Intended to provide a publication outlet for systematic and substantive reviews and syntheses, both empirical and theoretical, and for integrative reports of programatic research, this volume focuses on current theory and research on word identification and comprehension and explores the implication of this work for the teaching of reading. The first chapter provides a critical review of current theories of reading, examining many of the unresolved issues illustrated by existing models and focusing on the particularly difficult problem of how readers at varying levels of skill deal with meaning. The second chapter offers an information processing analysis of some of the mechanisms that underlie the word identification skills of mature readers. The third chapter reviews current research on the development of word recognition skills, focusing on what children know about printed words, how this knowledge is expressed in reading-related tasks, and how it changes with increasing age and experience. The fourth chapter examines what children know about spoken words and the relation of this knowledge to reading, while the fifth chapter considers reading acquisition in the broader context of cognitive development. The final chapter proposes a framework for analyzing individual differences among children in the strategies they employ for dealing with units of text larger than single words, and for teaching comprehension skills to poor readers. (HTH)