A majority of fourth grade students in the United States aren't reading proficiently (NAEP Reading: Reading Results, 2022). Deeper analysis of these assessment data surfaced a large gap between how our education system is serving students of color and their white counterparts. These gaps represent gaps in opportunity as access to quality…

Strong reading and literacy skills are essential for students' success in K-12 and beyond by providing the foundation for understanding the world and communicating effectively. This Spotlight will help readers learn how classroom conversations can boost reading proficiency; identify research on how to get students absorbed in reading; examine…

Recent research into reading has revealed much about how people learn to read, and Riley expresses optimism that educators might adopt much of this reading science into how they teach reading without triggering new "reading wars" between advocates of phonics and whole language. He summarizes indisputable facts recent scientific research…

The Grade 2 learner results of the Early Grade Reading Study (EGRS) randomised control trial (RCT) in the North West province showed that the structured pedagogic intervention model that included instructional coaching, lesson plans, and quality learning materials was more cost-effective than a similar intervention model that excluded coaching.…

As teachers and leaders move forward in implementing the Common Core State Standards within classrooms across 46 states, it is essential to consider the question of what knowledge is included in the English Language Arts Standards, and what knowledge is not present. The authors of the Common Core delineate an increasingly complex body of knowledge…

Since Emmett Betts first devised a framework of independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels in the 1940s, these levels have played a large role in classroom assessment and instruction. It is important for teachers to have a deep understanding of the research that supports the reading level framework. This article identifies four key…

Literacy in Early Childhood and Primary Education provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy teaching and learning. The book explores the continuum of literacy learning and children's transitions from early childhood settings to junior primary classrooms and then to senior primary and beyond. Reader-friendly and accessible, this book equips…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of aligning classroom core reading instruction with the supplementary reading instruction provided to 133 struggling grade 2 readers. A 2-group, pre-posttest true experimental design was employed in this study. In 11 elementary schools, 12 teachers taught both the aligned and unaligned core and…

Summarizes several key findings of National Reading Panel report that identified scientifically credible research on reading instruction. For example, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness improves a child's reading and spelling skills. Recommends that school districts commit resources for teacher professional development to capitalize on…

"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…

Having young readers manipulate objects to correspond to the characters and actions in a text greatly enhances comprehension as measured by both recall and inference tests. As a step toward classroom implementation, we applied this manipulation strategy in small (three-child) reading groups. For successive critical sentences, one child would read…

Responding to an article in the previous issue by Calfee and Drum, raises and discusses the basic question of the definition of literacy. (Author/MLF)

Provides a perspective of the literature reviewed by Calfee and Drum by discussing the reasons why and the conditions under which researchers and practitioners must better inform each other about their respective work. (Author)

Investigates the contributions of visual orthographic (analogy) and phonological processes in mediating nonword reading in children with dyslexia. Finds that children with dyslexia were the least likely to regularize nonword pronunciation and secondly, that all groups displayed an overall preference for words that were phonologically manipulated.…

Presents two studies using Verstaen et al.'s method that occasionally replicates null phonemic masking effects, but challenges their interpretation. Reflects an inherent instability in the perception of homophones. Demonstrates that this instability is directly due to reliance on phonology, rather than to its control. (SG)