A summer reading program for disadvantaged, urban elementary school students provided scaffolded access to books by constructing a book-rich environment, as well as giving supportive strategy instruction for choosing and using reading materials. The program culminated in a book-buying experience in which students chose books for home libraries.…

The International Reading Association (2003) has recently established new guidelines for graduate students enrolled in reading and literacy programs. These guidelines require graduate students to maintain direct contact with students during their coursework for advanced degrees. Field experiences support best practices in bridging the gap between…

This article presents a story of the transformation of summer reading at Barnstable High School (BHS) in Massachusetts which took place during the last year of the author's practice as a school library media specialist before she began her work as a professor and researcher at Rutgers University. It is a true story about effecting change and…

Describes a summer reading program for 26 remedial readers in which each student left voice-mail messages on the school district's voice-mail system, either reading to the teacher for three minutes or summarizing a book chapter. Describes the teacher's responses and parental feedback and involvement. Notes that all students maintained their…

Virtually all public libraries in the United States provide some type of summer library reading program during the traditional summer vacation period. Summer library reading programs provide opportunities for students of many ages and abilities to practice their reading skills and maintain skills that are developed during the school year. Fiore…

Using the first 4 waves of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K), this piecewise 3-level (time-student-school) growth-curve model provides a portrait of students' reading growth over the first 2 years of school. On average, students make much greater reading gains in 1st grade than they do in kindergarten.…

This paper reports on a Right to Read summer workshop held for selected classroom teachers. The objectives of the workshop were to provide the teachers with new reading related concepts, techniques, and materials so they could return to their own schools and share their knowledge and attitudes with other teachers. A total of 30 teachers…

Examines the effects of a balanced, accelerated, and responsive literacy program on the reading growth of second grade struggling readers. Finds that students grew in their word identification abilities, fluency, strategic comprehension abilities, perceptions of themselves as readers, attitudes toward reading, and instructional reading levels.…

Two 1-week workshops dealing with reading and reading related topics were held during the summer of 1973 by the Kansas Right to Read Project. The workshops were designed to acquaint the 60 participants with new reading techniques and to prepare them to return to their schools and pass these techniques on to the other teachers. Two methods were…

Outlines a major literacy initiative for urban children taking place in the Dallas, Texas Public Schools. Describes several different programs at the school district level aimed at family and community outreach, in order to create a literacy-education support system with primary care givers in the homes. (SR)

The Learning to Read Through the Arts program of the New York City public school system was designed to provide supplementary reading services to 3,360 mildly to moderately handicapped children in grades three through nine for three summers. The program was held in 20 sites throughout the city and was scheduled for 4 hours a day. The program was…

Describes a summer remedial reading program for first-grade students. Includes discussions of the activities and strategies used to promote comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary development. (FL)

"Learning City" is the theme of a summer education project that provides a unique teaching atmosphere for migrant children. For 2 summers, 130 students have participated in this program that sustains and enforces reading and math skills, as well as helps develop self-concept. Industries in Learning City are the various branches of study: reading…

Describes a summer reading program designed to improve low-achieving students' reading skills and to assist them in becoming focused and motivated readers. Finds that the summer reading program provided the necessary stimuli for the participants to develop an appreciation for reading, improve their vocabulary, and develop critical thinking skills.…

Resulting from an investigation of reading programs that refuse to tolerate acquiescence to the inevitability of reading failure, this book describes what works and why in adolescent literacy, through case studies and through observations gleaned from extensive literature searches and site visits. Chapters are as follows: (1) "Adolescent…