twenty one

5

Annotated Bibliography Part 1

by

- [CRN]

Learning & Organizations

South University

November 1, 2026

Annotated Bibliography Part 1

Many students reach secondary school unable to read grade-level texts with understanding. National reading assessment results point to continuing concerns about adolescent reading achievement (National Center for Education Statistics, 2025). My Strategic Research Project, Bridging the Literacy Gap: Reading Strategies to Support Secondary Struggling Readers, tackles this issue. The project asks what reading strategies are effective for adolescents in Grades 6–12 to enhance their comprehension. Adolescents with reading difficulties have poor word reading skills, limited vocabulary, and limited experience with complex text. Potential interventions include decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension strategy instruction, and the impact on learners is variable.

This annotated bibliography is the first step towards building the scholarly foundation for that question. The search focused on peer-reviewed empirical studies published since 2021. These studies examined interventions or instructional methods with middle and high school students who were reading below grade level. A method, a sample, and results are reported for each study, with attention to study design and reported outcomes. The five studies below investigate tutor-led, computer-delivered, multicomponent, and whole-text interventions with students in Grades 6–12.

Barnes, M. A., Clemens, N. H., Simmons, D., Hall, C., Fogarty, M., Martinez-Lincoln, A., Vaughn, S., Simmons, L., Fall, A.-M., & Roberts, G. (2024). A randomized controlled trial of tutor- and computer-delivered inferential comprehension interventions for middle school students with reading difficulties. Scientific Studies of Reading, 28(4), 411–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2024.2331517

This randomized controlled study examined the effectiveness of an inference-making intervention on comprehension for middle school students with reading difficulties. The authors randomly assigned 145 students in Grades 6 to 8 who failed their state literacy test to tutor-led, computer-delivered, or business-as-usual instruction. The intervention focused on text-connecting and knowledge-based inferences, including inferences about word meanings based on context and inferences about pronoun reference. The tutor-led group showed better performance than the business-as-usual group (g = .40) and the computer group (g = .30) on the types of inferences that were taught. There were no significant differences between the two versions in terms of general comprehension for the entire sample. However, students with adequate word reading gained more from the tutor-led version than from business-as-usual instruction on a standardized comprehension test. The authors also reported a difference in outcomes by sex across delivery conditions. This study is related to my topic as inference is one of the key reading strategies for adolescents. The findings suggest that strategy instruction may be especially beneficial when the teacher provides direction, students are already proficient at reading words accurately, and instruction focuses on the specific inference skills. One limitation is the small sample size, which limits the ability to detect subgroup effects and the confidence in the moderator results for boys and for stronger word readers. The distinction between improvement on directly taught inference tasks and broader comprehension outcomes is particularly important for my project. It

Capin, P., Miciak, J., Bhat, B. H., Roberts, G., Steinle, P. K., Fletcher, J., & Vaughn, S. (2024). An extensive reading intervention for emergent bilingual students with significant reading difficulties in middle school. Remedial and Special Education, 45(4), 230–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325231213876

This multisite randomized controlled trial examined an intensive reading intervention (IRI) for emergent bilingual students with substantial reading deficits during middle school. The authors randomly allocated students in Grades 6 and 7 to an intervention (n = 171) or to business-as-usual instruction (n = 169). Word reading and reading comprehension were measured and students were followed into a second year. The intervention group showed greater performance than the comparison group on word reading, the outcome most closely aligned with the intervention, after Year 1. However, the groups did not differ significantly on standardized measures of reading comprehension. Students' comprehension scores at the beginning of Year 2 were moderated by their initial English vocabulary, and students with varying levels of English proficiency responded differently. This study relates to my topic as it is a test of a sustained intervention for older struggling readers whose first language is not English. Many of these students are learning academic content in English while still learning the language. It implies that while word reading can be enhanced in secondary school, comprehension gains are difficult to achieve when English vocabulary is limited. One drawback is that the comprehension effect was not significant on standardized measures, and evidence of transfer to general reading skills is weak. The findings distinguish gains in foundational reading from gains in understanding connected text. This distinction matters for my project because secondary students often need multiple forms of support at the same time. For

Hogan, E., Vaughn, S., Fall, A.-M., Capin, P., Miciak, J., & Roberts, G. (2024). Does the effectiveness of a reading intervention differ dependent on students’ Spanish or English proficiencies? Learning and Individual Differences, 116, Article 102546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102546

This study investigated whether the effectiveness of a reading intervention was impacted by students' Spanish and English proficiency. The authors performed a secondary analysis of data from a randomized study of a 2-year intervention for multilingual learners in grades 6 and 7 with reading problems. Participants were 155 Spanish-speaking students in six Title I schools. The intervention was multicomponent, and students attended 85% of the sessions. The researchers tested the moderation effect of language proficiency by latent moderated structural equation modeling. Proficiency moderated one outcome, and students demonstrated below-average performance in both Spanish and English. Treatment improved letter and word recognition more for students with higher English proficiency. Proficiency did not moderate effects on Gates-MacGinitie comprehension or on word recognition fluency, so only one interaction was statistically significant (β = 3.36, p = .02). This study is related to my topic because it demonstrates that language proficiency plays a role in determining whether adolescents will benefit from strategy-based instruction. The findings suggest considering vocabulary development alongside strategy instruction. One of the limitations is that students were not randomly assigned to levels of proficiency, and unmeasured background factors may account for some of the findings; the posttest was administered via phone due to COVID-19. For my Strategic Research Project, the study is useful because it examines differences among multilingual adolescents rather than assuming that all students learning English respond similarly to reading intervention. The result for letter and word recognition suggests that existing

Solis, M., Kulesz, P., & Williams, K. (2022). Response to intervention for high school students: Examining baseline word reading skills and reading comprehension outcomes. Annals of Dyslexia, 72(2), 324–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-022-00253-5

This study examined whether high school students’ beginning word reading skills affected how they responded to a reading intervention. The authors completed a post hoc analysis of a randomized trial. Students with reading difficulties were assigned to business-as-usual instruction or to two years of an intensive multicomponent intervention that taught word reading and reading comprehension. Students took word reading and comprehension measures before the intervention, but they took only comprehension measures at posttest. The researchers tested whether word-level fluency changed the treatment effect on comprehension in Years 1 and 2. Word-level fluency did not significantly change the difference between the treatment and control groups. But, in both years, students who scored higher on word-level fluency measures also scored higher on comprehension measures at both time points, across conditions. The study's follow-up period of two years allowed for the investigation of both short-term and longer-term comprehension outcomes. This study relates to my topic because it is about high school readers, which is a less studied population. It shows that baseline word-reading skill was associated with comprehension outcomes, even when it did not significantly moderate treatment effects. A limitation is that the analysis was post hoc, so the original trial was not designed to answer this question. This study contributes to my topic by examining a persistent challenge: students may receive intensive reading support and still show substantial differences in comprehension performance. Its findings suggest that baseline word-level fluency is associated with later comprehension,

Sutherland, J., Westbrook, J., Oakhill, J., & Sullivan, S. (2024). An immersive, ‘Faster Read’: A pilot, mixed-method study, developing whole-text reading comprehension and engagement with adolescent struggling readers. Research Papers in Education, 39(5), 774–796. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2023.2238285

This pilot study used a mixed-methods approach to determine whether reading whole novels at a faster rate enhances comprehension and engagement in secondary English classes. Twenty teachers in ten English schools taught Year 8 classes of 413 students aged 12 to 13, and 44% were struggling readers. Two novels were taught in 12 weeks, and 1.5 days of training were provided for half of the teachers. The researchers used the Hodder Access test to assess comprehension before and after the term as well as gathering qualitative data on classroom practice. All students achieved approximately 8.5 months of progress, regardless of training. Struggling readers gained about 16 months, while average and stronger readers gained about 1 to 3 months, a significant interaction (p < .001). The largest reported gains occurred among struggling readers. Qualitative themes were print exposure, comprehension strategies, inference questioning, dialogic talk, and vocabulary work. The authors call the results encouraging but preliminary, and warrant a larger study. This study relates to my topic because it demonstrates that sustained whole-text reading with strategy talk can be beneficial for struggling readers. One limitation is the lack of a business-as-usual comparison group; thus, the gains cannot be attributed to the approach alone, and volunteer schools may limit generalization. The approach is relevant to my research because it places comprehension instruction within sustained reading of complete texts rather than isolated exercises. The classroom activities also connect to practical strategies I use or could adapt,

References

National Center for Education Statistics. (2025). 2024 National assessment of educational progress grade 8 reading results. https://www.fldoe.org/file/7667/2024NAEPGrade8Reading.pdf

5

Annotated Bibliography Part 2

by

Student Name

- CRN

Learning & Organizations

South University

Date

Annotated Bibliography Part 2

You should start your paper with an introduction. Please note that the APA manual states the word “Introduction” is not used. In this introduction, you will briefly restate your topic from the SRP Part 1A you drafted in EDD 8100 last term. Additionally, you will describe the focus of your literature search and refine the focus of your literature search if needed. The introduction should be one to two paragraphs. All paragraphs must have at least five to six academic sentences.

For this assignment, Academic Writer is available through the NSU library to support APA formatting for annotated bibliographies. In addition, annotated bibliographies are covered in the APA 7th edition Manual (Sections 9.51 & 9.52), and a sample is provided on page 308. Students must utilize five (5) peer-reviewed empirical articles for this assignment. Each annotation must include:

• Each annotation should have 200–250 words

• Summary: Explain the purpose of the study, the research method, and the key findings

• Relevance: Explain how the study connects to your topic or problem area

• Relationship to Other Studies: Explain how the study in this annotation connects to at least one other article from Assignment 1 or Assignment 2 (this assignment). You may describe: (a)A similarity (both studies found the same result); (b) A difference (the studies reached different conclusions); or (c) An extension (this study builds on or adds to another study)

• Strength or Limitation: Identify one strength or one limitation of the study

Annotated Bibliographies

Begin your annotated bibliography #1 here with the correct format of the reference.

Each annotation should have a word count between 200 - 250 words. Be sure to use the correct format as shown on page 308 of the APA 7th edition Manual. All paragraphs must have at least five to six academic sentences.

Begin your annotated bibliography #2 here with the correct format of the reference.

Each annotation should have a word count between 200 - 250 words. Be sure to use the correct format as shown on page 308 of the APA 7th edition Manual. All paragraphs must have at least five to six academic sentences.

Begin your annotated bibliography #3 here with the correct format of the reference.

Each annotation should have a word count between 200 - 250 words. Be sure to use the correct format as shown on page 308 of the APA 7th edition Manual. All paragraphs must have at least five to six academic sentences.

Begin your annotated bibliography #4 here with the correct format of the reference.

Each annotation should have a word count between 200 - 250 words. Be sure to use the correct format as shown on page 308 of the APA 7th edition Manual. All paragraphs must have at least five to six academic sentences.

Begin your annotated bibliography #5 here with the correct format of the reference.

Each annotation should have a word count between 200 - 250 words. Be sure to use the correct format as shown on page 308 of the APA 7th edition Manual. All paragraphs must have at least five to six academic sentences.

References

Only include references that were added to the introduction here and keep the double-spacing format. Make sure to DELETE these instructions.

5

Annotated Bibliography Part 1

by

- [CRN]

Learning & Organizations

South University

November 1, 2026

Annotated Bibliography Part 1

Many students reach secondary school unable to read grade-level texts with understanding. National reading assessment results point to continuing concerns about adolescent reading achievement (National Center for Education Statistics, 2025). My Strategic Research Project, Bridging the Literacy Gap: Reading Strategies to Support Secondary Struggling Readers, tackles this issue. The project asks what reading strategies are effective for adolescents in Grades 6–12 to enhance their comprehension. Adolescents with reading difficulties have poor word reading skills, limited vocabulary, and limited experience with complex text. Potential interventions include decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension strategy instruction, and the impact on learners is variable.

This annotated bibliography is the first step towards building the scholarly foundation for that question. The search focused on peer-reviewed empirical studies published since 2021. These studies examined interventions or instructional methods with middle and high school students who were reading below grade level. A method, a sample, and results are reported for each study, with attention to study design and reported outcomes. The five studies below investigate tutor-led, computer-delivered, multicomponent, and whole-text interventions with students in Grades 6–12.

Barnes, M. A., Clemens, N. H., Simmons, D., Hall, C., Fogarty, M., Martinez-Lincoln, A., Vaughn, S., Simmons, L., Fall, A.-M., & Roberts, G. (2024). A randomized controlled trial of tutor- and computer-delivered inferential comprehension interventions for middle school students with reading difficulties. Scientific Studies of Reading, 28(4), 411–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2024.2331517

This randomized controlled study examined the effectiveness of an inference-making intervention on comprehension for middle school students with reading difficulties. The authors randomly assigned 145 students in Grades 6 to 8 who failed their state literacy test to tutor-led, computer-delivered, or business-as-usual instruction. The intervention focused on text-connecting and knowledge-based inferences, including inferences about word meanings based on context and inferences about pronoun reference. The tutor-led group showed better performance than the business-as-usual group (g = .40) and the computer group (g = .30) on the types of inferences that were taught. There were no significant differences between the two versions in terms of general comprehension for the entire sample. However, students with adequate word reading gained more from the tutor-led version than from business-as-usual instruction on a standardized comprehension test. The authors also reported a difference in outcomes by sex across delivery conditions. This study is related to my topic as inference is one of the key reading strategies for adolescents. The findings suggest that strategy instruction may be especially beneficial when the teacher provides direction, students are already proficient at reading words accurately, and instruction focuses on the specific inference skills. One limitation is the small sample size, which limits the ability to detect subgroup effects and the confidence in the moderator results for boys and for stronger word readers. The distinction between improvement on directly taught inference tasks and broader comprehension outcomes is particularly important for my project. It

Capin, P., Miciak, J., Bhat, B. H., Roberts, G., Steinle, P. K., Fletcher, J., & Vaughn, S. (2024). An extensive reading intervention for emergent bilingual students with significant reading difficulties in middle school. Remedial and Special Education, 45(4), 230–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325231213876

This multisite randomized controlled trial examined an intensive reading intervention (IRI) for emergent bilingual students with substantial reading deficits during middle school. The authors randomly allocated students in Grades 6 and 7 to an intervention (n = 171) or to business-as-usual instruction (n = 169). Word reading and reading comprehension were measured and students were followed into a second year. The intervention group showed greater performance than the comparison group on word reading, the outcome most closely aligned with the intervention, after Year 1. However, the groups did not differ significantly on standardized measures of reading comprehension. Students' comprehension scores at the beginning of Year 2 were moderated by their initial English vocabulary, and students with varying levels of English proficiency responded differently. This study relates to my topic as it is a test of a sustained intervention for older struggling readers whose first language is not English. Many of these students are learning academic content in English while still learning the language. It implies that while word reading can be enhanced in secondary school, comprehension gains are difficult to achieve when English vocabulary is limited. One drawback is that the comprehension effect was not significant on standardized measures, and evidence of transfer to general reading skills is weak. The findings distinguish gains in foundational reading from gains in understanding connected text. This distinction matters for my project because secondary students often need multiple forms of support at the same time. For

Hogan, E., Vaughn, S., Fall, A.-M., Capin, P., Miciak, J., & Roberts, G. (2024). Does the effectiveness of a reading intervention differ dependent on students’ Spanish or English proficiencies? Learning and Individual Differences, 116, Article 102546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102546

This study investigated whether the effectiveness of a reading intervention was impacted by students' Spanish and English proficiency. The authors performed a secondary analysis of data from a randomized study of a 2-year intervention for multilingual learners in grades 6 and 7 with reading problems. Participants were 155 Spanish-speaking students in six Title I schools. The intervention was multicomponent, and students attended 85% of the sessions. The researchers tested the moderation effect of language proficiency by latent moderated structural equation modeling. Proficiency moderated one outcome, and students demonstrated below-average performance in both Spanish and English. Treatment improved letter and word recognition more for students with higher English proficiency. Proficiency did not moderate effects on Gates-MacGinitie comprehension or on word recognition fluency, so only one interaction was statistically significant (β = 3.36, p = .02). This study is related to my topic because it demonstrates that language proficiency plays a role in determining whether adolescents will benefit from strategy-based instruction. The findings suggest considering vocabulary development alongside strategy instruction. One of the limitations is that students were not randomly assigned to levels of proficiency, and unmeasured background factors may account for some of the findings; the posttest was administered via phone due to COVID-19. For my Strategic Research Project, the study is useful because it examines differences among multilingual adolescents rather than assuming that all students learning English respond similarly to reading intervention. The result for letter and word recognition suggests that existing

Solis, M., Kulesz, P., & Williams, K. (2022). Response to intervention for high school students: Examining baseline word reading skills and reading comprehension outcomes. Annals of Dyslexia, 72(2), 324–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-022-00253-5

This study examined whether high school students’ beginning word reading skills affected how they responded to a reading intervention. The authors completed a post hoc analysis of a randomized trial. Students with reading difficulties were assigned to business-as-usual instruction or to two years of an intensive multicomponent intervention that taught word reading and reading comprehension. Students took word reading and comprehension measures before the intervention, but they took only comprehension measures at posttest. The researchers tested whether word-level fluency changed the treatment effect on comprehension in Years 1 and 2. Word-level fluency did not significantly change the difference between the treatment and control groups. But, in both years, students who scored higher on word-level fluency measures also scored higher on comprehension measures at both time points, across conditions. The study's follow-up period of two years allowed for the investigation of both short-term and longer-term comprehension outcomes. This study relates to my topic because it is about high school readers, which is a less studied population. It shows that baseline word-reading skill was associated with comprehension outcomes, even when it did not significantly moderate treatment effects. A limitation is that the analysis was post hoc, so the original trial was not designed to answer this question. This study contributes to my topic by examining a persistent challenge: students may receive intensive reading support and still show substantial differences in comprehension performance. Its findings suggest that baseline word-level fluency is associated with later comprehension,

Sutherland, J., Westbrook, J., Oakhill, J., & Sullivan, S. (2024). An immersive, ‘Faster Read’: A pilot, mixed-method study, developing whole-text reading comprehension and engagement with adolescent struggling readers. Research Papers in Education, 39(5), 774–796. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2023.2238285

This pilot study used a mixed-methods approach to determine whether reading whole novels at a faster rate enhances comprehension and engagement in secondary English classes. Twenty teachers in ten English schools taught Year 8 classes of 413 students aged 12 to 13, and 44% were struggling readers. Two novels were taught in 12 weeks, and 1.5 days of training were provided for half of the teachers. The researchers used the Hodder Access test to assess comprehension before and after the term as well as gathering qualitative data on classroom practice. All students achieved approximately 8.5 months of progress, regardless of training. Struggling readers gained about 16 months, while average and stronger readers gained about 1 to 3 months, a significant interaction (p < .001). The largest reported gains occurred among struggling readers. Qualitative themes were print exposure, comprehension strategies, inference questioning, dialogic talk, and vocabulary work. The authors call the results encouraging but preliminary, and warrant a larger study. This study relates to my topic because it demonstrates that sustained whole-text reading with strategy talk can be beneficial for struggling readers. One limitation is the lack of a business-as-usual comparison group; thus, the gains cannot be attributed to the approach alone, and volunteer schools may limit generalization. The approach is relevant to my research because it places comprehension instruction within sustained reading of complete texts rather than isolated exercises. The classroom activities also connect to practical strategies I use or could adapt,

References

National Center for Education Statistics. (2025). 2024 National assessment of educational progress grade 8 reading results. https://www.fldoe.org/file/7667/2024NAEPGrade8Reading.pdf