The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were published by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association in 2010 as part of a widespread standards-based reform movement in the United States. The education marketplace has responded with CCSS-aligned products, including standardised tests, professional development…

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) will have a significant impact on what teachers teach and what primary students are supposed to be able to do (Bomer & Maloch, 2011). By the end of fourth grade, reading instruction should be evenly balanced between literary text and informational text (NGA Center and CCSSO,…

Publishing graded readers is big business, but there is evidence that the texts themselves are not being read in sufficient quantity to improve language proficiency. This article reports on a study of graded readers, focusing on interviews with some major publishers of graded readers, to investigate their production rationales. The findings…

This content analysis study examined 99 basal reading narratives from three publishers: Harcourt, SRA-McGraw Hill, and Scott Foresman. The stories were classified according to the ethnicity of the major characters. The observed frequencies were compared to expected frequencies to indicate over representation, adequate representation or under…

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…

Examines biographies presented in five of the most popular basal reading series. Finds that the great majority of the biographical selections appeared in only one series. Concludes that there is no core of agreement about who receives biographical coverage in basals. (RS)

An evaluation of the content of three basal reading series show that they are changing with the times. Current readers are less likely than older readers to show sex and racial stereotyping and no longer show life as always happy. (Author/IRT)

Uses content analysis and a descriptive technique to describe the attributes of the most prominent workbook items found in the workbooks of four basal reading series. (SR)

The Fry Readability Graph was used to determine the validity of the publisher's recommended grade usage for four reading series at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels. Three samples were analyzed from each text, and these results were compared with the publisher's stated grade levels. The majority of the basals investigated had an average…

Reports on an analysis of the manner in which five basal reader series portray the handicapped. Concludes that much improvement is needed in the information and values about handicapping conditions that students receive in their textbooks. (FL)

Investigates main idea instruction in three basal reading series. Finds statistically significant differences in main idea instruction for the parameters "main idea task" and "acknowledgement of strategies mediating main idea task." Determines that basal reader materials rarely encourage students to monitor their main idea…

Notes that basal series commonly used in kindergarten through grade six teach only about half of the most common English words. Offers a list of 382 common words that do not appear in the books and suggests that teachers supplement their basals with their own word learning lessons. (FL)

Finds that the most common type of figurative language in fourth- and sixth-grade basal readers is personification. Overall, the most commonly used figures of speech are: personification; animal, sense, and inanimate metaphors; and hyperbole. (FL)

Analyzes six basal reading series and reveals that the number of "distant" stories--those with content that is not closely related to the reader's experience--increases with the age of the intended audience. (FL)

Analyzes some problems that can make beginning basal stories difficult for young readers to understand and offers suggestions for ways teachers can help alleviate the problems. (FL)