Several national reports have suggested the usefulness of systematic, explicit, synthetic phonics instruction based on English word structure along with wide reading of quality literature for supporting development in early reading instruction. Other studies have indicated, however, that many in-service teachers are not knowledgeable in the basic…

In the wake of "No Child Left Behind Act" (U.S. Department of Education, 2006), educational reforms focused on providing students with effective systematic instruction in reading skills have become a nationwide concern. Report findings from the National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000),…

"Reading Mastery," one of several curriculum components that constitute the "Direct Instruction" curriculum from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K-6. "Reading Mastery," which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement…

Under what conditions can a true "science of mental life" arise from psychological investigations? Can psychology formulate scientific laws of a general nature, comparable in soundness to the laws of physics? I argue that the search for such laws must return to the forefront of psychological and developmental research, an enterprise that requires…

Phonological awareness is one of several key precursor skills to conventional literacy that develop during the preschool period. Significant amounts of research support the causal and predictive relation between phonological awareness and children's ease of learning to decode and spell. However, many preschool curricula and early childhood…

Even though Finnish students continually score at the highest levels on international reading tests, little attention is given to Finland's reading education programs. Dismissing Finnish attainments often is based on the attitude that the Finnish language is simpler, due to a close one-to-one sound/symbol match and that Finland is an isolated…

In its current adoptions of reading series for the elementary grades, California has chosen literature-based programs rather than the more traditional basal readers. A study investigated whether the contents of such readers for grades K-3 truly consist solely of literary selections, since it is well-recognized that quality books carry heavy…

Discusses some of the reasons why basal readers confuse two long u sounds. (RB)

The language experience approach to early reading is currently receiving renewed attention. Too often its full potential is not realized due to certain limitations. This article reports on a project in which those limitations were overcome and highly gratifying results achieved. (Author)

Argues that the best approach to teaching beginning and remedial reading is one that incorporates a variety of methods and techniques. (RB)

Proposes a diacritical marking system for occasional use in initial reading instruction. (RB)

This curriculum and discussion guide explains how teachers can include written words in the on-going activities of a preschool classroom. Practical suggestions are given, and actual classroom incidents are used to illustrate how they can be implemented. (Author)

Effective involvement in early reading instruction is predicated on the pupil's ability to scan, encode, and retrieve the appropriate visual/aural language information. This paper specifies these components for the purpose of providing input to a program that seeks to induce children to successfully and continuously participate in elementary-level…

Various reference sources were examined in an attempt to delineate and analyze the historical development of the controversy regarding the use of phonics in teaching reading during the period from 1930 through 1964. Information was examined in 10-year spans, which indicates the number of articles written during those periods. The analysis…

The more than one hundred approaches to initial reading instruction can be grouped under ten headings: basal reader, phonemics, phonemic reading, "linguistics," total language arts, language-experience, one-to-one sound symbol, individualized reading, early reading, and perceptual discrimination. Although the basal reader approach is used in more…