Syntheses of reading research conducted by the National Research Council (1998) and more recently by the Congressionally-Commissioned National Reading Panel (2000) provide ample evidence of the skills, experience, and knowledge children need to become successful readers in an alphabetic writing system. This research makes clear that children must…

Within the context of President Bush's Reading First and Early Reading First initiatives to improve early literacy skills for preschool children and reading literacy skills for primary children, a national invitational conference on successful reading instruction was held in Washington, DC, on November 12-13, 2001. It focused on determining how…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: For the last three years, in the Flowing Wells Schools in Tucson, Arizona, Reading Specialists Susan Heintz and Carol McPheeters have directed a continuous program which involves a total schoolwide commitment to developing positive feelings toward reading. The name of this program is "Paperback…

Issued twice yearly, this journal focuses on materials of interest to teachers of reading at the college level. The five articles in this issue deal with the following topics: basic skills instruction, judging the success of college reading programs, the effect of copying or paraphrasing structurally-cued topic sentences on passage comprehension,…

This report focuses on techniques that can be used to learn more about the strengths and shortcomings of reading programs, of the teaching of reading, and of the students involved. The first article provides information about the "Handbook of Planning an Effective Reading Program," a guide published by the California State Department of…

This issue presents eight essays all on the theme of how young children can become strong and successful lifelong readers. "Seeking Common Ground" (Lee Sherman) reviews the debate over how best to teach young children to read. "In the Beginning" (Catherine Paglin) suggests that by reading aloud to young children and filling their world with print,…

Noting that the terms "language of mathematics,""language of science," and "language of business" represent very real language differences which frustrate even good readers, this curriculum report suggests several procedures teachers might use to assist students in reading in varied content areas. The procedures include teaching students to…

A study investigated the effectiveness of the "News Read" project in which reading was taught using an analytic procedure (where understanding is a prerequisite for correct decoding) using newspapers as the sole reading materials. Subjects, about 300 students in three classes from each of the three levels of Swedish comprehensive schools…

The importance of all children achieving adequate reading outcomes by the end of third grade cannot be overstated. Awareness is growing nationwide of the dividends of early reading success and the dire consequences of early reading failure. Schools need a prevention-oriented assessment and intervention system to prevent reading difficulties from…

In describing the K-12 reading program in the North Bend (Oregon) School District, this report presents a brief history of the program, discusses key aspects, and lists the program's standards. The program history covers its start in 1974, the effect of an earlier Right to Read campaign, and the district's adoption of the Macmillan basal reading…

Reading research has provided repeated evidence of measurable growth in reading performance and language development in children as a result of reading literature aloud to them. In order to match appropriate literary experiences to a specific audience, the teacher must have a knowledge of the interests, needs, and strengths of the children, and…

Research shows that children who are not proficient readers by the end of third grade perform poorly in other subjects and have difficulties throughout the course of their schooling. The knowledge exists to teach all but a small percentage of students to become proficient readers. Despite this knowledge, a troubling number of children do not learn…

A case study explored issues related to the self-selection of literature in a literature-based reading program. Lori, the student whose selection behaviors are highlighted, was one of 14 students who participated in a 5-month qualitative study in a sixth-grade classroom where the students were able to self-select their reading material. Lori, a…

Five essays for reading instructors at two-year colleges are provided in this issue of "Forum for Reading." First, Kent Smith notes the increased recruitment of underprepared students and argues that colleges are responsible for assuring that admissions personnel, administrators, and faculty know the types of students they can and cannot…

This paper states that the unequivocal goal that Governor George Bush has set for the state of Texas is that "all students should be able to read on grade level or higher by the end of third grade and continue to read on grade level or higher throughout their schooling." The paper explains that the governor identified eight key elements…