Noting that reading instruction in the last years of the 20th century is still characterized by controversy, this book presents 18 essays that examine the best available research evidence about what is known--and what needs to be learned--about the teaching of reading and how children learn to read. Topics of the essays include whole language,…

Describing how the experiences of nine cognitive researchers have influenced college writing classrooms, this book demonstrates the critical role of the learner in interpreting and responding to the texts they read, the tasks they are assigned, and the feedback they receive from instructors, readers, and collaborators. Growing out of a project at…

A study evaluated the Early Literacy program that served 2,278 underachieving pupils in grades one (1,655) and two (623) who appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without additional reading instruction. The Early Literacy program teacher and each small group of pupils worked together each day for 40-45 minutes on reading and writing…

This paper, which is intended to assist adult literacy practitioners interested in conducting research about their programs, discusses the four stages of the action research process: identifying questions to guide the research, collecting information to answer the questions, analyzing the information collected, and sharing the results with others.…

Research supports that drama should be an integral part of the elementary and secondary curriculum. Utilizing drama strategies enriches learning in the reading program, the literature program, and the areas of oral language development, nonverbal communication, vocabulary development, listening skills, thinking skills, and creative writing. Yet,…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of a portfolio strategy to assess reading in the early primary grades. For a 12-week period, college students implemented portfolio assessment as they completed their reading block field experiences as part of their literacy/reading methods courses. Data included the portfolios, teacher surveys, journals of the…

This report discusses various methodological issues confronted in the Reading Literacy Study conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and issues relating to analysis of the data. The study analyzed in the report involved fourth- and ninth-grade students (9-year-olds and…

This report presents a first look at national and state-level findings of students' overall proficiency in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1994 reading assessment for grades 4, 8, and 12 and provides comparisons with the performance of their 1992 counterparts. The first chapter introduces the report, discussing topics such…

This 1993 yearbook presents 20 papers and summaries of the dissertation award winner "Content Literacy in High School Social Studies: A Focus on One Teacher's Beliefs and Decisions about Classroom Discussions" (E. G. Sturtevant) and the thesis award winner "Effects of Direct Instruction of Story Grammar on Story Writing and Reading…

A study described the experience, or thoughts, feelings, and motivation of young adolescents reading a novel, with special attention focused on how and when students experience reading positively. Subjects, 24 eighth-grade students of above average reading ability, completed 13 log entries while reading "Good-Night, Mr. Tom," a novel…

A study evaluated the Early Literacy program that served 1,773 underachieving pupils in grades one and two who appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without additional reading instruction. The Early Literacy program teacher and each small group of pupils worked together each day for 40-45 minutes on reading and writing activities. A…

A study examined the effect of an alternative language arts program designed to encourage children to take up reading and writing in ways that they find personally, socially, and politically relevant. Throughout a school year, the development of the alternative language arts program in a third/fourth grade classroom in an urban school was…

A study analyzed think-aloud protocols to investigate and describe what readers who are developing proficiency do as they read. Subjects, three sixth-grade middle-school boys (with grade point averages of 3.0-3.5 on a 4-point scale) from a small West Virginia suburb, read aloud 16 text sections (from one to four sentences in length), thought aloud…

A study explored the ways information about first-grade children's uses of literacy at home might inform school-based assessment of children's literacy knowledge. Subjects, 10 families (all Caucasian) in a small suburban community of white-collar professionals and administrators and 14 families (Caucasian, Latino, and African-American) in a large…

This paper describes research that was conducted in three phases between 1989-1990 to develop a 3-month early reading program for the use of day care centers in urban poor communities. The research meant to promote early literacy skills in a manner relevant to the children by using language with which they are comfortable and materials that are…