade 2 five factors were found, but in kindergarten and grade 1 the phonological synthesis and analysis measures formed one phonological awareness factor. The factor scores, letter knowledge, decoding, and the reading achievement scores for each grade were used as predictors of reading achievement in subsequent grades in a series of hierarchical regression analyses. Results supported the proposed theory, with phonological awareness (or analysis), naming speed, and letter recognition being the most frequent significant predictors and R2s ranging from .69 to .89. The constructs identified in the theory are argued to be important targets for both assessment and instruction. The value of theoretical models of achievement is discussed.

Parent Involvement in Early Intervention for Disadvantaged Children: Does It Matter?

This study investigated the association between parent involvement in early intervention and children's later school competence. Parents ( N = 704) of children participating in the Chicago Longitudinal Study were interviewed retrospectively about their school involvement in preschool and kindergarten. Parents reported on the activities in which they participated and their frequency of program participation. Results indicated that even after controlling for family background, the number of activities in which parents participated in preschool and kindergarten was significantly associated with higher reading achievement, with lower rates of grade retention at age 14 (eighth grade), and with fewer years in special education. The frequency of parent involvement was only marginally associated with reading achievement but was associated with lower rates of grade retention and fewer years in special education. A confirmatory analysis indicated that teacher ratings of parent involvement in first and second grade were significantly associated with higher reading achievement in eighth grade, lower grade retention rates, and lower rates of special education placement through eighth grade. Findings support the benefits of parent involvement in early childhood programs.

Interdisciplinary Team Teaching versus Departmentalization in Middle Schools

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interdisciplinary teaming versus departmentalization on student achievement in middle schools. Small enrollment middle schools using interdisciplinary team teaching were compared with a like group of middle schools which were departmentalized. A third group of schools with a K-8 grade organization (self-contained elementary) served as a control. No overall statistically significant differences were found for reading, mathematics, science and social studies achievement in grades 6 through 8 for these three groups of schools. Previous research has documented an achievement loss during the transition to middle schools at grade six. Analysis of these groups indicated that this achievement loss did not occur in the middle schools using team teaching. This implies that team teaching merits further investigation as a potential strategy for mediating the student achievement loss associated with the transition to middle school.

Mentalization as a core component of parental sensitivity

Past research has found that an important regulatory dimension of child temperament, effortful control, predicts child achievement. However, other dimensions of temperament may moderate the relation between effortful control and achievement. This study explored whether exuberance, a reactive temperament dimension, may moderate or compensate for low effortful control when predicting children’s reading and math achievement in first grade. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 861) were used to test this hypothesis. The hypothesis was supported that for children with average or low exuberance, children’s effortful control positively predicted their reading achievement scores in first grade; whereas for children with high exuberance, children’s effortful control did not predict their reading achievement scores. Instead, highly exuberant children had high reading achievement scores regardless of their effortful control. Exuberance did not moderate the relation between effortful control and math achievement. Results suggest that children’s high exuberance compensates for poor effortful control when learning to read and that parents and teachers should explore strategies for channeling these children’s exuberance to support their academic growth.

Extended Early Childhood Intervention and School Achievement: Age Thirteen Findings from the Chicago Longitudinal Study

We evaluated the effects of participation in an extended program of compensatory education for 559 low-income, inner-city African American children up to seventh grade. The intervention is the federal and state-funded Chicago Child-Parent Center and Expansion Program, which began in 1967. Groups included 426 children who participated in the program from preschool to grades 2 or 3 and 133 children whose participation ceased in kindergarten. After taking into account initial differences in achievement at kindergarten entry and at the end of kindergarten, and after taking into account sample selection bias, program participation for 2 or 3 years after preschool and kindergarten was associated with significantly higher reading achievement up to seventh grade and with lower rates of cumulative grade retention and special education placement (4 to 5 years postprogram). Children participating in the follow-on program for 3 years had significantly higher reading achievement in seventh grade and a lower rate of grade retention than 3 year participants. Only 3 year participants had significantly higher math achievement than the comparison group. Study findings provide rare longitudinal evidence of the beneficial effects of a large-scale community-based program of extended early childhood intervention.