A study explored the nature of whole language as compared to the basal program for the years 1990-1991 and 1991-1992. The samples of pupils involved were from the eight elementary schools, housing grades kindergarten through grade five, in East Brunswick, New Jersey. The students have been instructed for many years in the basal approach. Since…

A study determined if there was a correlation between reading achievement of children in grade two and the amount of time they spent watching television. Thirteen second-grade students responded to a survey given to determine the number of hours they spent reading and the number of hours they watched television over a three-week period. The number…

A study compared two groups of children attending two urban elementary schools who were unready for first grade at the conclusion of kindergarten. One group of 23 students was retained in kindergarten while the other group of 117 was promoted to the first grade. The California Test of Basic Skills was used to measure the reading ability of both…

This study examined the impact of Chapter 1 Developing Language Arts Competencies through Literature (DLACL) program in Houston, Texas, in the academic achievement of students served during the 1988-89 school year. A total of 8,505 students in grades 1-5 were served by the program. The investigation was designed to provide answers to the following…

A practicum addressed the cognitive and affective needs of underachieving fifth grade students in a suburban school in southwest Florida. Twelve fifth grade students (the target group) were paired with same age tutors who provided supplemental reading instruction four times a week over a 12-week period. They also participated in weekly…

Two approaches to spelling instruction were compared by measuring which program was more successful. Thirty-two fourth-grade students participated; instructional intervention spanned 6 months. The control group used the materials and procedures of the Macmillian Basal Series. The experimental group used the Spelltex Individualized Spelling Kit.…

A study examined two first-grade classrooms implementing the whole language approach and two utilizing the basal reading approach to determine the differences, if any, between the treatments. The hypothesis was that the whole language reading approach when combined with a phonics program would not result in higher test scores on a standardized…