Current research increasingly highlights the role of early literacy in young children's development--and informs practices and policies that promote success among diverse learners. This handbook presents cutting-edge knowledge on all aspects of literacy learning in the early years. Volume 2 provides additional perspectives on important topics…

Two studies--one quasi-experimental and one randomized experiment--were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of supplemental instruction in structural analysis and oral reading practice for second- and third-grade students with below-average word reading skills. Individual instruction was provided by trained paraeducators in single- and…

Recent scientific advances in early literacy assessment have provided schools with access to critical information about students' foundational beginning reading skills. In this article, we describe how assessment of early literacy skills can help school psychologists promote beginning reading success for all children. First, we identify key skills…

Going beyond the available research on children's spelling development and written text (reading), this year-long longitudinal study examined the relationship between spelling and reading in order to determine whether kindergarten children's ideas about spelling develop simultaneously with reading or whether one precedes the other. Monthly, for 8…

Interweaving sociological/interpretive and cognitive/linguistic perspectives, this book explores the ways in which children first encounter the written word in formal schooling. The book examines the "culture" of literacy as it is introduced and practiced in a corpus of 163 basal and supplementary readers used in a representative…

This set of 70 cards accompanied by instructions on using the cards) can be used by any teacher, tutor, parent, aide, or literacy volunteer, individually or in classes and small groups, to teach the spelling, writing, and reading of nearly all English words to virtually any child (age 5 and up) or adult. The cards can be used for initial or…

Many Canadians are concerned about the quality of reading instruction in Canadian schools. Recent newspaper articles, research reviews, and newsletter articles reflect the nature of these concerns. The official instructional policy in a number of provinces as well as in a number of local school districts is based on a whole-language philosophy.…

This booklet delineates the actions and attitudes of successful teachers who typically produce skilled readers. Presenting a variety of approaches, the booklet emphasizes that needs created by beginning readers' diverse backgrounds can only be met through a curriculum marked by equal diversity. The booklet outlines those identified characteristics…

Intended to help young children learn to read with comprehension, this book uses visualization and drawing techniques with folktales. The folktales in the book (collected from around the world and freely adapted) were chosen to help primary- and middle-grade students increase their enjoyment and comprehension by eliciting a flood of rich visual…

Designed for use at school or at home, this book focuses on the development of seven types of literacy: linguistic, visual, mathematical, scientific, geographic, economic, and computer. The book's suggested activities are each introduced with a detailed discussion of the necessary prerequisite skills, the concepts to be mastered, the materials…

A longitudinal study investigated the effects of an early intervention program with students who were identified as being at risk for developing reading disabilities. Intervention effects on reading comprehension and the developing relationship between reading comprehension and the linguistic processes of students were studied. The intervention…

A longitudinal study was conducted to compare the reading achievement of students involved in the Right-to-Read Project with that of those not involved in the project. Specifically, to assess the long term effects on pupils whose parents participated in a program stressing parent involvement in the learning process, measures of the achievement of…

Criticizes the 'Look and Say' method of teaching reading, asserting that it assumes that most children will learn to read by themselves, that it leaves out those children who need to be taught to read, that it can actually teach a child not to concentrate, that it teaches memory, and that it helps the child to accept his disability. (Author/JM)

A hierarchy of listening skills composed of environmental skills, discrimination skills, and comprehension skills can be used by teachers to develop an effective language arts program that includes an awareness of the stages of auditory perception. (JH)

The major theory examined in this paper is that the increasing problem of illiteracy in the United States may be due to a faulty method of teaching reading. The causes of the illiteracy problem and possible solutions are explored using evidence from reading research and classroom results. The following topics concerning the teaching of reading are…