Providing an international perspective on how children learn to read, this second of 2 volumes presents research studies and classroom experiences from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, and Israel, drawing on evidence from 18 countries. Essays in the volumes highlight implications for design, implementation, and evaluation of classroom reading programs. These two volumes address the 3 major concerns of those involved in how children become literate and by what means such achievements may be appraised. They are: developing understanding of the nature of children's early reading development; considering ways in which children's reading can be encouraged; and the assessment of reading standards. Following an introduction ("International Concerns and Controversies" by P. Pumfrey and P. Owen), essays in the second volume are: (1) "Expanding the Dimensions of World Literacy" (C. Foley); (2) "Children's Learning and the New English Curriculum" (B. Raban-Bisby); (3) "The Ecology of Sense-Making: The Literacy-learner's Dilemma" (M. Bogle); (4) "The Avon Collaborative Reading Study" (T. Gorman); (5) "Writing Systems in Different Languages: A Factor Affecting Literacy Standards?" (C. Upward); (6) "'Equal-Plus': A New Initial-teaching Orthography" (N. Atkinson); (7) "Defining the Reading Domain: Is a Curriculum Definition Sufficient To Establish a Standard?" (T. Christie); (8) "A Framework for Literacy Assessment" (P. Smith); (9) "Reading Standards at Key Stage 1 in Schools in England and Wales: Aspiration and Evidence" (P. Pumfrey); (10)"Teachers as Participants in the National Reading Examinations" (E. Meiselles); (11) "A Comparison of Teacher Strategies, Aims and Activities in Two Countries Participating in the IEA Reading-Literacy Study" (V. Froese); and (12) "The IEA Study of Reading Literacy" (P. Allerup). (RS)