As policymakers contemplate expanding preschool opportunities for low-income children, one possibility is to fund 2, rather than 1 year of Head Start for children at ages 3 and 4. Another option is to offer 1 year of Head Start followed by 1 year of pre-K. We ask which of these options is more effective. We use data from the Oklahoma pre-K study…

Phonological awareness is the ability to manipulate the individual speech sounds that make up connected speech. Little information is reported on the acquisition of phonological awareness in special populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a phonological awareness training intervention on pre-reading skills of…

Reading comprehension--the ability to understand the meaning of text--is a foundational ability that enables children to learn in school and throughout life. Children who struggle with reading comprehension in the third or fourth grade are at high risk for dropping out of school, with detrimental effects on their future employment, income, and…

Substantial research supports the need for early intervention efforts for students at risk for failure. Despite the empirically documented importance of early, explicit reading intervention for students who enter school without critical prereading skills, many kindergarten programs delay intensive reading instruction until later in the year.…

To study the effect of nursery school attendance on reading readiness at the kindergarten level, a questionnaire was sent to the parents of 40 kindergarten students in order to determine which children had attended a nursery school program, when, and for how long. Scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills were then recorded for all respondents. The…

Preschool students were given picture symbol prereading activities instead of traditional prereading activities. Results indicate that picture prereading activities have a positive effect on preschool children's attitudes toward books. (NH)

The installation of the SWRL/Ginn Kindergarten Program on a wide-scale national basis provided an occasion to test the claim that important instructional outcomes may be attained reliably in a variety of school settings with a wide variety of pupils through the use of a systematically developed educational product. Characteristics of the…

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)

This report documents the 1972-73 field test of teacher training techniques for the Prereading Skills Program. The program is a kindergarten-level instructional program designed to prepare children for beginning reading instruction. Four teachers in three Wisconsin schools participated in the field test of teacher training techniques. Fourteen…

"Enhanced Proactive Reading" a comprehensive, integrated reading, language arts, and English language development curriculum, is targeted to first-grade English language learners experiencing problems with learning to read through conventional instruction. The curriculum is implemented as small group daily reading instruction, during…

Grade retention has been the de facto policy for children with academic difficulties in many Latin American countries [Schiefelbein, E., & Wolff, L. (1992). "Repetition and inadequate achievement in Latin America's primary schools: a review of magnitudes, causes, relationships, and strategies." Washington, DC: World Bank.]. In Costa…

An experienced teacher, certified in the education of the gifted, designed and implemented a practicum that offered opportunities for enhancing the cultural literacy and creative play of preschool children who received little individual, reading-related attention from their working parents and caregivers. Play that enriched the imaginative…

The Child Development Project run by the Cleveland public schools gives eligible four-year-olds basic experiences, not generally available in the home, that help them develop learning skills needed for success in school. Language and other pre-reading skills are emphasized. Each project class includes about 20 children, who attend half-day, five…

This report summarizes Austin Independent School District (AISD) prekindergarten program activities for the 2003-2004 school year.

The primary objective of the Parents as Teachers project was to present a series of workshops to help parents understand the vital role they play in their children's preschool and educational development and help them develop techniques to encourage children to read, participate with their children in various craft and educational activities, and…