This study is a follow-up on a previous study of the effects of 2 beginning reading programs implemented in 1st grade. In the previous study, 40 1st-grade students who were matched based on their Concepts About Print Test (Clay, 1979) and Phonological Segmentation Fluency from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good…

This study examined individual differences among beginning readers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study concentrated on the effects of underlying first language (L1) knowledge as well as EFL letter and vocabulary knowledge. Phonological and morphological awareness, spelling, vocabulary knowledge, and word reading in Hebrew L1, in…

This document contains texts for two resolutions adopted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in July 1998 regarding Beginning Reading Instruction and in July 2006, regarding Adolescent Literacy. A Question & Answer section follows the resolutions, addressing the following issues: (1) Reasons for focus on reading; (2) Differing views on…

Evidence regarding the centrality of word recognition to the reading process is considered, based on a review of research on beginning reading from 15 secondary sources. The research includes diverse learners who are low performers, learning or reading disabled, remedial readers, high achievers, culturally disadvantaged, language delayed, and…

The Catholic Education Office of Sydney, Australia, has completed the first year of a 3-year literacy initiative which included an early literacy strand providing professional development for all kindergarten, Year One, and Year Two teachers, with a particular focus on the needs of beginning readers and writers. This paper outlines the planning,…

Noting that many parents who might teach their young children are often discouraged by a lack of information or fear of being labeled "pushy," this book provides parents with a step-by-step program for teaching preschoolers letters and numbers as a way of giving children a head start on formal education. The handbook consists of a…

A 6-year ex post facto study compared the word study skills, word reading/reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, and total reading achievement of Choctaw Indian first and second grade classes that participated in the Sing, Spell, Read, & Write (SSRW) program and classes that had not participated in the program. Subjects were 84 students in…

Placing reading instruction in a child-centered, language-rich environment, this book provides preservice elementary teachers at the undergraduate and introductory graduate level with a detailed understanding of how to implement a developmental reading program. The book discusses the role of basal readers, and also discusses teaching reading…

The Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council (GPLC) worked with Beginning with Books (BWB) to develop a family literacy component for tutor training. Four objectives were achieved: (1) a family literacy segment was added to the beginning tutor training course; (2) tutor trainers were prepared to present the segment; (3) family literacy materials for…

Research reports on the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical applications of research are provided in this status report covering the period of January 1 through March 31, 1983. The 16 reports deal with the following topics: (1) the influence of subcategorical mismatches on lexical access, (2) the Serbo-Croatian…

To provide the most effective instruction, materials, and support for beginning readers, teachers need to know if young children are more likely to process from print to meaning-- bottom-up or text-driven processing--or to interpret print to follow meaning--top-down or concept-driven processing. While some studies reveal a correlation between…

Drawn from an annual symposium held at the University of Guam to recognize and encourage scholarly activities of graduate students in the reading education department and to promote continued interdepartmental dialogue on the teaching of reading, the nine papers in this compilation deal with various approaches to reading instruction. Topics…

The product of a two-year study investigating the literacy behavior of nine kindergarten students and their classmates, this report first explains the impetus and the theoretical foundations for the investigation and describes its subjects and setting. It then presents the methodology and the data collected from several related studies: (1)…

Prepared by members of the Institute for Research on Teaching and the Center for the Study of Reading, the papers in this collection examine reading comprehension as an interactive process and explore how comprehension instruction occurs in the complex workplace of the classroom. Specific topics discussed in 20 papers include the following: (1)…

Intended to discourage classroom reading teachers from relying on "phonics instruction" as a remedy for students' inadequate reading performance, this pamphlet presents reasons why phonics drills should not be taught at all in the classroom and offers a set of practical phonic awareness activities to help poor readers overcome reading…