This issue of the "Journal of Children and Youth" focuses on children's strategies for decoding and comprehending written language and teacher's strategies for facilitating this process. The issue includes eleven papers by members of the Indiana Reading Professors division of the Indiana State Reading Council and several invited guests. Peggy Ransom and Timothy Krenzke examine the influence of parents on the affective domain of children--an area receiving renewed emphasis in the last five years. Vanita Gibbs discusses children's needs as they enter the formal reading program. Ruth Holland focuses on comprehension strategies at the word level. Lynn and Lawrence Smith investigate the effect of using advance organizers on children's comprehension strategies. William Powell gives insight into measuring specific strategies through the informal reading inventory. Donna Norton studies the effect of specific reading programs on strategies and Rexel Brown discusses a parallel study that investigated the effects of teacher pupil theoretical orientation. Adjustments in the informal reading inventory are discussed by Brown in a second article which also includes an investigation of changing teachers' grading philosophies. John Davis investigates teachers' ability to use the decoding skills they will teach. Finally, Michael Tulley looks to reading strategies of the future. In addition, the issue includes an article by Glenn Pate, not related to the theme, which is titled Guarantying Understanding Between Teachers and Students. (Author/SS)