A study investigated the effects of a 2-week summer institute that taught kindergarten and first-grade teachers (n=44) about learning disabilities and effective instruction, stressing the importance of explicit instruction in phonological and orthographic awareness. First-graders taught by trained teachers outperformed controls on phonological…

This paper provides background information on school reform and describes efforts to implement an assessment system for students with disabilities in 12 nongraded primary classrooms. Background information briefly covers the school restructuring movement, the history of nongraded primary education, alternative assessment strategies which focus on…

This third of three manuals providing a curriculum for students with disabilities focuses on the development of functional academic skills. An introductory chapter provides an overview of the curriculum and offers guidelines for developing instructional plans for the following three units of study. Unit 1 is on the development of functional…

This guide shows parents how to help their children develop into skilled and motivated readers. The guide contains sections on (1) how to prepare a child for reading success, long before lessons begin; (2) how to use children's literature to promote learning and enjoyment; (3) why combining book experiences and phonics is better than either…

A study examined the effects of specific literacy-related activities in preschool on subsequent language and literacy-related knowledge. All of the subjects were eligible for Head Start or comparable programs, with half of the classrooms being Head Start classrooms. When the subjects were 3 years old, a total of 63 children were visited in 48…

Directed at the parents of preschool and elementary school children, this document consists of a collection of the informational brochures, catalogs, promotional materials, price lists, and order forms for a series of audiocassette tapes. All tapes are commercially available from Achievement Inc. Titles of tapes available are as follows: (1)…

The 140 tests cited in this bibliography consist of test items related to instructional objectives. Assessment of student gain is made in terms of mastery of objectives rather than by comparison with a group norm. The subject areas include mathematics, reading, vocabulary, spelling, science, and social studies. The tests are primarily designed for…

This edition is an annotated list of 390 literacy materials for adult new readers. All the materials are written on an eighth-grade level or below. These paperback instructional titles, many in workbook format, are for use with adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. The introduction includes guidelines for…

A practicum was designed to help parents of kindergartners in a low income area help their children develop literacy. The primary goal was to secure the active involvement of parents in their children's learning experiences. Other goals included improving kindergarten teachers' communication skills and expanding their strategies for reaching out…

Since an author does not provide all critical information, a text is never fully explicit; it demands that the reader/listener supply missing elements in order to form a coherent and logical whole. A study was conducted to explore both the types of responses urban first grade students made when asked to predict a narrative ending and differences…

A study was conducted to describe conceptions of the usefulness of reading (the function or "why" of reading) and conceptions of the reading process (the form or "how" of reading) among preschool and first grade children in Sweden. The research paradigm used--based on the work of Vygotsky and Piaget--was called the "second…

The concept of scaffolding can be used as a framework to argue that a "rich interpretation" in child language is needed in the area of early literacy learning. Child language is the reading-like text language of "prereading" kindergarten children. Two threads (internal and external) of the scaffolding process have been identified. The external…

Evidence from a nine-month longitudinal study of deaf children's early attempts at learning to read provides the construct for an instructional model that stresses that even though the children may have, at the least, a meager expressive sign language vocabulary, they can be lead successfully through the holophrastic or one-word stage of reading…

This guide is intended to acquaint literacy tutors with the techniques of tutoring small groups of learners enrolled in a basic reading program. The first chapter compares one-on-one and small group instruction. Chapter 2 covers the following aspects of organizing a group: interviewing; adding people to established groups; and confirming the first…

This test is intended to assist teachers and volunteer tutors working with adult beginning readers in assessing students' reading needs when beginning a reading program and determining their progress after receiving reading instruction. The three-part pretest and three-part posttest each include sections to assess students' sight vocabularies and…