Fourth graders whose silent word reading and/or sentence reading rate was, on average, two-thirds standard deviation below their oral reading of real and pseudowords and reading comprehension accuracy were randomly assigned to treatment ("n" = 7) or wait-listed ("n" = 7) control groups. Following nine sessions combining…

To improve students' reading abilities, an elementary school staff decided to supplement the regular curriculum with a free Internet reading program. To promote student participation in the supplemental program, the media specialist designed the Gumball Reading Program, which included student requirements and rewards. The requirements…

Participants (115 low-socioeconomic-status [SES], inner-city, high-school students) were exposed to three reading conditions: (1) a control condition in which students silently read brief selected passages; (2) an experimental condition in which students were prompted to perform a three-part (Ask, Read, and Tell [ART]) comprehension enhancement…

Two pressing education reforms entail improving students' reading skills and improving high schools in the United States. In this article, the authors focus on both of these issues by adding the voices of students in an underperforming high school to the discussion about reading reform. We present the results of a larger study pertaining…

Building on research showing the interdependence of language skills and reading proficiency, this study examined the effects of using the "Language Arts" strand of the "Reading Mastery Signature" 2008 series program as a supplement to non-Direct Instruction reading programs with English Language Learner (ELL) students.…

Discusses the benefits of implementing the practice of uninterrupted sustained silent reading (U.S.S.R.) in either a single classroom or an entire school building. (AEA)

Students in college basic skills programs will become more proficient writers not simply by being taught specific writing strategies, but also by greater exposure to the total linguistic system through reading. In the first of two reading projects initiated in an Ohio State University basic skills program, eight students participated voluntarily…

Describes a program designed by educators in the Mukwanago, Wisconsin school system that used a variety of methods to encourage student reading, including a district-wide sustained silent reading day and a multiweek parent involvement program. (FL)

The purpose of this study was to determine if a paired reading program had a significant effect on first grader's reading achievement. Fifteen students in the experimental treatment were randomly paired to read stories. The study took place over a period of 10 weeks in a small suburban school district. Fifteen other students in the control…

Reports that junior high school students who spent an entire school year in a formal sustained silent reading program made dramatic increases in reading ability and interest. (AEA)

By 1981 Project READ had distributed more than one-half million books to 500 American schools or alternative institutions and had established workshops to train teachers in reading motivation techniques and the use of sustained silent reading. To evaluate the project, pre- and post-testing of reading gains, student evaluations, and individual…

This paper discusses the relationship between cloze demands and reading comprehension and describes a cloze program used in a third-grade classroom. A series of exercises, including word attack, sentence completion, and vocabulary-development tasks, were given regularly by teachers to the students in their third-grade classrooms. Included in the…

Describes an attempt to introduce SSR in an English language school near Bombay, India. Shows that the fourth grade students involved in the program improved both their attitude and their reading achievement. (FL)

Discusses the development and accomplishments of a reading program in more than 50 Maryland schools in which all regular activities some to a halt and teachers and students participate in 35 minutes of uninterrupted free reading each school day. (MB)

Describes the reading styles of a group of first graders. Explains how mumbling reading gradually develops into silent reading. Provides an overview of the Project on Mumbling Reading and evaluates its effectiveness. Claims that more information is still needed for the development of silent reading and provides strategies to encourage the use of…