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Specific Reading Comprehension Deficit Disorder (S-RCD) presents a reader profile different from reading delays often characterized by word-level disabilities. Students often complain about their challenges in reading content-area texts and recalling that information for use in writing, discussion, and testing situations. It is commonly diagnosed at the secondary and college levels although it can be…

In my continued work with students, both in assessments and in tutorials, I see challenges in the abilities of middle school and high school students to understand their textbook materials. Working with students who have been given writing argumentative response assignments, specifically, frequent CSE (Claim, Support, Explain) paragraphs, I have begun to wonder what preparation…

Kendeau, et all, in the most recent Learning Disabilities Research & Practice journal discusses reading comprehension problems from the perspective of cognitive functioning in three areas: inferences formation, executive function (working memory and inhibition), and attention allocation to the task. I found this article very interesting in that their views mirror the problems I see…

The recent issue of The Reading Teacher introduced a new tool in the Teaching Tip column. Sarah Ferris has developed the Revoicing Technique, a repetition procedure in which teachers reflect back to students their classroom talk. After a student has presented ideas within the class discussion, the teacher repeats “back all or part of what…

Most of my current students are focused on strengthening basic word recognition and passage fluency. While comprehension skill building is important, less emphasis is placed on meaning in our work. A recent study (Hollenbeck, 2013) focused on a new teaching technique for use in working with students struggling with learning disabilities. She contended that the…

I am always looking for the magic key that will give my students the needed boost in recalling information in their coursework. I just ran across an article in my current “reading research file housecleaning” project that provided a good reminder of the value of strategic use of learning tools such as testing and reviewing,…

Unlike articles on text complexity issues that perplex secondary readers, this article addresses the need to look more closely at the nature of primary-level text complexity. As a diagnostician who studies children’s reading abilities, this article presented an overview of critical comprehension features that are often overlooked at this level. This summer I worked with…

I am doing a lot of journal reading these days on the topic of fluency as I continue to design an online course on the topic. A couple of articles I ran across recently reminded me of a couple of principles of learning that I ran into earlier in my career. First, it is important…

In my clinical work, I am currently writing reviews of my students’ successes and continuing needs as they complete the academic year tutorials. While all students have shown success in becoming more skilled in their reading, the need for stronger fluency abilities still persists for a couple of them. In my consulting work with schools…

Welcome to my literacy site. I will be writing brief summaries of published articles from current (and recent past) professional journals that focus on literacy skills. I will be selecting articles to comment on that relate to evidence-based PreK-12 literacy practices that are being used in schools in their Response-to-Intervention prevention initiatives. Current instructional evidence-based…