It has been more than twenty years since the National Reading Panel Report (2000) provided recommendations for the teaching of reading based on a meta-analysis of suitable research. The report was commissioned at the end of the 1990s, just as the "whole language" reading movement that advocated for analytic phonics instruction and having…

From 2006 the British government strongly favoured synthetic phonics as the principal approach for the teaching of initial literacy in state-funded primary schools in England, and since 2010 has made it mandatory. In 2007-2013 just over 100 commercially published phonics schemes were available, and in that same period the government maintained a…

Schooling can play a role in bolstering a sense of community, but research suggests that curriculum may serve to isolate teachers and students from their rural surroundings. In this qualitative case study, we asked if the literacy curriculum and instruction supported readers to make connections to their rural setting. We analyzed curriculum…

When schools and teachers adopt core reading programs they can use them with fidelity or make intelligent decisions about the texts, lessons and components they select to use. The evidence suggests that these programs are not research-based documents, but rather compromises between what the research suggests about effective reading instruction and…

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…

The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of reading programs of students who used the Reading Program One, Reading Program Two, and Reading Program Three reading programs and those students who were taught using no basal reading program in North Mississippi. The study also assessed teachers' perceptions of the various reading programs…

Presents results of a survey of teachers using basal readers in their classrooms. Responses included (1) though the concept is good, specific series do not satisfy children's individual needs, (2) most basal series are easily integrated with other approaches, and (3) a basal reader is only as effective as the teacher. (AEW)

THE RELATIONSHIP OF TWO PATTERNS OF INSTRUCTION TO VARIOUS ASPECTS OF BEGINNING READING INSTRUCTION WAS STUDIED. THESE ASPECTS INCLUDED (1) READING ACHIEVEMENT, (2) SCHOOL-RELATED ATTITUDES, (3) SOCIOMETRIC CHOICES, (4) SCHOOL-RELATED ANXIETY, AND (5) TEACHER AWARENESS. THE 10 EXPERIMENTAL AND 10 CONTROL GROUPS WERE PRETESTED WITH THE METROPOLITAN…

Uses "novice educators" in an introductory reading methods course to examine basal readers, compare basal stories and trade books, and consider the teaching of reading using these two primary tools. Finds that the merits of using an integrated or eclectic approach far outweigh the "ease" of using preplanned instruction provided…

A study examined the effect of direct instruction on increasing students' reading competency. The study followed several studies done between 1977 and 1995 on the Direct Instruction Model for reading instruction, developed and implemented in the 1960s. The population of the 2-year study included 105 southwest Chicago area third-grade students from…

Using multiple analytic methods, we examined the fit between 2 concurrent policy mandates in Florida--the adoption of core reading programs in high-poverty schools, and the retention of third graders who scored at the lowest levels on the state assessment. We first examined 2 contemporary third-grade basal reading programs for the guidance offered…

Surveyed more than 500 educators to determine whether basal reading programs control or limit teacher instructional decision making. Found no limiting action: rather than "de-skilling" teachers, subjects reported, the materials have an empowering effect by providing additional instructional ideas to draw from, adapt, or extend. (ET)

The article describes a continuum of instructional options for teaching reading to mildly and moderately handicapped students. Level 1 utilizes the basal text; Level 2 adds special individualized strategies to build fluency, comprehension, or accuracy to the mainstream basal program; and Level 3 selects other reading materials more appropriate to…

The first-grade components of three textbook programs--mainstream basal, combined phonics and literature, and phonics emphasis--were compared on cognitive load (e.g., number of different words) and linguistic content (e.g., number of monosyllabic, simple vowel words). Three levels of three components of a program--literature anthologies, decodable…

In an effort to determine differences between the reading scores of students taught by a traditional basal approach and a more structured direct instruction approach, 31 problem readers from two first grade classrooms in a low income Southeastern rural community were examined and tested over a year-long period. The two groups were found to be…