The methods and validity of evaluations of cognitive development, in language and numbers, of children ages three through six, by use of classroom observation inventory lists are discussed. The Evaluation of Cognitive Development--Pre-Reading Skills, an observational instrument (teacher completed), was administered to 134 first grade students in a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal effects of i/t/a and T.O. instruction on students' reading, spelling, and language abilities at the end of third grade. It was primarily concerned with determining whether the effects of early reading instruction, which were not statistically evident at the end of second grade, became…

An exploratory study to discover the relationships between preferred learning modalities and differentiated presentations of reading tasks was conducted in a low socioeconomic, predominantly Puerto Rican public school in New York City, with 106 first-grade children as subjects. Preferred learning modality (auditory, visual, or kinesthetic) was…

A linguistic analysis of five children's books, randomly selected from the "Modern Masters Books for Children" series, described the features of language found in books for beginning readers and demonstrated the value of structural analysis in reading research. Four linguistic measures were applied to each book: 1) the average number of words in a…

A 3-year Harlem project in which 5-year-olds from socially disadvantaged backgrounds were taught an interrelated hierarchy of beginning reading skills utilizing the Edison Responsive Environments instrument (talking typewriter) was reported. The investigation differed from O. K. Moore's approach in three ways: (1) parsimonious use of instructional…

The importance of building positive attitudes and habits in developing successful reading experiences is discussed. In order to have positive attitudes toward himself and toward his reading, the child must acquire basic concepts about language and its relation to himself. Among these concepts are (1) I can talk about what I think about, (2) what I…

Recently a team of reading specialists from fourteen different nations completed a study in comparative reading with the aim of comparing literacy acquisition in countries with different cultures and languages in an attempt to derive new hypotheses regarding sociological, psychological, and linguistic variables in learning to read and write.…

This study compared the relative effectiveness of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i. t. a.) program for teaching beginning reading with a matched program using traditional orthography (T. O.). Three waves of first grade students in ten predominately white elementary schools were randomly assigned to i. t. a. and T. O. classrooms. Summary evaluation…

This study was designed to assess the effect the summer vacation period has on the reading ability of first-grade subjects, as measured by norm- and criterion-referenced reading tests. The data were analyzed to determine if sex of subject, IQ, or type of school reading curriculum were related to the ability to retain overall reading ability or…

This book provides specific, practical suggestions for the classroom teacher, covering the whole of the elementary school reading program. Chapters include "Teaching Reading,""Instructional Materials,""Organizing for Instruction,""Oral and Silent Reading,""Readiness for Reading,""Preschool Reading,""Reading in the Kindergarten,""Whole Word…

This thesis reviews those articles that have been published since the early 1960s in the area of perceptual-motor and sensory-motor programs which affect reading readiness in beginning readers at the kindergarten-first grade level. The contents include: "Reading: A Definition," which looks at some of the definitions proffered by authors in the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate three kindergarten programs, each emphasizing phoneme-grapheme relationships. Thirteen classes consisting of more than 300 kindergarten children from two sourthern Maine communities were involved in the study. The population was divided into three treatment groups. Group one received basic reading…

This study was designed to determine the relationship of selected readiness variables to achievement in reading at the second grade level. The readiness variables were environment, mathematics, letters and sounds, aural comprehension, visual perception, auditory perception, vocabulary and concepts, word meaning, listening, matching, alphabet,…

Ten auditory and ten visual aptitude measures were administered in the middle of first grade to a sample of 58 low readers. More than half of this low reader sample had scored more than a year below expected grade level on two or more aptitudes. Word recognition measures were administered after four months of sight word instruction and again after…

This book is one of a series of four in which issues affecting the organization and work of the British Infant School are considered. The series "Young Children Learning", is designed to express current educational theory in terms of the practical work of teachers and children in infant schools. The books include recent research into the…