Improving reading instruction is one of the hottest topics in K-12 education today. It is also one of the most complex, encompassing pedagogy, policy, and politics -- all rooted in a long history of arguments about the best way to teach kids to read. This analysis is a primer on the "Science of Reading" and efforts to implement it across…

Unless educators can learn from past extremes, the current emphasis on literature and whole language instruction may undermine phonics and other necessary principles. Fortunately, a reborn emphasis on writing will assist the development of accurate decoding and stress the phonemic structure of language. Educators must embrace "best" trends and…

Many ideas attributed to the whole-language approach are not new. Whole language demands that literacy instruction be indirect, unsystematic, and nonintensive and that scope-and-sequence charts be abandoned. Experimental research has judged the major tenets of whole language to be erroneous--a point accepted even by whole-language leaders favoring…

A survey of 117 California educators found that 90% believe there is a reading crisis; they identified multiple factors: teaching methods, lack of parental support, and high numbers of English-as-second-language learners; 60% felt they were inadequately prepared to teach reading. Those who rated their ability excellent or good believed in…

Discusses the author's varied experiences in teaching reading, including teaching seventh grade pupils in the West Bank of Jordan, taking graduate courses in reading, and being an elementary school principal and a university professor. Suggests the need for a rational balance between whole language and phonics. (RS)

This paper reviews the history of whole-language versus code-emphasis approaches to reading instruction. The paper concludes that students with severe learning disabilities may learn to read in a whole-language, mainstream classroom, if provided with supplemental instruction, a variety of instructional techniques, and appropriate intensity and…

Discusses debates in society on needs in education, particularly reading achievement of students and the needs of teachers. Considers the issues of whole language versus phonics instruction and sequencing student learning in reading instruction. Concludes that these and other issues, such as technology use in reading instruction, need to be…

This book about reading tracks and questions the 30-year campaign that has focused on testing, accountability, and federalization of education to demonstrate that it is not just whole language advocates who are having problems with the National Reading Panel report and the new education laws. The book gathers together a comprehensive collection of…

A major problem in the teaching of reading is to determine the scope or breadth of the curriculum--how broad to develop the objectives of instruction becomes paramount in curriculum development. Breadth of the curriculum may then be represented by points on a continuum with a wider scope on one end and narrowing down toward the other end. This…

There is much more to a learning disabled (LD) child's successful learning than part-to-whole or whole-to-part instruction. Among the many factors to be considered are his/her learning style, interests, abilities, aptitudes, health, and parental support. Instructional programs for learning disabled children should be based on the students'…

Beginning readers and proficient readers can be characterized by using research found in professional journal articles and other educational sources. Learning to read requires numerous abilities, several of which are acquired before a child begins school; this time period between birth and when a child begins school is called the "emergent…

The theme of the American Reading Forum's 1997 conference was "Finding Our Literacy Roots." Many papers in this proceedings address the theme directly, some emphasizing literacy roots and others the roots of literacy. Following the keynote session, "Phonics and Whole Word/Whole Language Controversies, 1948-1998: An Introductory…

Discusses the long-standing tension between code emphasis and meaning emphasis approaches to reading instruction. The swing from phonics to whole language and back again is described. Collaboration between remedial specialists and regular education teachers to reduce the incidence of children who require special help is urged. (Author/CR)

Elementary and middle school teachers surveyed in rural South Dakota indicated that a combination of phonics, skills, and holistic instruction occurred most often in their reading programs. This suggests that most school districts take an eclectic approach to reading instruction and use the best components from various approaches. (LP)

Assertions of crises in public education commonly appear as descriptions of unease, suggestive of proposed remedies. In fact, many remedies actually existed first; their advocates sought particular circumstances they could transform into an alleged crisis. Examples include the "reading wars," bond elections for new buildings, and state standards…