This study investigated the relation between field independence/field dependence (FI/FD) and reading success. One hundred kindergarten children from a predominantly white, middle-class community were administered a Portable Rod and Frame Test as a measure of cognitive style. The upper and lower 27% were identified and designated Field Dependent…

This paper presents a model for classifying initial approaches to the teaching of reading. The model consists of three dimensions: the degree of structuring of the program, the sequence of gradation of reading units, and the kind of symbol system used in the initial stages of reading instruction. The degrees of structuring refers to programs such…

This book, intended for use by inservice teachers, preservice teachers, and parents interested in open classrooms, contains three chapters. "Beginning Reading in an Open Classroom" discusses language development, sight vocabulary, visual discrimination, auditory discrimination, directional concepts, small muscle control, and measurement of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Distar Reading and Language Program as a method for beginning reading instruction. The subjects in the Distar group were 24 prekindergarteners, 60 kindergarteners, and 68 first graders. There were 24 children in the control prekindergarten group, 61 in the kindergarten, and 72 in…

Word frequency was determined for library books that primary-grade children selected for free reading. A survey of librarians determined which books these children selected. This list was reduced to 80 books through evaluations by elementary school teachers. A computer analysis of each word in these books revealed 105,280 running words. When…

While a great deal of attention has been directed to the potential value of using symbol systems other than the traditional 26-letter alphabet in the early stages of reading instruction, little attention has been paid to the potential value of using rebuses. In a linguistic sense, rebuses are symbols which represent entire words or parts of words;…

In order to determine the effect of grapheme-phoneme correspondence on beginning reading, word acquisition as related to the degree of regularity of the word was used as a measurement. Twenty children enrolled in a preschool project for culturally disadvantaged children at Peabody College were randomly assigned to two groups. One group used the…

A study using four groups, each of 25 first graders, indicated that letter-naming ability does not facilitate learning to read words composed of the same letters. One group was taught to discriminate between four artificial graphemes by identifying them with different geometric forms. The second group was taught to give the graphemes the letter…

This study was concerned with assessing both prereading and reading activities on the kindergarten level. A questionnaire survey was made of selected aspects of the content and conduct of the kindergarten prereading and reading programs in school districts throughout the state of California. The questionnaire used consisted of three parts: Part 1…

The varied results of three beginning reading research studies are presented. Methods of teaching beginning reading, including i/t/a, whole word approach, and code emphasis, are briefly discussed. A research project that supports evidence against claims of a "single solution" to beginning reading is discussed, and a list of practical suggestions…

This paper discusses the reading diary study--a method that involves frequent observation and detailed note-taking of the strategies employed by a child while learning to read--and the problems of data reduction, limitations of methods employed by researchers, and analysis of data. The sections include "Miscue Analysis," which can be…

This booklet summarizes forty-two Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.)research reports, highlighting the major features of each study. With minor variation, usually resulting from an absence of complete information, each abstract indicates the number and type of students involved, their grade level, and how they were assigned to experimental or…

The Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) was designed by Sir James Pitman as a reading teaching medium from which immediate and efficient transition may be made to the alphabet of regular English. Questions and answers covered in this booklet provide information concerning its history, effectiveness, methods of use, teaching areas, and relationship…

This experiment was designed to investigate the relative value of three sources of cue (graphic stimulus only, graphic stimulus plus a picture cue, and graphic stimulus plus a context cue) in combination with two list types (minimal and maximal contrast) as a means of facilitating the acquisition of initial reading vocabulary. The subjects, 137…

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of the Frostig Developmental Program of Visual Perception in effecting gains in reading readiness scores and perceptual motor ability with kindergarten students and reading achievement scores and perceptual motor ability with grade one students. High, middle and low groups in both…