From 2006 the British government strongly favoured synthetic phonics as the principal approach for the teaching of initial literacy in state-funded primary schools in England, and since 2010 has made it mandatory. In 2007-2013 just over 100 commercially published phonics schemes were available, and in that same period the government maintained a…

Describes a reading program that uses a combination of basal readers to teach beginning reading. (RB)

California and Texas mandate 75% to 80% decodable texts for first-grade reading programs, yet these percentages have no empirical base. This study examines the text selections in 6 first-grade programs from the perspective of lexical, semantic, and syntactic features. The composition of text differed across the 6 programs with respect to length,…

Maintains that while basals have undergone a facelift in recent years, the core of the program remains the same. Analyzes the experiences children would have when reading Jane Yolen's "Grizzle's Grumble," assuming it were taught according to the guidelines provided in the basals. Asks Yolen about the treatment of her story in the basals. (TB)

A study of 46 first-grade children to determine how basal instructed and language experience instructed children would differ in their use of written language cues revealed no significant differences between the two groups in their use of these cues. (TJ)

Describes the features of the first grade texts included in basal readers used for beginning reading instruction in Texas in 2000. Investigates the general features of student texts with respect to the instructional design of the text, the accessibility of the text for beginning readers, and the engaging qualities of the text. Suggests that policy…

The effectiveness of the Three Owls Reading Method was tested, using 53 children from a Head Start program. The Three Owls system combines sight, phonic, and linguistic reading methods with movement and touch modes of instruction. After a pretest for phonic letter recognition, the students were matched and assigned to one of two classes in a…

Presents results of a survey of teachers using basal readers in their classrooms. Responses included (1) though the concept is good, specific series do not satisfy children's individual needs, (2) most basal series are easily integrated with other approaches, and (3) a basal reader is only as effective as the teacher. (AEW)

Describes an experience based reading program developed in Melbourne, Australia, for low-income and immigrant children and a series of books to be published which are based on this program. (MKM)

The six tables in this report rank the combinations of reading materials used in the classrooms of 34 elementary schools of Washington, D.C., during the 1976-77 academic year. The data are based on teacher reports about first through sixth grade students for whom there were both pretest and posttest scores. The tables indicate that a wide variety…

Describes the rationale, problems, and successes of a literature-based reading program. (FL)

This article investigates the impact of assigning poor-prognosis first-grade students to separate transition rooms, and contrasts it with giving similar children (transition eligible) regular instructional settings and under an individualized program, the New Reading System. (Author/CP)

The first-grade components of three textbook programs--mainstream basal, combined phonics and literature, and phonics emphasis--were compared on cognitive load (e.g., number of different words) and linguistic content (e.g., number of monosyllabic, simple vowel words). Three levels of three components of a program--literature anthologies, decodable…

In an effort to determine differences between the reading scores of students taught by a traditional basal approach and a more structured direct instruction approach, 31 problem readers from two first grade classrooms in a low income Southeastern rural community were examined and tested over a year-long period. The two groups were found to be…

Examines the first-grade materials in five new basal programs submitted for the 1993 Texas state adoption, comparing them with program materials currently in use in the state. Finds substantial changes in the more recent series. Interprets findings in terms of historical trends as well as recent developments in the literature-based and…