Discusses four issues raised by the movement toward publicly funded prekindergartens and offers five recommendations suggesting specific actions reading teachers can take to influence the design of prekindergarten programs. (JC)

Argues that remedial programs in reading have gradually lost sight of the original goal of improving classroom reading and that coordinating the program with the core curriculum is not sufficient to achieve curricular congruence. Offers suggestions for achieving congruence between the classroom and the clinic. (FL)

Presents 14 principles for use in the development of a curriculum guide. (Author/FL)

Describes how teachers implement a spelling decoding strategy within a first-grade language arts curriculum. Considers how the investigation of one spelling-decoding instructional strategy was a coming-to-know process that led the authors to value intentional word study that was connected to but not necessarily embedded in authentic contexts. (SG)

Presents a review of approved states' proposed Reading First implementation plans. Notes the International Reading Association had three major areas of concern relating to the application process: selection of curriculum materials, selection of assessments, and determination of eligible professional development providers. Finds that interviews…

Addressing beginning reading instruction in urban schools, this article proposes that a curriculum gap exists in many K-3 classrooms that operate under the guidelines of the No Child Left Behind Act and Reading First. The authors make a case for the inclusion of systematic and sustained instruction in comprehension, content knowledge, and writing…

Recommends four resources (including basal materials) to use when designing reading-language arts curricula for classroom or school districts. (MG)

Outlines an approach for moving staff, parents, and children toward an emergent literacy perspective. Discusses how to (1) lay the foundation for new policy directions; (2) assess the literacy environment; (3) plan for essential experiences; (4) attend to skill development and program objectives; and (5) reassess emergent literacy programs. (MM)

Describes a plan for improving students' writing skills which was developed in a school for kindergarten through third grade students, and which incorporated parent participation and "publication" of student writing. (JC)