A classroom teacher capitalizes on social learning and reader response theories to challenge her accelerated first-grade readers by implementing literature circles. The aim of this action research was to identify a clear view of "how" to use literature circles with first-graders and "what" might be accomplished. Three…

Authentic learning experiences are those in which students engage with texts as well as the behaviors of reading and writing within contexts of real-world use beyond traditional academic use. This study provides quantitative analysis of how students (n = 200) engaged with an adult pen pal in a shared literacy experience. Findings indicate that…

Research continues to suggest that adolescents struggle with reading, indicating that much work remains to ensure that all students read at levels consistent with the skills required for academic achievement (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006). This article investigates whole class choral reading (WCCR) within the context of a sixth-grade language arts…

Presents ways a classroom teacher can welcome new students to class, properly place them for instruction, and make them feel at home in a new group. (FL)

Discusses the problems of overusing workbooks, dittos, and basal assessment tests in beginning reading instruction. Proposes alternatives. (FL)

Notes that while across large groups of students two tests may be highly correlated, specific characteristics of tests may interact with specific characteristics of students to yield differences in scores for one individual on two or more tests. (FL)

Suggests that most countries using an alphabetic language system judge success in beginning reading as the ability to do tasks demonstrating mastery of the same set of skills, but that the types of tasks used to measure these skills and the number of skills tested vary from country to country. (FL)

Suggests that teacher observations form a valid and integral part of student assessment and that, in addition to standardized tests and informal tests, this "inner-ocular technique" is an important means for assessing the effectiveness of reading instruction. (MKM)

Discusses several problems associated with standardized testing. Proposes possible solutions to these problems, and calls for a new perspective on testing which utilizes informal tests and teacher observations of reading behavior. (MM)

Concludes that the usefulness of reading interest assessment is not impaired by the change in students' reading interests across a 36-week interval. (FL)

Investigates the validity of the assumption that prerequisite skills to reading competence have been identified; presents a study based on student test scores and a survey of teachers' evaluations of these students. (Survey responses are appended.) (MAI)

Reviews research dealing with test wiseness and concludes that teachers and others who administer tests and those who review results should consider the degree to which test wiseness characteristics might have been operative had a planned effort been undertaken to provide special instruction. (FL)

A survey of principals and second- and fifth-grade teachers in 25 Puerto Rican schools reveals that (1) they value and use reading tests; (2) province and district-wide reading assessments primarily affect curriculum decisions; (3) the generally accepted goals of testing programs are being met; and (4) their attitudes are similar to educators…

Summarizes the benefits and limitations of the use of story grammars in the elementary reading classroom. Provides suggestions for implementation in the classroom. (ARH)

Explains the use of the Dolch List in the lower elementary grades. (FL)