It has been more than twenty years since the National Reading Panel Report (2000) provided recommendations for the teaching of reading based on a meta-analysis of suitable research. The report was commissioned at the end of the 1990s, just as the "whole language" reading movement that advocated for analytic phonics instruction and having…

Research supports using research-based comprehension strategies; however, comprehension strategy instruction is not highly visible in basal reading programs or classroom instruction, resulting in many students who struggle with comprehension. A content analysis examined which research-based comprehension strategies were presented in five…

This study examined the effects of individualized, integrated language arts as a reading approach on struggling readers' comprehension scores obtained from oral narrative, silent narrative, and silent expository passages at three levels: below-grade, on-grade, and above-grade levels. Students (N = 93) in grades four through eight, who were reading…

Explores how teachers of differing philosophical orientations toward reading react to the implementation of a literature-based basal series. Finds evidence for a relationship between a teacher's theoretical orientation toward reading and the implementation of a new basal series. States that despite differences between the old and new basal sets,…

Investigates whether analogical reasoning is included in four major basal reading series and, if so, the nature of such instruction. Finds that three of the four series examined taught analogical reasoning directly, but that the nature and extent of each series' instructional recommendations varied widely. (RS/JAD)

Reports that 16 percent of 1,600 selections from six basal reading series contained one or more old people, that six percent presented an elderly person in a central role, that women and minority groups were inadequately represented, that the portrayal of old people was basically positive, and that considerable stereotyping existed in…

Reports discrepancies between manual recommendations and teachers' use of recommendations. (FL)

Examines the effect of key concept mapping strategies on reading comprehension and writing performance of fifth grade students using basal reading materials. Concludes that key concept mapping enhances comprehension of factual/informative text, but has no effect on written composition. Finds that literary mapping strategies enhanced neither…

Investigates the effects on reading comprehension of students attending an elementary school where the Four-Blocks framework is utilized (School A) and students attending an elementary school where a basal reader approach is utilized (School B). Compares the ability of four classes of second-grade students to give an oral retelling and answer…

Reveals that in the average number of words per T-unit, the complexity of basal reader passages generally exceeds that of children's oral language, and that none of the basal series studied exhibited a graduated increase in average number of words per T-unit among passages in the same reader. (FL)

Describes the development of a 99-word multiple meaning word list and offers activities designed to develop children's knowledge of multiple meaning words. (FL)

Reports that the Barrett Taxonomy is useful for determining emphases in types of basal reader questions. Suggests that by using the taxonomy teachers can more intelligently select, adapt, and add to the questions provided in teachers' guides. (FL)

Studies the attitudes toward reading as a sex-role appropriate behavior in classrooms using basal reading instruction or the whole language approach. Suggests that the nature of instruction has a significant effect on boys' view of the sex-role appropriateness of reading and writing. (MG)

Examines the quantity of informational literature found in six basal readers at grades two, four, and six. Identifies each genre in each basal at each grade level. Finds that 16% to 20% of selections and 18% to 22% of pages were devoted to informational literature across grade levels. Demonstrates the need for publishers to devote more attention…

Describes learning activities that promote the teaching of reading and writing together within the context of basal materials. Presents an example of how these activities were used in a second-grade classroom. (FL)