Response to Intervention (RTI) is an instructional framework through which schools can provide early intervention for students experiencing academic and behavioral difficulties. It is also promoted as an alternative to the IQ-discrepancy model for identifying students with learning disabilities. Most states have developed, or are developing,…

William S. Gray, first president of the International Reading Association, is the focus of this booklet. Sections are devoted to "The Person," which includes Gray's family background, early schooling and teaching jobs, and his further education at Illinois State University, the University of Chicago, and Teachers College (Columbia…

Outlines a psycholinguistic framework for reading and spelling methodology at the preliminary stage. Based on the theory of metalinguistic development of A. Karmiloff-Smith and J. Gombert, the framework involves a three-step model for early reading and spelling instruction. The approach balances focus on meaning with focus on skill. (SLD)

The use of the term "response to intervention" focuses on its potential utility for diagnosis of learning disabilities. In this context, "response to intervention" can be understood as a diagnostic approach for determining which students are entitled to special educational services. It is important to notice that the validity of the RTI diagnostic…

A prereading model based on a 9-month longitudinal study of 45 deaf preschool children from state residential schools is presented. The model contends that reading can be initiated by giving deaf children opportunities to match their internalized manual language to printed words, stressing reading-related activities involving parents, teachers,…

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…

Suggesting that a missing link between effective practices and their sustained implementation is the "host environment" into which practices, programs, procedures, and pedagogy are translated, this bulletin describes the need for prevention and intervention models in beginning reading that are anchored to the school as the host environment. The…

Pretend play and language growth are related through representational thought. Fundamental to representational thought are five connectives, at the theoretical level, which link pretend play and language growth: motor actions, roles and role changes, creative expression, concentration, and decentration. At the research level, results of selected…

Parents are the child's first and most important teacher. This booklet begins with a story about the parent of a first grade reader. The parent in the story models methods which a real life parent could employ to help a child learn to read such as finding words that begin with the first letter of a child's name, or taking turns with the child…

The potential benefits of father participation in their children's reading and writing activities include improved literacy skills, increased bonding, and heightened self-esteem of both fathers and children. This paper identifies a training model for working with fathers--Project DADS. Using this model, early childhood professionals can foster…