This paper examines how 15 London social enterprise nurseries undertook a short pilot study to ascertain how to successfully replace a formal reading scheme with the Whitehurst and Lonigan dialogic reading (DR) approach. DR has shown to work very successfully with children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, which is the focus group of the…

Individual telephone interviews with 11 Australian beginning teachers who were newly appointed, or seeking a teaching position, were used to explore their perceptions of their preparation to teach early reading. Interviewees provided self-ratings of preparedness and ability to teach early reading, information about their knowledge of early reading…

Preservice early childhood and primary teachers from teacher preparation institutions across five Australian states were surveyed regarding their perceptions of preparedness and ability to teach early reading and spelling skills, as well as their knowledge of components of early reading, such as phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge and early…

A disproportionate number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are below grade level in reading. This trend may be due in part to characteristics of the disability, but it may also reflect lack of access to the instructional conditions needed for success in beginning reading. In this study, we surveyed special education teachers to…

Understanding phonics is an important part of a young student's ability in learning how to read. The problem is that there is no set system that teachers follow in teaching phonics skills. The purpose of this study is to discover the ways that first grade teachers teach phonics to their students to help promote students success in reading. The…

This book highlights the experience of Liberia in both assessing and improving reading in primary schools. As a result of an Early Grade Reading Assessment, the Ministry of Education and partners, including the United States Agency for International Development, came together to identify and develop strategies for improving reading in schools.…

Metacognition provides insights into the internal information processing of an individual. Studies around metacognition and reading have demonstrated that metacognitive thinking during reading reveals an individual's knowledge of the reading process. In examining adult literacy students, metacognitive descriptions can provide insight into…

This report addresses the teaching of early reading in Wisconsin, focusing on the Direct Instruction approach and the methods or lack thereof for informing teachers of the approach and of the possibilities and applications for their classrooms. A sample of new Wisconsin teachers were surveyed and six Wisconsin schools were visited to observe…

This book provides the tools classroom teachers need to determine which children lack the phonological awareness skills needed to become successful readers as well as to pinpoint deficiencies and address various needs. The book's unique features include the following: a comprehensive assessment that measures children's phonological awareness…

A practicum aimed to strengthen the reading abilities of first grade students. Objectives included having first graders: (1) strengthen phonetic and decoding skills; (2) progress to grade level in the basal reading series; and (3) master a problem solving process that would enrich critical thinking skills. Subjects, 52 first grade students,…

This study examines 240 preschool teachers' self-reported literacy beliefs and practices. Participants taught three- and four-year-olds in publicly funded preschools that are part of the Virginia Preschool Initiative program. Teachers completed a Preschool Literacy Practices Checklist that asked about their beliefs and practices regarding…

Designed to measure the normal development of several of the elemental skills which children must acquire if they are to become skilled readers, this study involved the design and testing of batteries of tests to measure the various reading subskills identified. The battery consists of the following tests: visual, auditory, audiovisual,…

This report describes a program for improving reading skills of first graders. The targeted population consisted of a blue-collar community located in western Illinois. Many of the families had a language barrier. The problem of below grade level readers was documented through assessments and teacher observations. An examination of causes revealed…

A study examined the effectiveness of the Chapter 1 Early Literacy Summer School program. The program provided additional reading instruction to underachieving first-grade pupils at seven schools located throughout the Columbus, Ohio public school district. The program featured group instruction (with many of the activities modeled after the…

The "Direct Instructional System for Teaching Reading" (DISTAR) is a highly structured, synthetic method of teaching reading that was developed to provide beginning and remedial reading instruction to primary school children who have had difficulty learning from other materials. To determine DISTAR's effectiveness as a teaching method,…