Designed to be scholarly in content and grounded in research and at the same time be practical and usable for day care workers, classroom teachers, and curriculum specialists, this book discusses various aspects of the view that children's literacy development is a continuous process beginning in infancy with exposure to oral language, written…

A longitudinal study examined the classroom environments in which 30 children learned to read. Over the first four years of the study, data were collected on how the children's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers taught reading and other subjects, the kinds and numbers of books that the children had available to read, the functions of…

This theme issue discusses the special information needs of older adults and library services designed to meet these needs, especially focusing on the problems of mobility, visual, and hearing impairments. Several contracted projects in Illinois, developed to assess and meet the needs of older adults, are also described and evaluated. (CLB)

This technical report outlines the results of a correlational study of an Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) measure, a Reading Comprehension measure, a Vocabulary measure, and a statewide, large-scale reading assessment. The effects of school income level, gender, ethnicity, Special Education status, and English Language Learner status are also…

Despite a body of evidence that curriculum-based measurement of reading (R-CBM) is a valid measure of general reading achievement, some school-based professionals remain unconvinced. At the core of their argument is their experience with word callers, students who purportedly can read fluently, but do not understand what they read. No studies have…

The purpose of this applied dissertation was to examine the effects of a preschool emergent literacy program on young African American children from a low socioeconomic background. The preschool is located in an urban setting in North Carolina. All students participating in this study were identified as at-risk for school failure. The behavior and…

The National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives (Rural Early Childhood), a research program of the Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute, and Child Trends analyzed data from two nationally representative samples of young children being followed in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study by the National Center for…

This issue focuses on practices that can help improve reading instruction and includes two announcements from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL). It begins with a look at study groups, the practice of teachers getting together to focus on instructional practices and student learning. Stacey Joyner, a staff member of SEDL's Texas…

This compilation of four journal issues on gifted education in California focuses on the following topics: (1) literacy for the 21st century; (2) technology; (3) reflections on gifted education; and (4) politics. Major articles include: "English Language Arts in California's Schools: A New Beginning" (Diane Levin and Catherine Barkett);…

This training manual was designed to provide information and support to Head Start teachers, staff, and parents in the area of emergent literacy. The first section, "What is Emergent Literacy and Why Should We Do It?" addresses the concept of emergent literacy, identifying six key elements: (1) learning to read and write begins very…

This study investigated the impact of parents with different language backgrounds on the language acquisition and language competency of their children in the mother tongue, Chinese, and a second language, English, in Singapore. Parents were surveyed on language usage and language materials provided to their children. Exams on vocabulary,…

This report presents information on selected activities that preprimary children engage in with family members, based on the 1991 and 1993 National Household Education Surveys. Focusing on parent-child activities found to facilitate the development of literacy skills and the motivation to learn, the report examines (1) the changes between 1991 and…

This study investigated whether different groups of native speakers assess second language learners' language skills differently for three elicitation techniques. Subjects were six learners of college-level Arabic as a second language, tape-recorded performing three tasks: participating in a modified oral proficiency interview, narrating a picture…

Background: The options for technology in an educational setting is growing exponentially. But the question remains, how can technology be used to improve reading instruction in an elementary classroom? It has been proposed that using an LCD projector to enable all students to see the text and pictures could increase reading comprehension.…

Investigated book-reading habits of families and teachers to hearing impaired and normal hearing kindergarten children. Found that while there was no significant difference in the book-reading habits of the two groups to their children, hearing-impaired children's families are more careful in book choosing and reading to their children. (Author/SD)