This guide summarizes "Effective Programs for Struggling Readers: A Best Evidence Synthesis," a research review conducted by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Research and Reform in Education. The purpose of the review was to evaluate the achievement outcomes of alternative approaches for struggling readers in grade K-5: (1) one-to-one…

Suggests Internet resources can assist teachers in meeting the needs of struggling readers with "just right" books. Addresses using the Internet in determining a child's reading level, determining a book's reading level, and ensuring students' access to reading materials. (RS)

Discusses the development of a reading progress chart to display students' chronological age versus reading age over a period of time. Investigates the validity of this methods of recording individual students' progress. Finds evidence for the usefulness of the chart as a pictorial record of students' progress. (RS)

Noting that the development of effective intervention programs and instructional strategies for the struggling or underachieving reader continues to be a topic of concern, this Digest first reviews the current status of reading performance, based on the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress. It then reports on the importance of early…

Noting that college history teachers must often contend with student reading problems, the article recommends ways of improving student comprehension of textbooks. Methods center on selecting a proper textbook and on having students preview, paraphrase, analyze, and review. Journal available from Loren E. Pennington, Division of Social Sciences,…

Describes the process of diagnostic teaching (which integrates assessment and instruction) in terms of three related tasks: planning, executing, and evaluating. Discusses the advantages of diagnostic teaching. (MG)

The Group Reading Inventory (GRI) is a reading evaluation tool that can survey an entire class of students at the same time. A testing sequence using GRI that allows teachers to identify the functional reading levels of most students in three short examination sessions is presented. (RM)

Critiques standardized, static literacy assessment practice. Proposes an interactive, curriculum-embedded, multidimensional approach to assessment based on observations and records of student literacy made on a variety of occasions over time and in a variety of authentic learning contexts. Demonstrates how a teacher and a student interacted to…

Describes the experience of creating an evaluation collage of one struggling reader that involves observation of linear development over a long period of time in a variety of contexts, records that reconstruct those multiple contexts, and the analysis of multiple sources of information, such as observations, interactions, and different types of…

With contributions from recognized leaders in the field of reading interventions, this book examines what has been learned from research to help struggling readers in grades K-6. Focusing on strategies that have been proven effective, the authors help educators meet the demands placed on them to ensure that all students are making good progress…

Uses the example of a 12-year-old nonreader to review fundamental principles essential to teaching seriously disabled preadolescent nonreaders. Argues that teachers must begin with an acute awareness of how students feel; accurately access strengths and weaknesses; find starting points that will guarantee initial success; be clear about time…

Notes that neurolinguistic programing, recently introduced in education, helps teachers analyze and overcome barriers to student achievement in reading. Presents applications and implications of the concept. (FL)

Argues that journal writing is an essential component of reading instruction that needs to be seriously considered as a viable alternative to traditional approaches currently being used with reading disabled students in content area classes. (FL)

Promoting the idea that teachers can make sophisticated diagnostic judgments and can identify appropriate instructional techniques, this book delineates the process of diagnostic teaching so that teachers can make such judgments and identify such techniques. The book is designed to supplement course work in the diagnosis and remediation of reading…

Presents results of a nationwide survey to determine measures being used to diagnose reading difficulties and place students in learning disability or Chapter 1 classes. Finds that calls for change in assessment and placement practices have largely been ignored and implications suggest a need for reform. (MG)