University of Minnesota - Center for Reading Research
R350 Vo-Tech Ed. Building, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108 USA
Email: MCRR@umn.edu, Tel: 612-624-9147, Fax: 612-624-8716
Barbara Taylor
Educators have learned a great deal from research about what it takes to help all children in the elementary grades succeed in reading to their fullest potential. To reach this goal, teachers and administrators within schools need to work together to develop and deliver a sound school-wide reading program. Within the confines of their own classrooms, teachers must focus and reflect equally on the What and the How of their reading instruction, and they must continuously make good pedagogical choices to meet individual students’ needs based on these reflections. In this accessible paper, Dr. Taylor cites relevant research and draws on her own experiences and related data sources, including a decade of work that has led her into the classrooms of more than 1600 teachers. Full study.
Twenty-three Minnesota elementary schools participated in professional development in reading under the Reading Excellence Act (school years 2001-2002 – 2002-2003). The analysis of their progress suggests that higher-level comprehension instruction, including both higher level talk and writing about text, as well as comprehension strategies instruction significantly contribute to student gains in reading achievement. Almost all schools in the Reading Excellence Act professional development saw growth in reading scores, and those schools that did a better job of implementing the School Change Framework experienced accelerated growth. Full study.
Barry Brahier
This study used a qualitative case study design to gather data to answer the question “What are the outcomes of using digital annotation software among secondary school teachers?” Two high school teachers used RepliGo™ digital annotation software (Cerience Corporation, 2003) with their students over the course of one month during the fall of 2005. Teacher interviews, curricular materials, and student work were analyzed using Hughes’ (2000) Replacement-Amplification-Transformation taxonomy to determine outcomes attributable to the use of RepliGo™. Full study.
Megan Ann Treptow
A single-subject design was used to examine the effects of reading activities at three levels of challenge: the frustrational, instructional, and independent levels, on reading comprehension and task engagement. It was hypothesized that students would continue to exhibit high levels of off-task behavior at the frustrational level, but demonstrate increased time on-task when given materials at their instructional level. Comprehension was hypothesized to be very low at the frustrational level and higher at the instructional level. At the independent level, comprehension was expected to remain high while the students’ time on-task was expected to drop to lower levels as the students became less engaged in tasks. Moderate to large effect sizes supported these hypotheses for two out of three students selected. Full study.
Paul Magnuson and Leigh Schleicher
This study examined 23 districts which, in Fall 2005, were required to write a district-wide improvement plan for English Language Learner (ELL) Programming. The requirement stems from Title III of No Child Left Behind. The study found that the plans vary in focus, length, and the amount of attention received in subsequent implementation. Data indicate that plan-writing districts as a whole have improved ELL English proficiency scores relative to non-plan writing districts in the years following plan-writing and implementation. The study should prove useful for districts required to write improvement plans in Fall 2007 and beyond. Full Study.
Revised October 26, 2007
