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This study examined the relationship between response to intervention (RTI) implementation integrity in reading and student reading outcomes. Data were collected from 64 principals and school psychologists at 43 elementary schools. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine the degree to which implementation of RTI tiers and key components predicted student reading assessment results, when controlling for a block of school demographic variables. Findings revealed that data-based decision making and Tier 3 implementation integrity significantly predicted student reading outcomes when controlling for significant demographic predictors. Interpretation of results and implications for research and practice are provided.

Early childhood instruction tends to focus heavily on literacy development, sometimes at the expense of rich concept development (CEP, 2007; Neuman, 2006; NRC, 2012; NSTA, 2014). Because of the emphasis on literacy instruction, many early childhood teachers integrate content areas, such as science, in literacy instruction through read alouds of texts that involve science concepts. This article explores the challenges some teachers experience when trying to integrate science and literacy instruction in early childhood and explains ways in which teachers can effectively support science concept development in read alouds. We argue against the use of narrative texts to teach scientific concepts, explain how and why informational texts are much better suited to that task, and present four guiding principles and instructional challenges for teaching science concepts in read alouds of informational texts, illustrated using classroom examples.

There is widespread agreement with in the field of early childhood education that vocabulary is important to literacy achievement and that reading aloud can support vocabulary growth. However, there are unexplored and significant problems with the ways we assess young children's vocabulary learning from read-alouds. This paper critically reviews the forms of vocabulary assessment commonly used with young children, examining the benefits and drawbacks of each. This review found: (a) general vocabulary measures are not practical, meaningful measures for vocabulary learning of specific words from books read aloud, (b) researcher-developed measures for specific words from books read aloud that mimic normed general vocabulary measures include serious threats to validity and reliability, and (c) other forms of measurement, such as soliciting definitions from children, are difficult to score reliably. This critical review of existing vocabulary assessments of word learning from read-alouds concludes that researchers and practitioners should carefully consider their needs for assessment data so as to choose, design and balance the uses of assessments to meet their needs for meaningful, reliable data.

e-Books share some key features with traditional printed picture books, but also include distinct features such as live animation, interactive components, and the operation of the technology that require new approaches to shared reading with young children. The purpose of this paper is to better inform adults working with young children (teachers, child care providers, and parents) of important factors to consider when choosing and sharing e-books with young children. We discuss why to share e-books with young children; types of e-books and how to evaluate them; how adults can best support young children's language and literacy development through shared readings of e-books, including examples of shared readings of an e-book with young children; and an exploration of the potential of e-books to support meaningful interactions around texts.

The high level of acceptance in US society of the preschool years as a critically important time for building early literacy skills has led to a flurry of activity in early childhood research and policy. The National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) report "Developing Early Literacy" (2008) is one example of this activity. The NELP report is part of a larger movement in the past decade to ground educational practice in scientifically based research results. In this article the authors examine recommendations for practice emanating from the NELP report and related documents designed to lead educators toward better early literacy classroom practice. They begin by describing the recent influences on early literacy, including the NELP report and other documents that interpret the report's findings. They then review the implications of literacy practice for preschoolers recommended in the NELP report and in publications that draw on NELP. The authors intend to make clear for practitioners, administrators, policy makers, and those involved in early childhood professional development which of the instructional recommendations made for early literacy are warranted and which may well create problems for some children's later reading success if implemented by preschool teachers.

The new age of digital media and information technologies demands more complex interpretive meaning-making from readers than ever before. Early childhood teachers must therefore incorporate higher-level literacy instruction focused on interpretative meaning to prepare students to meet these increasing literacy demands. This study redesigned the kindergarten classroom read aloud into an instructional context for interpretive meaning-making, rather than only literal level comprehension, where the meaning was constructed through interactive discussion. This article presents four teacher instructional supports for early childhood read aloud discussions designed to foster student engagement in interpretive meaning-making. Integration of the instructional supports created a read aloud climate centered on co-construction of interpretive meaning among the teacher and her students.

This article discusses the potential positive and problematic influences of the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP; 2008) report on prekindergarten and kindergarten classroom instructional practice. The authors support the instructional importance of the majority of the foundational skills identified in the NELP report as having "clear and consistently strong relationships with later conventional literacy skills" but also detail a number of concerns about NELP-influenced instructional recommendations drawn to date, arguing that the NELP report is both insufficiently clear and overly narrow with respect to what preschool teachers should be focusing on instructionally in early literacy. (Contains 1 note.)

Addressing beginning reading instruction in urban schools, this article proposes that a curriculum gap exists in many K-3 classrooms that operate under the guidelines of the No Child Left Behind Act and Reading First. The authors make a case for the inclusion of systematic and sustained instruction in comprehension, content knowledge, and writing in the early grades as well as attention to the Reading First emphases on phonological awareness, decoding, word recognition, and reading fluency. (Contains 1 table.)

Educators and researchers alike agree that, whether intended or not, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has served to narrow the goals in education for many contexts, content areas, and students [...]

Of 65 cases during a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outbreak among persons who inject drugs (PWID) in West Virginia (2019–2021), 61 (94%) had hepatitis C diagnosed a median of 46 months prior to HIV diagnosis. Hepatitis C diagnosis among PWID should trigger improved access to prevention and treatment services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on reading aloud as a way of promoting development of early literacy skills. Topics discussed include an increased attention given to reading aloud in early childhood classrooms in the U.S. due to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), some examples of high-quality narrative literature that can support complex processing of texts in read-aloud discussions, and a list of resources for locating complex children's literature.

The article focuses on discourse analysis initiating a change in a teacher's instructional practice. The initiation, student response, teacher feedback (IRF) as the most common pattern of classroom discourse is presented as limiting the complexity of discussions. Non-traditional discourse patterns wherein the teacher is not the sole initiator of ideas is discussed as being linked to higher-level processing. Transcript analysis that allows self-reflection by teachers is explored.

This article discusses the potential positive and problematic influences of the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP; 2008) report on prekindergarten and kindergarten classroom instructional practice. The authors support the instructional importance of the majority of the foundational skills identified in the NELP report as having "clear and consistently strong relationships with later conventional literacy skills" but also detail a number of concerns about NELP-influenced instructional recommendations drawn to date, arguing that the NELP report is both insufficiently clear and overly narrow with respect to what preschool teachers should be focusing on instructionally in early literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the impact of seating arrangements and duration of the read-aloud activity on student engagement during read-alouds in preschool classroom. Topics include a rationale for considering student engagement for effective read-alouds, a study of the relationship between student engagement and seating arrangement and duration, and other factors affecting engagement such as the content of book and individual characteristics of students.

Rationale : The positive reinforcing effects of alcohol (ethanol) drive its repetitive use and contribute to alcohol use disorder (AUD). Ethanol alters the expression of glutamate AMPA receptor (AMPAR) subunits in reward-related brain regions, but the extent to which this effect regulates ethanol's reinforcing properties is unclear. Objective: This study investigates whether ethanol self-administration changes AMPAR subunit expression and synaptic activity in the nucleus accumbens core (AcbC) to regulate ethanol's reinforcing effects in male C57BL/6J mice. Results: Sucrose-sweetened ethanol self-administration (0.81 g/kg/day) increased AMPAR GluA2 protein expression in the AcbC, without effect on GluA1, compared to sucrose-only controls. Infusion of myristoylated Pep2m in the AcbC, which blocks GluA2 binding to N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein (NSF) and reduces GluA2-containing AMPAR activity, reduced ethanol-reinforced responding without affecting sucrose-only self-administration or motor activity. Antagonizing GluA2-lacking AMPARs, through AcbC infusion of NASPM, had no effect on ethanol self-administration. AcbC neurons receiving projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) showed increased sEPSC area under the curve (a measurement of charge transfer) and slower decay kinetics in ethanol self-administering mice as compared to sucrose. Optogenetic activation of these neurons revealed an ethanol-enhanced AMPA/NMDA ratio and significantly reduced paired-pulse ratio, suggesting elevated GluA2 contributions specifically within the BLA→AcbC pathway. Conclusions: Ethanol use upregulates GluA2 protein expression in the AcbC and AMPAR synaptic activity in AcbC neurons receiving BLA projections and enhances synaptic plasticity directly within the BLA→AcbC circuit. GluA2-containing AMPAR activity in the AcbC regulates the positive reinforcing effects of ethanol through an NSF-dependent mechanism, highlighting a potential therapeutic target in AUD.

The title compound, {[CuI(bpe)]·0.25(bpe)} n , was synthesized similarly to (CuI) 2 (bpe) [Neal et al. (2019 ▸). IUCrData , 4 , x190122] with red crystals grown from aceto-nitrile solutions of CuI and the bpe ligand [bpe = 1,2-bis-(pyridin-4-yl)ethene, C 12 H 10 N 2 ]. The structure of the title compound is a type 1 complex in the Graham nomenclature [Graham et al. (2000 ▸). Inorg. Chem . 39 , 5121-5132], having rhombic dimers of Cu 2 I 2 that are bridged by two bpe ligands, to form oligomeric ribbons arranged as stairsteps. The step height is 2.8072 (11) Å, which is the Cu-I i distance of the dimer [symmetry code (i): 1 -  x , 2 -  y , 1 -  z ]. The resulting polymer displays a two-dimensional honeycomb framework along the (01) plane, and disordered free bpe mol-ecules fill the voids in the crystal., (© Hoffman et al. 2020.)