Learning to read marks a critical transition in a child's educational trajectory that has long term consequences. This dissertation analyzes how California's current policies in beginning reading instruction impact two critical conditions for creating opportunity--access to qualified teachers and rigorous academic curriculum--by examining the…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading success of children in the elementary grades: reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria included use of…

Practitioners are often faced with the national legislation's influence at the school-based curricular level. In the United States, the federal government No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandates reading instruction at the early primary grade levels. The position of "literacy coach" was created to support this curriculum change by…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the beginning reading success of children in kindergarten and first grade: Reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria…

In the Spring of 1967, two groups of about twenty 4-year-olds from varying socioeconomic backgrounds of a small Midwestern community were subjects in a study to design a preschool curriculum. After an IQ test, individual identification tests (word, letter, and numeral) were administered to determine the children's knowledge. Home interviews and…

The National Literacy Mission Authority has begun pilot testing an innovative open distance education program for newly literate individuals in 20 districts of India. Using open and distance education where literacy is at its infancy is feasible because newly literate persons can manage to read printed material and have the motivation to read and…

This description of computer-based courseware for a beginning reading curriculum developed by the PLATO Elementary Reading Project indicates the philosophical approach to lesson development and describes the interactive capabilities of the system, as well as the types of visual displays, routines for data collection by teachers, and uses of the…

This curriculum guide, written by experienced teachers of adults in Philadelphia, describes a full curriculum for intermediate-level adult literacy students (students who have basic reading skills). The curriculum is based on the assumption that adult students deserve a broad, well-rounded education. The guide also discusses teaching techniques…

This document dealing with the System for Pupil Program Evaluation and Development (SPPED) is the second in a set of tools to be used by school personnel in developing curricula for their own reading programs. The material presented consists of: (1) a list of the descriptors for all criterion objectives and the generic objectives to which they…

The ABDs of Reading program provides explicit training in phoneme analysis and phoneme blending, letter-sound correspondences, and decoding to learning disabled children. No extensive teacher-training, teacher-aids, or other unusual classroom support is required. (Author/CP)

This position paper was written to assist teachers and administrators in Oregon in preparing curriculum and setting priorities for kindergarten programs. It begins by asserting that the focus of kindergarten instruction should be on the total development of the child: socioemotional, physical, and intellectual. The need for concrete learning…

Addressing beginning reading instruction in urban schools, this article proposes that a curriculum gap exists in many K-3 classrooms that operate under the guidelines of the No Child Left Behind Act and Reading First. The authors make a case for the inclusion of systematic and sustained instruction in comprehension, content knowledge, and writing…

Two beginning reading curricula that use computer assisted instruction were developed during 12 years of work at Stanford University. This paper describes those curricula and the motivations, assumptions, procedures, and problems that were involved in their construction. Twelve observations about curricular design and development are summarized to…

Defining reading as a dynamic, interactive process involving the reader in constructing meaning, this guide for the elementary and secondary curriculum was designed to facilitate effective and creative decision making by teachers for (1) integrating reading and writing across the curriculum, (2) developing readers who can independently apply…

PHONICS INSTRUCTION IS A BASIC SUBJECT IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM. THE HARVARD-BOSTON SUMMER PROGRAM BEGINS WITH A DIAGNOSTIC TEST TO DETERMINE JUST WHAT SKILLS SHOULD BE TAUGHT. THE PROGRAM IS BASED ON THE CONCEPT THAT PHONICS IS THE SPOKEN WORD, THUS IT IS SUGGESTED THAT A LITERARY APPROACH BE USED IN WHICH THERE ARE A VARIETY OF WRITING…