Reveals that only three structures--confrontation, episodic, and plotless--accounted for 87 percent of the story selections in six basal reader series. (FL)

Details an investigation of the relative contribution of two dimensions of field dependence-independence to the prediction of specific reading skills for first-grade children in an intensive phonics program and in a basal reader program supplemented with phonics. (FL)

Describes a study designed to determine the order of introduction of the common phoneme-grapheme correspondences needed for use in decoding written words in the elementary grades. Includes tables showing the order of introduction of vowel and diphthong phonemes and of consonant phonemes, and presents a teaching hierarchy for introduction of…

Compares basal readers' vocabulary load in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Finds that the average number of words introduced in books for first grade increased during this time. Recommends that teachers adjust instruction to meet the needs of less able students when using basals with a high vocabulary load. (RS)

Presents the results of research indicating that it is possible to prescreen for predicting the optimum reading instructional approach for each child. (RB)

Reviews the research on the initial teaching alphabet (i/t/a), the sources of conflict and misunderstanding involving its use, and its future in reading instruction. (FL)

Presents results of two experiments which measured difficulty of learning vowel and consonant sounds and revealed significantly more correct responses for consonant sounds than for vowel sounds. (JM)

Reports a study identifying the most commonly used words in 110 highly recommended trade books for children in grades one and two. (TO)

Discusses the effectiveness of two techniques of teaching vowel knowledge--the vowel-in-isolation approach and the phonogram approach. (FL)

Considers how reading and writing experiences gained during the preschool period have enormous effect on children's first learning to read and write. Initiates a cross-cultural dimension to the subject matter from an empirical paradigm. Provides some evidence that emergent literacy is extensible to experiences regardless of linguistic forms. (SG)

Compares the effectiveness of two reading programs for use with low socioeconomic first grade children. (RB)

Describes a study designed to determine whether children identified as learning disabled by Slingerland's Pre-reading Screening Procedures would progress further in sensory abilities and reading achievement as a result of receiving reading instruction by the synthetic-multisensory or the multiple-factor method. (JM)

Concludes that instruction in aural cloze improved kindergarten children's ability to supply words deleted from a story read to them. (FL)

Reports on a study that examined the preferences of kindergarten children for upper or lower case letters. Concludes that preference for letters may result from the development of an aesthetic sense. (FL)