An analysis of large and influential published reviews of research pertaining to the reading acquisition of young struggling readers in the early years of schooling was undertaken. The reviews were selected on the basis that they either had been commissioned by federal governments or had been conducted by reputable research institutions and had…

"Reading Mastery," one of several curriculum components that constitute the "Direct Instruction" curriculum from SRA/McGraw-Hill, is designed to provide systematic instruction in reading to students in grades K-6. "Reading Mastery," which can be used as an intervention program for struggling readers, as a supplement…

This study compared the instructional effectiveness and efficiency of three word-reading interventions on cumulative number of words read accurately and cumulative learning rate. Participants were six first graders who needed intensive intervention services. Alternating treatment designs were used to compare the effects of interspersal drill, a…

"Waterford Early Reading Level One"[TM] is an emergent literacy curriculum that uses computer-based technology to prepare children for reading. It begins with a tutorial to familiarize the child with the computer and mouse and a reading placement evaluation to assess and determine whether a child should work on "Level One"…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect on first-grade reading achievement of completing a program designed to teach the names of the letters of the alphabet before beginning formal reading instruction. Information was sought on the differential effect of this program on either boys or girls of different levels of…

A nationwide sample of kindergarten classes in over 2,000 schools provided information on their use of the SWRL/Ginn Kindergarten Program for the second consecutive year, 1975-76. Replicating an initial inquiry, the data showed that (1) high overall levels of outcome proficiency can be reliably attained in kindergarten reading instruction; (2)…

The reading achievement scores of over 3,000 students in grades 1 to 3 in 11 inner-city schools were studied to evaluate the effectiveness of the Sullivan Programmed Reading Series. All participating teachers were trained and aided by preservice and inservice workshops, building reading consultants, a speech improvement teacher, an instructional…

The goal of this study was to describe and measure the effects of continuous, as-needed intervention in reading for 92 children in Grades 1-2, to determine whether the severity of reading disability (RD) could be significantly reduced in the catchment schools. The authors hoped that this kind of professional development would help to discriminate…

Finds that the program was somewhat more effective than the traditional (basal) curriculum for teaching word attack and letter-word identification, especially for students in low socioeconomic schools in a metropolitan school district, but that the program was not more effective than the conventional curriculum for more complex language skills…

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,…

Describes a literacy program for three- and four-year-old children established in a university setting to provide teacher education students an opportunity to read with the children while emphasizing concepts about print. Finds a slight increase in the children's concepts about print and in their familiarity with books. (SR)

Presents research on reading performance that focused on whole schools. Considers early reading programs in high-poverty, high-performing schools and how these schools allocated resources to develop, implement, and sustain their early reading programs. Identifies practices in specific high-performing, high-poverty schools through case study…

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that first grade children with a full-day kindergarten experience would achieve higher scores on the Tests for Analysis and Placement (TAP) Level 2 (Readiness) Basic than those children with half-day experience. Subjects were 19 first grade students who completed the TAP on two consecutive days. In…

This study examined the effects of two programs which differed in the methods they employed to develop reading readiness. The two methods represented were a language experience approach and a phonics approach. The subjects were children from kindergarten classes in two elementary schools in Flint, Michigan. All subjects were randomly assigned…

This research report documents the development of the Reading Recovery Program in the United States from its inception in 1984. The report provides summaries of the various empirical studies that have been conducted. The report concludes that: (1) evidence from the first years of implementation indicates that Reading Recovery has had positive…