Despite the fact that two of every three students in U.S. schools have reading proficiencies below the level needed to adequately do grade-level work, schools don't make a point of offering either high-quality professional development for kindergarten teachers nor expert tutorial instruction for at-risk kindergartners. This means that most schools…

There is a large collection of students who experience difficulty with the development of reading fluency and comprehension. Many students receive little to no benefit from non-systematic instructional methods. In order to become proficient readers many students need explicit instruction in fluency to serve as a building block to comprehension.…

Critiques Freyd and Lytle's evaluation of the IBM Writing to Read program in the same "Educational Leadership" issue. Claims that WTR helps kindergarten and first grade students produce stories they otherwise would not have written and that research results were misinterpreted. IBM should be allowed to compete in the language education…

Responds to Nelms' critique of the authors' own "Educational Leadership" article criticizing the IBM Writing to Learn program. Since WTR was conceived, programs can be open and interactive and can fit more comfortably into whole language practices. Readers need to weigh the arguments and decide for themselves. (MLH)

Uses aesthetic criteria and artistic criticism to explore possible meanings in Writing to Read, a computer-based program for beginning readers. Findings based on over 25 hours of observation showed that the program's enactment frequently compromised balance. Control drowned out individuality, conformity diminished exploration opportunities, and…

In 2003 multimedia-based English Trailers (www.english-trailers.com) joined the vast array of web sites dedicated to language learning enabling students, either autonomously or in a CALL classroom, to study English via movie commercials. To assist students in comprehending 10 trailers found on the site, the authors created the Short Readings…

This pilot project at Bath Elementary School at Richfield, Ohio, was conducted to assess the feasibility of computer assisted instruction (CAI) for the Revere Local Elementary Schools. The primary focus of the project was to assist sixth grade students in using the computer as an interactive instructional system in the areas of remedial reading,…

Excerpted from the second chapter of the International Reading Association's "Computer Applications in Reading" (2nd ed.), this article presents an overview of computer-assisted reading programs developed on college campuses during the 1970s. (AEA)

A software application called HyperStory is a reading program for short fiction which has proved to be effective in the classroom. In 3 years of use, over 300 students have tried it out. Part of the reason for its suitability for helping students develop short story reading skills lies in the relationship between the computer technology known as…

Examines IBM's Writing to Read (WTR) program for kindergartners and first graders from four perspectives: its language learning paradigm, the computer program design, the research conducted on its effectiveness, and implementation considerations. Since costs outweigh learning benefits, educators should reconsider purchasing this program. Includes…

Describes how an American History teacher used strategies learned in an inservice activity to develop a computer-aided reading lesson concerning the Bill of Rights. (SR)

Examines the Riordan Foundation's successful strategy in establishing computer-assisted reading labs in public and private elementary schools nationwide. The foundation provides challenge grants to applicant schools to purchase equipment for the "Writing to Read" program and assists them in raising additional funds from local businesses.…

Reading improvement in school-age children is the focus of the 10 articles within this supplement. Topics include recent research findings, classroom activities, teaching methods, computer-based instruction, literature-based programs, home-based activities, stages of reading development, and reading resource materials. (IAH)

The Basic Skills Learning System is a modularized network of computer assisted tutorials, drills, tests, printed materials, and videotaped presentations directed at improving the basic reading, math, and language skills of adults who have mastered these skills at a level above third grade but below eighth grade. Advanced computer technology…

Arguing that computers can help college students make connections between reading and rhetorical theory and research by providing them with opportunities to read reflectively and rhetorically, this paper describes an ideal computer assisted reading component of a composition program. Following a brief introduction, the first section of the paper…