As more states continue to call for reforms of reading education and mandate the adoption of standards aligned with the science of reading, educator preparation programs are reviewing and redesigning their curricula. In this paper, faculty from our Department of Elementary and Special Education share some potential challenges, successes, and…

The question of how children learn to read and how they can best be taught, has gained a significant amount of interest over the years. Cognitive research confirms there is a science-based approach to reading instruction. It provides answers to the decades-old question about how children learn to read and what is the best approach to teach them.…

This collaborative research endeavor, undertaken by a committee composed of the English Language Art (ELA) pedagogical consultants for Québec English School Boards, Kativik, Lower Canada College and Littoral in consultation with the ELA Programs team at the Direction des programmes d'études en formation générale des jeunes (DPEFGJ) at the…

The Common Core State Standards bring the importance of connecting texts to the forefront by sharing that students must be able to "analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches authors take" (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council…

This Research Connections column describes the background to and the research base for the San Diego Unified School Districts' federally funded Striving Readers Project. The curriculum for the project was developed out of a longitudinal study into the literacy experiences of secondary students in New Zealand and from exploratory work in San Diego…

The Curriculum and Instructional Projects Team at the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) developed "Guidelines for Reviewing a Reading Program" ("Guidelines") to assist reviewers in determining if a program is consistent with the scientific research on reading. Based on that work, the Center on Instruction Reading Strand developed this…

This document is the annual report on the educational research and research-related activities carried out pursuant to the authorizations of the Cooperative Research Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969. The master focus of the report is on the educational research, surveys, and demonstrations, the information dissemination activities, and…

Semiotics, the study of signs, is a relatively new and highly controversial area. Symbols, icons, and indexes represent the three types of signs. Semantics, pragmatics, and syntactics represent the three basic semiotic areas, with pragmatics having a growing influence in oral language and reading. A comprehensive view of curriculum is implicit in…

This paper describes the activities of the National Institute of Education (NIE) in reading research and development with particular emphasis on the Essential Skills Program. The Essential Skills Program's purpose is to aid all children in obtaining skills necessary to function in society. The paper is divided into three categories: activities…

NEW MATERIALS, METHODS, AND RESEARCHERS WERE ASSEMBLED TO PROVIDE A RESEARCH-BASED MODEL FOR A NEW CURRICULUM IN THE TEACHING OF READING. PROCEDURAL METHODS, THE INTERRELATED FUNCTIONS, AND BASES OF READING-LEARNING WERE DISCUSSED IN A SERIES OF FOUR RESEARCH PLANNING CONFERENCES. ANALYSES AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF ALL THE STUDIES INITIATED HAVE NOT…

A study used qualitative methods, as part of a 2-year collaborative university/middle school effort, to understand the instructional reading practices in effect at the seventh-grade level and to investigate whether any of the practices might be related to differential reading performance of the school's African-American students. Few of the…

Research conducted since the early 1970s has provided important insights into how written language develops and how teachers can best foster that growth. One of these promotes the holistic approach to language instruction--to nurture the emergent speller is to nurture the emergent reader, writer, speaker, listener, and thinker. Another important…

Reviews the research on readability, suggests these findings as one basis for curriculum change, and summarizes some of the factors from this research that can make a test more readable. (MB)

Suggests that many disadvantaged minority students lack the test wiseness that would permit them to score well on standardized tests and recommends that such students be taught how to take tests. (TJ)

To show how whole language theory can be put into practice, this collection of articles, many written by practicing teachers, suggest ways that teachers can help students become active participants in their own learning. Following an introduction, chapters and their authors consist of: (1) "Insights from Recent Reading and Writing Research…