In this study, a school district adopted Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS), a scientifically based, class-wide peer-tutoring program for reading. Sixteen new K-PALS teachers were assigned randomly to receive ongoing support from a university expert or from experienced K-PALS teachers within the district. K-PALS teachers who…

Examines whether empirical research in beginning reading instruction supports the major tenets of the psycholinguistic approach to beginning reading. (Author/MP)

This article evaluates 2 technology applications for teaching beginning reading. One, embedded multimedia, involves brief phonics and vocabulary videos threaded through teachers' lessons. The other, computer-assisted tutoring, helps tutors with planning, instruction, and assessment. An experiment in 2 high-poverty, high-minority Success for All…

Shows two major handicaps in the anti-phonics movement which suggest that the future of the movement is doubtful: (1) the demonstrable weakness in both the theory and method of anti-phonics; (2) the increasing confidence that publishes and editors of widely used basal readers are placing in phonics. (BF/JH)

Describes how in the 1960s and 1970s critics of the schools as well as the transitory interests of the schools themselves were the greatest forces for change in basal reader programs. Discusses how current demand for high test scores has influenced those who prepare basal material. (Author/NH)

Discusses the relationship between children's knowledge of their language and the process of reading, along with some implications for teachers. (MP)

Examines five factors common to elementary schools that serve as major barriers to improved reading achievement: (1) grouping practices and the inappropriate use of instructional time, (2) low teacher expectation for student learning, (3) inappropriate instructional strategies for teaching reading, (4) differential curricula, and (5) inadequate…