A review of research identified features characteristic of effective reading programs, especially explicit phonics instruction integrated with vocabulary of student reading materials. Analysis of several commercially published first-grade basal reading programs found significant discrepancies between strategies supported by the literature and the…

Explains the educational value of picture books, what constitutes a picture book, what to look for in picture books, and how to select them for the classroom or school library. Gives advice on how small rural school libraries can get more books. Appendices describe 38 selection aids for children's literature and 10 children's book awards.…

Outlines instructional principles upon which classroom practices in a fourth grade and in a kindergarten class are based that contribute to students' success, love of literacy, and emerging biliteracy. Discusses creating a socioculturally supportive learning environment that (1) affirms the cultural and linguistic resources of all students; (2)…

A study investigated the effects of a software-based early reading program on the early reading ability of 55 first-graders with disabilities or who had potential for reading failure. Results showed students showed dramatic improvements following the 16-week program, including the skills of phonemic awareness, spelling, and word identification.…

Describes how a beginning teacher learned to teach an African American second grader to read. The narrative unfolds through a longitudinal study of the teacher's learning to teach diverse students. The story illustrates important influences upon her learning to teach and resisting norms that excluded attention to children's diverse needs. (SM)

Third and fifth grade children (average age 8.6 and 10.6 years) and adult participants were tested with printed words of varying length in a new on-line identification task (the luminance increment paradigm, LIP) and a speeded naming task. Effects of general length (length in letters, phonemes and syllables) were shown to decrease systematically…

A computerized program, Headsprout, was investigated as an intervention for beginning reading instruction with 3 students identified with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A multiple-baseline design, across subjects, was implemented to investigate the program's effects on oral reading fluency and task engagement. Results of the…

Now in a revised and expanded second edition, this invaluable book provides teachers and coaches with the information and tools they need to get started on the complex process of reading assessment. Grounded in a solid scientific framework, the book presents practical strategies that enable teachers to recognize "good reader" behaviors, assess…

A diverse, Midwestern, high-poverty urban school district, under the guidance of a university reading professor with expertise in research-based instruction and reading intervention, began a professional-development initiative that resulted in improved reading achievement for its students. This article presents the background, rationale, and…

This collection of articles from The Reading Teacher offers indispensable insight on issues, problems, and innovative solutions in literacy education. A wide spectrum of authors--ranging from successful classroom teachers to noted researchers and teacher educators--weigh in on language theories, relevant research, effective instructional…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) collects data on a nationally representative sample of Head Start programs, classrooms, teachers, parents, and children examining the quality and effects of Head Start. Three waves of data collection have occurred: in 1997, 2000, and 2003. Information presented in this publication is…

It is argued that attention to effective evidence-based early reading interventions are a co-requisite to genuinely inclusive education, with implications not only for reading acquisition, but also for a range of other social and academic domains. This paper briefly describes some of the recent developments in reading research that have the…

Learning to read is a complex process and a number of factors affect a child's success in beginning reading. This complexity increases when a child's home language differs from that of the school and when the child comes from a home with limited economic resources. This article discusses factors that have been shown to contribute to children's…

Pediatricians can play a role in promoting family literacy. Boston City Hospital has developed a model program that integrates family literacy into pediatric primary care, and has designed a program of research to evaluate its effects. The program has three components. In the waiting room, volunteers model for parents how to listen, question,…

Noting that children's perceptions of literacy and of themselves as learners differ from those of adults, this book documents how Sarah, from the ages of 2 to 5 years, understood literacy and invented reading and writing for herself. Numerous reading and writing samples in the book, organized around broad research questions, present Sarah as an…