Focusing on reading, this issue of "Insights" contains three sections. The first, by Clara A. Pedersen, lists 20 questions which teachers and administrators should ask themselves before administering reading tests. The second, "What's Wrong with Reading Tests" by Deborah Meier, defines reading, describes learning to read, and analyzes the problems…

The development of a psychology of instruction calls for qualitative, as well as quantitative, information about curriculum components. An analysis of selected instructional sequences of the New Primary Grades Reading System, a reading acquisition curriculum for five and six year olds, was performed by applying appropriate category systems from…

Describes a study to determine the effects of visual perception training on beginning first-grade reading achievement with children diagnosed as being deficient in visual perceptual skills and potential reading problems. (JM)

This book presents a developmentally appropriate reading program created especially for young children to teach them to read fluently, and well, in 20 step-by-step lessons. It is suitable for both homeschooling and classroom use. The program offered in the book can also be used for children with reading difficulties. It offers a structured phonics…

The great hope for permanent change in the below-norms reading performance of children lies in accomplishing the task of bringing first graders above national norms and holding them there as they move up the grades. Some form of programed learning can accomplish these goals. (Author)

Discusses the advantages of the English-Unifon coding system and its five books for beginning reading instruction. (MM)

Suggests that reading programs that attempt to teach reading before children have developed adequate problem solving skills may be responsible for producing children who learn not to read. (DD)

The author favorably reviews the "SUCCESS in Beginning Reading and Writing Program" developed by Dr. Anne Adams of Duke University. The two-hour instructional program is divided into four modules: phonics/spelling; content reading; writing language experience stories; and recreational reading. Program costs and ease of use are noted.…

Describes ERIC documents pertaining to the role of parents in preparing their children to read and the ways in which they can help shape and strengthen a school's reading program. (FL)

Describes six criteria for evaluating materials that will be addressed in forthcoming columns: content validity, transfer potential, adaptability/flexibility, amount of reinforcement, quality of directions and instructional language, and bias. Uses this criteria to evaluate "First-Start Read-Along Program 5," a reading series for primary students.…

Maintains that while basals have undergone a facelift in recent years, the core of the program remains the same. Analyzes the experiences children would have when reading Jane Yolen's "Grizzle's Grumble," assuming it were taught according to the guidelines provided in the basals. Asks Yolen about the treatment of her story in the basals. (TB)

This study explored the effects of "Reading Mastery Plus" in grades K-2 at a Title 1 school with six students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Two students in each of grades kindergarten, 1, and 2 participated. "Diagnostic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)" spring fluency probes were used…

Noting that the recent development of reliable, high-performance, low-cost speech recognizers--devices that can distinguish among spoken words--holds potential for education, such as early reading instruction, this technical report describes a study which investigated two principal questions: (1) Does an inexpensive, microcomputer-based speech…