Research supports using research-based comprehension strategies; however, comprehension strategy instruction is not highly visible in basal reading programs or classroom instruction, resulting in many students who struggle with comprehension. A content analysis examined which research-based comprehension strategies were presented in five…

Finds that the new basals are different from the old basals, that students' rating and rankings of the old and new basals are consistent with the researchers', and that teachers varied in the ways that they used basal materials and in their views of the construction of knowledge. (SR)

A study was designed to determine if the classifications and definitions of context clues suggested in ten reading methods textbooks were used in three basal reading series. The method textbook analyses provided 27 different context clues. The analysis of the basal reading series--D. C. Heath (1983), Ginn (1984), and Scott, Foresman (1983)--showed…

The final report documents goals and achievements of Project CUE, a 3 year project to assist teachers of language impaired children to adapt regular reading readiness curricula to the students' needs. Objectives are listed, including conducting a needs assessment, selecting a basal reading series, and disseminating information on the project, and…

To illustrate the interdependent relationship between critical thinking and reading comprehension, and to show that critical thinking can be infused into classroom instruction using ordinary classroom materials (e.g. selections from a basal reading series), a study analyzed the transcript of a critical-thinking reading lesson for sixth grade…

Reports on a study that examined the manuals of sixth-grade basal readers to determine whether the suggested poetry teaching procedures reflected the pedagogical procedures recommended by expert opinion, concluding that they did not. (HOD)

Reports on a content analysis of four popular first-grade basal series, examining decoding and comprehension instruction in teachers' manuals, student texts, workbooks, and supplementary activity packages. Reports that none of the programs present a balanced approach to teaching decoding and comprehension with very comprehensible stories. (MM)

Two of the most widely used reading programs in the country, the 1976 Houghton Mifflin Reading Series and the 1976 Ginn Reading 720 Series, are analyzed in this volume to determine the methods they suggest for teaching reading comprehension. Eight sections contain the following information: (1) a short description of some of the surface features…

The results of a three-part study, conducted to present an indepth look at reading comprehension instruction in the middle grades, are described in this report. Four major areas are covered: teacher's verbal reports, program specifications, teaching behavior, and student mastery. The report first describes the research design, or how a profile of…

A three-part study was conducted to present an indepth look at reading comprehension instruction in the middle grades. In the first part of the study, four basal series for grades 4, 5, and 6, were analyzed for clarity of communication, adequacy of skill practice provided, and a number of other comprehension related dimensions. In the second part,…

Intended to provide a publication outlet for systematic and substantive reviews and syntheses, both empirical and theoretical, and for integrative reports of programatic research, this volume focuses on what children learn when learning to read, and how this learning can be facilitated. The first chapter of the volume offers an analysis of writing…